Someone had actually inquired about the pink diamond necklace Zoe Lancaster listed for sale.
It seemed the buyer was genuinely interested in purchasing it. However, they wanted to inspect the goods first and arranged to meet Zoe at an exclusive, members-only lounge. Zoe kept her guard up. Since the other party hadn’t disclosed much information, she naturally wasn’t going to go alone blindly.
9:00 p.m.
Zoe had asked Crystal Hayes to accompany her.
Crystal was a cellist. Zoe had studied the violin from age four to seventeen, and they had met at a music training center. Later, because Wendy Lawrence claimed playing the violin was useless, her father forced her into another major, giving her almost no say in the matter. Since then, she only touched her violin occasionally.
Crystal, on the other hand, didn’t come from a wealthy background. Mr. Hayes used to manage construction projects, but during Crystal’s high school years, a terrible accident occurred on-site. The project failed, two workers died, and the Holden family went bankrupt paying compensations. Furthermore, because the client absconded, Mr. Hayes took the fall and went to prison, where he remained to this day.
Due to these tragedies, Mrs. Hayes’s desire for her daughter to succeed became extreme. She had scraped together every last penny to pay for Crystal’s education, banking on her to make a name for herself and earn a fortune. Because of this, Crystal worked incredibly hard. She taught at a music academy while taking risky private gigs on the side.
Today, Crystal had specifically taken time off to come with her.
Since members were allowed to bring guests with prior notice, Zoe and Crystal entered smoothly. A club catering exclusively to the rich and powerful was indeed a different world altogether. Opening a single bottle of liquor easily cost tens of thousands. In a place like this, the safety factor was relatively high, so Zoe had confidently brought the necklace along.
"Who on earth asks to inspect goods at a place like this?" Crystal marveled at the extravagance of the wealthy.
Zoe shrugged. "Who cares, as long as they pay."
Crystal grinned and hooked an arm around Zoe’s neck. "Sell it for a good price and order me a couple of male models to play with."
Zoe immediately refused. "Don’t. Just hearing the words ’male model’ triggers me right now."
She had her own silent grievances that no one understood.
They arrived at the designated private room to find that the buyer hadn’t shown up yet. Zoe and Crystal took a seat to wait.
Crystal had a rather short temper. After waiting for a while, she started getting restless. "Seriously, are they buying it or not? We agreed on nine o’clock, and now they’re standing us up to put on airs? Are they some big celebrity? What a diva."
Just as she spoke, the door to the private room was pushed open, and Zoe looked over.
The moment their eyes met, both sides were taken aback.
Stella Joyce hadn’t expected her seller to be Zoe Lancaster. It seemed her guess had been right all along—Simon really had given the necklace to Zoe!
Zoe was equally confused. Didn’t Stella already have one? Why was she trying to buy another?
"Miss Lancaster, what a coincidence." Stella smiled faintly and took off her sunglasses, greeting her with an incredibly friendly demeanor.
The moment Crystal saw who it was, her expression morphed into one of pure mockery. "Oh, the mistress herself," she sneered.
Zoe had completely lost the desire to sell. It would have been fine if it were a stranger, but it had to be Stella, her nemesis. "I happened to be scrolling through X a few days ago. Don’t you already have one, Miss Joyce?"
Stella’s lips curled up. "You can never have too much of a good thing. I just happen to like the pink diamond. Taking it apart and matching it with two others to make earrings would look nice too. Unfortunately, Simon said there were no raw materials left for the limited edition, so I had to find a way to buy another one."
Zoe silently clenched her fists. She maintained her composure, flashing a perfunctory smile. "Is that so? Well, I’m very sorry, but I suddenly don’t want to sell it anymore."
Zoe thought to herself, "I should have checked the almanac before leaving the house today—I clearly stepped in a massive pile of dog crap."
Crystal immediately grabbed the velvet box and stood up without a moment’s hesitation.
Stella, however, unhurriedly inspected her red manicure. "Since you put it up for sale, Miss Lancaster, you must be short on cash. Why be so stubborn?" She thought smugly, "It seems she’s not doing so well for herself, is she?"
