Chapter 7
Veronica smiled, patted the raw stone with her hand, and pointed at the smaller piece. That one’s yours,” she said to Douglas.
Douglas hadn’t expected Veronica to actually give him a piece. He might have been poor and made his living through scams, but he still had principles–he never cheated the old, the weak, or the disabled
To him. Veronica looked so weak and fragile that it seemed like he could hurt her easily.
“I’m not taking advantage of you,” Douglas said. “This stone is clearly worthless. Even if there’s something inside, it’ll be the lowest quality.”
“Wanna bet?” Veronica asked.
Douglas snorted, “Fine. Let’s bet. If there’s really a good emerald inside, then I’ll do whatever you say.”
He had been hanging around these places for years and knew that only few people could actually get good emeralds from raw stones Those people were all seasoned gemstone enthusiasts, and Douglas figured young people like Veronica had no place among them.
So, Douglas absolutely did not believe that Veronica could casually point at a stone and still find a high–quality gem inside without careful study.
Veronica didn’t care about his doubts at all. Their conversation also caught the attention of the crowd around them. Some kind–looking elderly people, seeing her choice, tried to persuade her to be cautious,
After all, the raw stones cost money, and in their eyes, there was no need for her to waste money on two worthless rocks.
They all spoke at once to dissuade her, but Veronica only replied with a faint smile. She lifted her gaze to the staff and asked one of them to cut open the smaller stone.
“Are you sure, miss” The staff member from Harrington Fine Jewelers looked hesitant
Veronica nodded.
The staff said Then-”
“Wait.” Douglas tugged on Veronica’s sleeve and lowered his voice by her ear. “You wanna know the truth? I’ll tell you later. No need to waste your money.”
Veronica shook her head with a smile, walked over, and took the tool from the staff. She made a small cut in the stone on the table.
From that tiny opening came a glimmer of green as clear as lake water, its vivid emerald color so bright it looked like it was about to spill out.
Everyone present, except for Veronica, was stunned. They hadn’t expected that such an unremarkable stone would actually contain an emerald of such high quality.
Compared to this emerald, the ones they had opened before looked so inferior that they could hardly bear to look at them.
In the private room on the second floor, Stephen, who had seen the whole scene from above, smiled, “This girl is really something else.” He thought, This trip to Cloudhaven is worth it after all
Downstairs, Douglas rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the raw stone on the table, afraid that he was seeing things.
While everyone was still dazed in shock, Veronica reminded the staff to send the raw stone that belonged to her to her village for Nathaniel.
After paying and stating the price, Veronica left Harrington Fine Jewelers. By the time the others came to their senses and wanted to look for her, she was already gone.
Douglas turned to chase after her, but the staff stopped him, asking how he wanted to handle the emerald. Veronica had kept her word and truly given the emerald to him.
“Give it to me,” Douglas said. He grabbed the gem, ignored the crowd of people who tried to buy it, and rushed out At the bus stop, he caught up to Veronica. “Hey, wait a second, he said.
Veronica glanced at him. “What is it now?”
1/3
Chapter 7
“Sorry. I misunderstood you before.”
“As long as you remember what you promised, that’s enough.”
“Don’t worry. From today on, you’re my boss.
Veronica nodded, accepting it without hesitation.
Douglas asked cautiously, “Boss, could you give me your contact! WhatsApp or Discord works too.”
“I’ll give you my phone number. If I use Discord, my phone lags too much,” Veronica replied.
“What kind of phone would-” Douglas’s words stopped short when Veronica pulled out her phone.
He actually saw that the beautiful girl who had just spent money like it was nothing was holding a clunky old keypad phone that had been outdated for over ten years.
Douglas wondered if he was dreaming. “Sorry to ask, but are you really Gen 27
Veronica raised a brow. “Yeah, What?”
From the greenery not far away, a telephoto lens captured the scene of Veronica talking to Douglas. The photos were uploaded to the
internet and sent to Chloe’s phone.
At the bus stop, the image of Veronica in her dull outfit and holding that outdated phone was enough to amuse Chloe.
Chloe thought, ‘See? Without the Weston family’s care, Veronica is nothing but a complete country bumpkin. So what if she’s pretty! She’s still a rustic, a pathetic village girl”
Chloe shared the photo that made her so happy in the family group chat with the four of them, pretending she had just happened to run into Veronica and taken it by chance.
The picture gave her, Linda, and Grace a good laugh, but David was furious.
“Look at this What kind of clothes is Veronica even wearing? Can’t she afford any decent outfit?” David raged in his office.
He was accusing Veronica of dressing so poorly that it embarrassed him as the CEO of Weston Corporation, completely forgetting that in the past eighteen years, he had never given Veronica a single penny.
In the office right next door, Linda heard the commotion and immediately came over. She softly coaxed David not to get angry while subtly complaining about Veronica. By the end, David’s anger had subsided, but his opinion of his daughter had sunk even lower.
David thought. Veronica actually thinks she can compare with Chloe and Grace? She’s an embarrassment.
At the same time, David decided he had to bring Veronica back home immediately and keep her under strict control.
Back at the hotel, Veronica had no idea Chloe had someone secretly taking pictures of her, nor did she know that the entire Weston family could spin so much drama out of a single photo.
If she had known, she would definitely have suggested they go be actors.
After taking a shower, Veronica left the bathroom and picked up her outdated phone to call Nathaniel, who was far away in the village.
Aside from telling him she had sent a raw gemstone back, most of the conversation was Nathaniel asking how things were with the Weston family.
Veronica replied honestly, “I was just about to head over.
Nathaniel frowned, sensing something was off. “You’ve been there for several days already, and you still haven’t gone to Weston Villa?”
Veronica gave an indifferent hum and answered lazily, “My stepmother is set on shutting me out, so of course I’ll go along with it.”
She thought, I should thank Linda for trying to put me in my place. If not for her, I wouldn’t be this free right now”
After listening to Nathaniel give her a few more reminders, Veronica responded with agreement before finally hanging up the call.
12/3
5:07 PM ⚫ P.
Chapter 7
She pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes, completely indifferent to Nathaniel’s suggestion that she should try softening her stance with David.
Veronica thought, “Nothing matters more than sleep. As for everything else, I’ll deal with it when I wake up!
D
But things rarely went the way she wanted. Planning to sleep until the next morning, Veronica was awakened in the middle of the night by a loud pounding at her door.
