Chapter 132

Chapter 132:

Teresa felt uneasy as Madisyn’s piercing gaze bored into her. It was as if Madisyn could see straight through her. Then, in a sudden, almost theatrical moment, the man sitting next to Madisyn reached into her pocket and pulled something out with a triumphant shout, “I found it!”

The man held up a delicate necklace, its pendant catching the light, and all the people in the room seemed to collectively hold their breath. Everyone recognized it instantly—it was the very necklace Teresa had been wearing today.

“Madisyn, it really was you!” Liza’s voice rang out, full of righteous accusation. “You’ve only just started working with us, and you’re already stealing? Unbelievable! Teresa, what are we going to do about her?”

Teresa was stunned at first, but her shock quickly turned into amusement. It turned out Madisyn really did steal her necklace.

Teresa was amused. Madisyn, always pretending to be so indifferent to everything, was actually jealous of her, wasn’t she? It was just like how she had been jealous of Madisyn in high school.

Teresa could almost feel her own pride inflating, filling the room like a balloon about to burst. She fixed Madisyn with a scornful glare, her lips curling into a mocking smile. “Madisyn, I can’t believe you’d stoop so low. But, considering we are now colleagues, I’ll let this slide if you just kneel down and apologize. If not, I’ll have to call the police, and then… Well, let’s just say your future might not look so bright.”

“Teresa’s being more than fair. Just apologize!” The crowd turned on Madisyn, their eyes filled with disdain.

“You want to call the police? Fine by me. In fact, let me call them right now.” Completely unfazed, Madisyn reached for her phone and started to punch in the emergency hotline.

New updates in gαℓησν𝒆ℓs․cøm

Teresa’s heart skipped a beat, panic flashing in her eyes. If the police really got involved, it would only be a matter of time before it was discovered that the necklace was fake! And then, Madisyn would walk away scot-free.

Desperation seized her, and without thinking, she grabbed Madisyn’s arm and tried to mask her fear with arrogance. “Oh, forget it,” she snapped. “I know how much your reputation means to you. For the sake of our history together, I’ll let this go.”

The tension in the room instantly dissipated.

“Teresa, you’re so kind!” someone praised.

“Madisyn, you should be thanking her!” another echoed.

Madisyn pursed her lips in exasperation. Were these people stupid? She was the one who wanted to call the police in the first place!

Just then, a waiter entered the room, holding up another identical necklace. “Excuse me. We found this in the restroom. Does it belong to one of you?”

The room fell into a stunned silence, every eye locked on the necklace dangling from the waiter’s hand.

“Isn’t that Teresa’s necklace?” someone whispered incredulously.

“What’s going on here?” another voice murmured in disbelief. “So, Madisyn didn’t steal it?”

“But I thought that necklace was a limited edition. How could Madisyn have the exact same one?” The confusion spread like wildfire through the room.

Teresa, who had been basking in the attention just moments ago, hadn’t anticipated this turn of events. She snatched the necklace from the waiter’s hand and said to Madisyn, “Madisyn, you’re ridiculous! You must have bought a fake!”

Madisyn remained unfazed, her expression as cool as ice. “Shall we have them appraised?” she suggested calmly, her eyes locked onto Teresa’s necklace with unsettling confidence.

For a split second, Teresa’s bravado faltered. But she quickly masked her hesitation with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I don’t have time for this nonsense.”

“Exactly!” Liza, ever the loyal follower, chimed in with a smirk. “There’s no way Teresa would wear a fake. After all, she’s a member of the Johns family!”

Madisyn, sick of the charade, glanced at the group indifferently. “We’re done here. Teresa, are you going to pay the bill?” she asked in a voice that carried an edge of finality.

The waiter turned to Teresa expectantly, as did everyone else.

The weight of their stares pressed down on her, making her palms clammy.

Gritting her teeth, she reluctantly handed over her card. “Use this,” she ordered, trying to maintain her composure.

“Certainly, miss. That will be sixty-six thousand dollars,” the waiter announced with a hospitable smile.

Teresa’s heart dropped.

Sixty-six thousand dollars?! She had been so meticulously careful with her spending for years, and yet she only had eighty thousand dollars to her name. How could a single meal cost sixty-six thousand dollars?

Regret washed over her like a cold wave.

Liza, however, failed to read the room and exclaimed, “We’re so lucky to have had such a delicious meal! Thank you, Teresa!”

“Yes, I’ve walked by this place so many times but never got the chance to try it. Thank you, Teresa!” another chimed in.

“Teresa, it’s great to have you in our department!” another voice added to the chorus of praise.

Teresa forced a tight-lipped smile, her vanity momentarily appeased by their words. “It’s nothing, really,” she managed to say, though inside, she vowed to never make the same mistake again.

They all left the restaurant together, and one by one, the group hailed taxis, their evening coming to an end.

Just as Teresa opened a car-hailing app on her phone, Liza approached her with a questioning look. “Teresa, will your driver pick you up?”

Panic surged through Teresa as she quickly turned off her phone, her mind racing. She had almost forgotten the persona she was supposed to maintain—the image of a lady from the illustrious Johns family.

.

.

.