Zoe turned back. "What? From the tone of your voice, it seems you have more money than you know what to do with. I want six million. Are you buying?"
Stella finally frowned. "You’re price gouging?"
Zoe replied calmly, "It’s a limited edition, and there won’t be any more made. Is it so strange for it to appreciate in value? Not buying? Or can’t afford it?" She watched as Stella’s expression darkened, feeling a surge of satisfaction. "Since Miss Joyce can’t afford it, I’ll go find someone who can. There’s no need to pretend you’re a big shot when you’re not—it just makes things ugly."
The two women turned and walked toward the exit, only to find Stella’s assistant guarding the door. Zoe had no choice but to stop.
She looked back at her coldly. "Are you planning to force a sale, Miss Joyce?"
Stella rested her chin on one hand, a smug look gradually surfacing on her face. "Zoe Lancaster, the only reason you even got a piece of this necklace was because of me. You were just riding my coattails. Why else would Simon give it to you?"
She laid her cards on the table, no longer pretending not to know Zoe. After all, only by showing her hand could she hit her opponent where it hurt the most!
Zoe was taken aback but quickly fixed Stella with an icy glare. She really did know who she was! From the very beginning, this woman had been intentionally and unintentionally trying to disgust her. Zoe had her suspicions before, and now it seemed her intuition had been spot on!
"You know me?" Zoe suddenly felt the urge to laugh. It turned out that even someone who already had his love would stoop to such manipulative tactics.
Stella’s expression was full of contempt. "After all, on the day you and Simon got your marriage certificate, I was sitting right there in his car, watching with my own eyes. The very next day, we flew to Kaelan together. What do you think—do I know you?"
Zoe felt as if her chest were being slowly sliced open by a dull knife. She had no idea they had gone to Kaelan together. Then what was she? A clown?
"I’ve seen it all now. Are you really that eager to act like trash, dying to announce to the world just so everyone can praise you for being a cheap sl*t?" Crystal was fuming and immediately fired back. "Are you that proud of being a mistress? Is it a skill passed down from your ancestors? With a face so pumped full of fillers that even your piss comes out matte, have you been blind to what kind of trash you are for this long?"
Stella’s face sank. "Uneducated people really do flock together."
Crystal laughed. "Why should I show any human decency to a whorish animal?"
"You!" Stella hadn’t expected Zoe’s friend to have such vicious firepower. She looked at Zoe. "I’m just reminding you of one thing: the one who isn’t loved is the true third wheel. Who is the shameless one for stealing someone else’s man and tying him down in a marriage?"
Zoe’s expression remained indifferent. "Then why don’t you go argue about it with Simon Hawthorne?"
Crystal couldn’t take it anymore. She shoved the velvet box into Zoe’s hands, took two large strides over to Stella, and raised her hand, delivering a heavy slap. "If he loves you so much, why didn’t he marry you? You absolute delusional trash!"
The slap was fast and fierce. No one had time to react. Even Zoe was shocked; her best friend was incredibly fierce.
Stella’s hair was left a messy tangle as she nearly toppled off the sofa from the impact. She clutched her face in astonishment, never expecting the other woman to actually strike her. She was just about to get up and counterattack when she saw her assistant shooting her a frantic look from the doorway.
In that split second, Stella collapsed to the floor, clutching her face and groaning in pain.
Zoe frowned. Seeing her act like this, she thought Crystal had genuinely done some serious damage. After all, the hand strength of a cellist was nothing to scoff at. If she really hurt Stella, neither of them would be able to handle the consequences.
She quickly stepped forward and bent down to pull Stella up. "Are you—"
The moment she approached, Stella moved with lightning speed, viciously slapping herself across the face. The strike aggravated her previous injury, drawing blood from the corner of her mouth.
Zoe was utterly speechless. "What kind of world-class psycho is this?!" she thought in sheer disbelief.
But the very next second, a cold, gloomy voice echoed from the doorway.
"What are you doing?"