Chapter 21
Mandy's smile stiffened a bit.
"How would I dare compare my piano skills with Ms. Johnson's? But this purple pearl is something you've treasured for years—maybe we should exchange it for something else."
Edward waved his hand, looking somewhat unhappy.
"No, I want to give it to her. No matter how valuable it is, it can't compare to her life-saving kindness to me."
Hearing him say this, Mandy pressed her lips together, feeling rather awkward.
She looked at Charlotte and sighed, "Ms. Johnson, don't take this the wrong way, but I just think accepting it might put pressure on you, since this is Edward's most treasured possession."
"There's no pressure."
Charlotte said flatly, "Since Mr. Harris can give it, I can accept it. If he couldn't bear to part with it, he wouldn't have offered it in the first place."
Mandy was left speechless by her retort.
Edward nodded and gave Charlotte a thumbs up. "You really understand me."
A flash of jealousy crossed Mandy's eyes as she slowly clenched her fists.
Edward had adopted her as his goddaughter in name, and in all these years, he had never given her anything this valuable.
How did this person, who came out of nowhere, earn Edward's such high regard?
And she'd heard from Benjamin that Charlotte seemed to have caught Alexander's interest too.
Edward and her father had once made a verbal marriage arrangement—Edward had joked about having her marry Alexander.
This woman's existence was simply a threat to her!
Charlotte paid no attention to Mandy and got up to put away the box.
"I'm going to the restroom."
After entering, she placed the box on the sink counter outside.
Charlotte had just entered a stall when she heard footsteps outside.
She frowned slightly.
She had checked that no one was outside before feeling safe to put down something so valuable—surely no one would take it.
As Charlotte was thinking this, she suddenly heard a dull thud from outside.
Her sharp ears caught that it was the purple pearl she'd left there being knocked down by someone.
Charlotte immediately straightened her clothes and pushed open the stall door.
In just those few seconds, the restroom was already empty.
The purple pearl lay on the floor, with an obvious crack from the fall.
Charlotte's expression instantly turned cold as she walked straight out of the restroom.
However, there was no one in the hallway outside—the culprit had vanished without a trace.
Someone had followed her in and deliberately dropped her purple pearl.
Charlotte calmly picked up the purple pearl and put it back in the box, stood up, and took out her phone to make a call.
After hanging up, she returned to the hospital room.
Mandy was pouring tea for Edward. When she saw Charlotte return, she smiled.
"Ms. Johnson, would you like some tea?"
Charlotte looked at her deeply, then directly opened the velvet box and held it in front of Edward.
"Mr. Harris, this purple pearl has cracked."
Everyone in the room froze instantly, all staring at the purple pearl in disbelief, their expressions turning sour.
That was Edward's most beloved collectible.
And it broke right after being given away!
Mandy immediately put down the teacup, stood up and quickly walked to Charlotte, her expression shocked and distressed.
"Ms. Johnson, this is my father's favorite purple pearl. Every New Year he would take it out to show relatives. To repay your life-saving kindness, he reluctantly parted with it to give to you. How could you..."
She didn't finish, sighing helplessly instead.
Though she didn't say it so harshly, her words clearly blamed Charlotte for ruining such a fine thing.
Before Charlotte could speak, Mandy continued disappointedly, "If you really didn't like it, you could have returned it to my father. How could you do this?"
Charlotte watched her calmly the whole time.
"Ms. Miller is right, it was indeed my carelessness."
Mandy was stunned, not expecting her to admit it so readily.
Edward did feel regretful and disappointed, sighing and waving his hand. "Forget it, you didn't do it on purpose."
"No, I want to say I am responsible."
Charlotte said flatly, "I didn't watch the purple pearl carefully. When I went to the restroom, someone took advantage of the opportunity."
Edward looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that..."
"I left the purple pearl on the sink counter. Someone came in from outside, and then that person dropped the purple pearl on the floor. When I came out, the purple pearl was already like this."
Charlotte's words left everyone present stunned.
Mandy said incredulously, "Someone deliberately dropped your purple pearl? How is that possible! I know you don't want to admit you were careless, but you can't just accuse people randomly, right? Besides you, who would drop it for no reason?"
The other two people also started whispering.
"What's there to be embarrassed about admitting? Just say it. No one's really going to make her pay for it."
"The purple pearl is already hers anyway. At most Edward will just be unhappy and feel it's a shame."
Charlotte's expression remained calm. "I'm not lying. I really didn't drop it."
"What's going on?"
Footsteps suddenly came from the doorway.
Charlotte turned to see Alexander. He wore a black suit, his features carrying a stern coldness.
As soon as Alexander entered, he keenly sensed something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Mandy quickly ran to his side, saying sweetly, "Alexander, Charlotte broke the purple pearl daddy gave her, and she won't admit it. She insists someone deliberately broke it. Everyone in the hospital is a stranger to each other—who would break this thing?"
"I've already requested the security footage."
Charlotte coldly interrupted her. "The staff reviewing the footage should be here soon. Whether someone deliberately broke it or not, the surveillance will prove it. I have no reason to lie about this."
"The purple pearl is already mine. Good or bad, I don't need to answer to anyone, not even Mr. Edward Harris."
These words were extremely assertive.
Mandy immediately looked at Edward, certain he would be angry.
But to her surprise, Edward actually nodded in agreement.
"Right, Ms. Johnson is correct. The pearl is hers now. Good or bad, she doesn't need to answer to me. She has no reason not to admit it, unless someone deliberately sabotaged it."
Mandy's expression changed.
The next second, two staff members entered carrying a laptop.
"Ms. Johnson, did you request the restroom surveillance from ten minutes ago?"
Charlotte nodded slightly, glancing at Mandy almost imperceptibly.
"Yes, I did. I want to see who went in after me. Just play the footage for everyone."
Mandy swallowed, unconsciously straightening her back, her expression inexplicably tense.