Chapter 52
When Bella saw Charlotte coming over, her expression changed immediately, and she rushed up to her.
"Charlotte!"
Charlotte couldn't be bothered with her. She walked straight past her and opened the car door, about to get in.
Bella quickly grabbed the car door, preventing her from getting in, and stared at her intently.
"I'm talking to you. Didn't you hear me?"
"No, I only heard a dog barking." Charlotte raised her eyebrows and looked at her coldly. "That wouldn't be you, would it?"
Bella's face darkened at the jab. She gritted her teeth hard and forced herself to calm down.
"Don't think I don't know what you're up to. I know exactly what your schemes are!"
Charlotte withdrew her hand, turned around with a half-smile, and raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Then why don't you tell me what schemes I could possibly have?"
"Stop pretending!"
Bella grabbed her wrist. "Consultant? As if it's that simple! Besides that title, you're also Daniel's goddaughter, right?"
Hearing this, Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "What makes you say that?"
"I already asked the servants at his place! These past few days, only you and Victoria have been there. Victoria has always been close with him as friends despite the age gap, so her visits are understandable. But you?"
Bella became more and more convinced of her judgment.
"Before this, you had no connection with him at all. You were just the daughter the Johnson family didn't want and kicked out. Even Benjamin broke off your engagement!"
"But suddenly you became a consultant for the White Group!"
The more Bella talked, the more she felt this woman was deeply scheming.
"You just saw that you couldn't marry into the Harris family and couldn't be a young lady of the Johnson family anymore, so you sweet-talked Daniel and got your hands on his company, right?"
Charlotte slowly smiled.
Bella was startled by her reaction and couldn't help but take a step back.
She said in shock, "What are you smiling about? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Charlotte snorted coldly.
"Yeah, I'm after Daniel's company, his family fortune, his savings, and this heir position."
"You're right, I used tactics. So what? What can you do about it?"
Bella gasped. She had never seen anyone like this before.
Someone who laid out all their ambitions so openly, with such a fearless and arrogant attitude.
While Bella was still in shock, Charlotte shook off her hand.
She said impatiently, "Let me tell you, the White Group's assets will be mine sooner or later, not yours. You have the schemes and ambitions, but you don't have the ability to make Daniel recognize you and feel comfortable handing the company over to you. You can't blame me for that."
"Instead of spending time wondering whether I'm Daniel's goddaughter, you should think about how to make the board members and Daniel recognize your abilities. If you were really that capable, would he need to recognize an outsider as his goddaughter and let her take full control of the company instead of giving it to you?"
"You, you..."
Bella was shaking all over with anger, her face ashen, but she couldn't come up with a single word to refute.
Charlotte shook her off, got in the car, and drove away.
Bella stood there, stamping her feet in anger.
"You just wait! I will never let you off! Whether it's Alexander or the White family's assets, I'm going to get them all!"
Charlotte glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Bella stamping her feet and pulling her hair in frustration. She scoffed lightly, looked away, and stepped on the gas.
When Charlotte got home, it was already very late.
She took out the keyboard and carefully placed it on the coffee table in the living room, covered it with a translucent dust cover, sealed it, and put it back in the box.
The housekeeper brought her a glass of water and, seeing this, asked curiously, "This keyboard looks so old. Why do you treasure it so much?"
Charlotte paused. "This is my teacher's relic."
The housekeeper's expression immediately became respectful. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have commented so casually."
"It's fine."
Charlotte looked it over and said calmly, "Please put it away for me and place it in the password-protected cabinet in my bedroom."
The housekeeper agreed and carried the box carefully.
Charlotte let out a breath.
Her teacher had no family, and to this day, no one knew where he had died in that accident.
This keyboard he left behind had found its way back to her after all this time.
Perhaps now he could finally rest in peace.
Charlotte was lost in thought when she suddenly remembered the person who had been relentlessly pursuing her for days.
She called Jason, wanting to ask if that person S had made any recent moves to track her down and find her.
Jason answered, and it was chaotic on his end.
Before Charlotte could speak, Jason said urgently, "Boss, I was just about to call you! Something's happened! Chloe brought a bunch of reporters to the studio, saying the necklace our studio designed has quality issues. She's making a scene right now!"
Charlotte's expression turned cold instantly. "What's going on?"
Jason said, "The necklace Ryan designed for her—she just received the finished product today and found that a diamond fell off. She's saying our studio used inferior materials, that it's not worth the price, and she wants us to refund and compensate her."
"There are lots of media reporters there now, and they're live streaming."
When Charlotte listened carefully, she could clearly hear the reporter's voice in the background.
"Not everyone at Charlotte's studio is as professional as Charlotte herself. The necklace designed by the studio has quality issues with the raw materials, which shows that cutting corners happens in every industry."
"Everyone shouldn't blindly trust studios opened by big-name designers just because of their reputation and abilities."
Charlotte's tone was icy. "Alright, keep the situation under control. I'll be right there."
She hung up the phone, grabbed her coat, and rushed out.
When she arrived at the location, she saw Chloe holding up the necklace in her hand, saying bitterly to the live stream camera, "Look, this is the top-tier design from Charlotte's studio designer! A three-million-dollar necklace, and the diamond fell off when I received it. How dare they charge such a high price for this kind of quality!"
Ryan Brown stood in the corner listening to this, trembling with anger.
Jason was trying to calm him down.
But Ryan was still very agitated and shouted loudly, "I didn't use inferior materials! Every jewelry raw material has a purchase receipt!"
"Stop disgusting people with casually forged purchase receipts!"
Chloe turned around and glared at him fiercely. "Who knows if those are real or fake? All I know is that my necklace has a problem now, and this has caused me irreparable damage!"
"I need to attend the Langley family's reunion banquet. Although their reunion banquet has been postponed, no one knows when it will be held. My necklace can't be redone in time. What if the banquet suddenly happens and I need to attend?"
Seeing this, Charlotte finally stepped forward, walked over to Ryan, and took his design draft.