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Without waiting for a response, Natalie strode out.
As he watched her leave, Sebastian frowned. He felt very depressed.
Sighing heavily, he quickly picked up his jacket and rushed out to follow her.
It was late June now, and it was extremely hot in the afternoon. As he followed Natalie from a distance, Sebastian stared at her long hair fluttering in the wind.
Where on earth was she headed? Sebastian had no clue. Judging from the woman’s hurt tone just know, he could tell that there was more to the story. Moreover, he would’ve been able to tell if she was lying.
Sebastian quickened his pace and followed the woman closely. As they walked, he couldn’t help but feel bad. Did he wrongfully accuse Natalie?
After passing two streets and a traffic light, Natalie finally veered off the sidewalk and entered a second-hand shop.
Sebastian followed her in silently.
“I want to see your shop manager!” Natalie slapped the ring hard on the counter. Her beautiful face was ice cold and sullen. When she wasn’t smiling, she always looked so aloof and unapproachable.
“Miss, what brings you here so soon? Did you forget anything?” The shop manager glanced up from a conversation with a customer. When she saw Natalie’s glowering face, she quickly walked over with a smile.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Natalie said coldly, “I did leave something here. Give me my ring back.”
“Are you joking, miss? Isn’t the ring right on your finger?” The smile on the shop manager’s face didn’t even falter, which made her look even more hypocritical.
“You lied to my face and replaced my ring, yet you still have the audacity to deny it?” Natalie was furious. It looked like she was going to pounce on the shop manager the next second.
The shop manager’s smiling face stiffened slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you trying to blackmail us with a fake ring? This isn’t the first time someone’s tried to play tricks on our honest store.”
Natalie’s eye twitched. It was obvious she was really pissed off. “Why don’t we check the surveillance camera footage? This isn’t the ring I left here yesterday.”
The shop manager looked calm and fearless. She looked at the shop assistant at the checkout counter and said, “Do as she says.”
Seeing how calm the shop staff were, Natalie realized she had been fooled ever since the beginning. This whole ruse was premeditated.
The video definition was terrible. The footage was so pixelated that it couldn’t capture the ring clearly.
Natalie had initially wondered why the shop manager was still so calm and arrogant after doing such an evil thing. It turned out that it was because she was confident that the video could not prove that she had the ring changed.
“Miss, can you leave now? You’ve checked the surveillance video and it shows no foul play. If you keep making trouble for us, we’ll call the police.” The shop manager threw the fake ring to Natalie confidently and smiled smugly, as if she was going to call the police the next second.
Several shop assistants also came out, trying to intimidate Natalie.
Natalie pursed her lips as she racked her brains for a solution. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. With a faint smile, she sauntered over to the shop manager and placed the fake ring on the counter. “Didn’t you offer me an extremely high price for the ring yesterday? I’m willing to sell it now. Here you go. Will you pay by check or cash?”
Natalie’s words completely wiped the smug smile off of the shop manager’s face. She quickly tried to calm down and said feebly, “I offered you that price yesterday. I don’t want to buy it anymore.”
After all, the counterfeit wasn’t worth much. If she bought it at such an extravagant price, she’d be crazy.
Smiling sardonically, Natalie continued, “You wanted it so bad yesterday. The surveillance footage can prove it. Why don’t you want it now? Is it because you know that this one’s a fake and isn’t worth a million?”
The shop manager faltered, “Uhm, well… I thought the ring was an antique. I had seen something similar in a jewelry magazine before. But when you left the ring here for resizing, I looked at it carefully, and I realized that it wasn’t the same one as on the magazine. It just looked similar. So I don’t want it anymore.”
After saying that, she took a deep breath and regained her composure. “Miss, please go now. We have a business to run. Please escort this lady out.”
But her anxiety had exposed her guilt.
Several shop assistants closed in on Natalie, ready to kick her out of the store.
“How dare you be so arrogant after you stole my wife’s ring?” A cold, harsh voice sounded from near the door.
Natalie whirled around in surprise.
She found the man standing behind her, wearing a dark gray shirt and black suit pants, jacket in hand.
Sebastian stood a head taller than her. The atmosphere around him was ominous and oppressive, especially with his dark expression. He looked like someone one didn’t want to mess with.
Natalie rolled her eyes. She was still mad at him for accusing her earlier. Without another word, she walked past him and left the shop.
Sebastian had overheard her conversation with the shop manager just now and knew perfectly well that the latter was lying.
“Sir, please don’t stir up any more trouble. This is the ring your wife left with us yesterday. If you two insist on blackmailing us, we’ll be forced to call the police.” Since the surveillance video couldn’t prove otherwise, the shop manager resumed her arrogant disposition.
Sebastian gave her a bone-chilling look and his smile sent shivers down her spine. “Then call the police. I’ll deal with them and make sure you’re put behind bars.”
After saying that, he turned around abruptly and strode out of the shop. He quickly caught up to Natalie, who was briskly walking away, and reached for her hand.
“Are you still mad at me?”
he asked even though he already knew the answer.
Natalie looked at him stubbornly. “I heard what you said back there. How do you plan on putting her behind bars? We don’t have any evidence!”
Sebastian said calmly, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything and get my mother’s ring back.”
Then, he lowered his gaze shamefacedly. “I misunderstood you earlier. I’m sorry.”
As he apologized, he realized he couldn’t remember the last time he had ever said the word “sorry” to anyone. He wasn’t used to it, so he sounded stiff and emotionless.
Natalie narrowed her eyes at him and said sarcastically, “Oh, is that so, Mr. Klein? Thank you for your humble apology.”
After saying that, she turned around and left Sebastian in the dust.
Sebastian watched as she walked away, pressing his fingers against his aching temple.
It seemed that she was truly angry with him this time.
Standing under a streetlamp and facing a busy street, Sebastian looked up at the tall buildings that seemed to pierce the sky.
Then he took out his phone and called Sean. His voice was brisk and cold as ice. “Find out if there’s an antique platinum emerald ring that was put on the market recently.”
Sean, having worked for his boss for a long time, could tell from Sebastian’s voice that he was seething with rage. He quickly tasked someone to investigate the matter.
An hour later, some clues were found.
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