Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Natalie took a few seconds to think, her expression betraying no sign of panic, as she stared straight at Gracia and asked softly. “You said you polished the bracelet just last night before you went to sleep?”

“Yes.” Gracia sniffled, responding with a tone of injury.

Natalie couldn’t help but derisively chuckle, waving her smartphone at the others and saying. “That’s what Gracia claimed. Got it all on record.”

“What’s there to be afraid of if she’s telling the truth?” Lydia was utterly baffled.

Natalie sneered, ignoring Lydia, and pointed toward the staircase where there was a security camera. “This house is under surveillance 24/7, right?”

“Of course!” Lydia snapped back icily. They only had a camera at the staircase. It couldn’t capture the hallway here. Lydia and Gracia had prearranged their story, confident in the absence of evidence, allowing them to smear Natalie.

Natalie went straight to the servant and requested the surveillance footage from twenty minutes earlier. She fast–forwarded the timeline and paused at the frame where she was ascending the stairs, showing it to Samuel.

Holding back his rage, Samuel asked. “And? Your point?”

“I didn’t come home last night, as everyone is well aware, right?” Natalie asked Samuel a faint smile playing on her lips.

“How dare you!” Samuel’s face grew darker. He was about to confront Natalie about where she went after leaving last night’s dinner party. The Foster family had come over, making a scene all night until dawn!

It was the cause of Matthew’s furious outburst!

“So, from last night until a moment ago, I only came upstairs this once.” Natalie continued.

“And, before I came up, my dear sister was already in her room, right? And she would know whether I went in there, right?”

Samuel hesitated before turning to look at Gracia.

“I…” Gracia was flustered.

Neither she nor Lydia had considered these details. And they thought they could easily accuse Natalie if they didn’t have cameras in the hallway!

“Tell me. Did I enter your room just now?” Natalie’s gaze became piercing as she stared down Gracia and demanded an answer.

Gracia was cornered, speechless, as a layer of cold sweat formed on her forehead.

N

Chapter 18

“Piper, when you came earlier, did you see me in Ms. Gracia’s room?” Natalie turned to question Piper, who stood to the side.

“L… I don’t know,” Piper avoided Natalie’s eyes, her voice small.

“You don’t know? Well, I do.” With that, Natalie turned and returned to her room, picking up her laptop from the bed and launching a hidden program, a built–in surveillance system on her

computer.

The footage showed Natalie entering her room, sitting on the bed to organize her luggage, and making phone calls the entire time..

The timestamp on Natalie’s room camera matched perfectly with the corridor surveillance.

After reviewing both pieces of evidence, Samuel was speechless. The answer was clear Gracia had framed Natalie!

“Gracia!” Samuel’s face turned a shade of thunderous blue as he glared at Gracia standing behind him, “What’s the meaning of this?!”

“Do you realize how important this bracelet is? It’s the Howard family’s most treasured heirloom and Tawanna Howard’s most precious legacy! You were supposed to wear it to Nate’s birthday party at the Howard mansion in a few days! How am I supposed to explain this to the Howard family?!”

Gracia thought there would be no hitches if she and Piper insisted it was Natalie’s doing. But she had never considered that Natalie’s computer would be monitoring everything!

“Dad…” Gracia panicked. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stammered, “I’m sorry I lied. I don’t know when the bracelet broke. I thought Natalie did it out of jealousy, so I jumped to conclusions and blamed her.”