Chapter 2

2

"Apologize?"

I laughed. "You want me to apologize to someone who tried to buy me off and an illegitimate brat who's trying to steal my boyfriend?"

"You!" Beatrice raised her hand in rage.

"Mom," Beckett quickly pulled her back. He took a deep breath and looked at me with a pleading tone.

"Elara, I'm begging you. Just apologize so we can move past this, okay?"

"My mother is just angry. And Willow… she's just a girl who doesn't understand the world. Don't take it out on them."

I stared at him intensely.

In that moment, I realized just how stupid and cowardly the man in front of me truly was.

I stood up slowly and picked up the annoying black card from the table.

While he looked at me in confusion, I raised my hand and slapped the card right across his face. Then, I followed it with a hard, stinging slap to his cheek.

"Beckett, you, your mother, and this woman deserve each other."

"That slap was to wake you up."

"From this moment on, we are over!"

My attitude completely pushed Beatrice over the edge.

She saw the red mark on her son's face and lunged forward. She grabbed my designer handbag and began screaming at the top of her lungs.

"My brooch! My sapphire brooch is missing! You stole it!"

That scream was more explosive than anything said earlier.

Every person in the cafe suddenly turned their eyes toward me.

Beatrice started wailing to the crowd around us.

"Everyone, look! This woman couldn't get my son, so now she's stealing from me!"

"That brooch was an anniversary gift from my husband. It's worth over two hundred thousand dollars!"

Willow immediately covered her mouth, acting shocked while a hint of triumph flashed in her eyes.

"Elara, how could you… Auntie loved that brooch so much…"

"Was life abroad really that hard for you? You could have asked me for help. Why would you do this?"

Her words were calculated. She made me look like a thief who turned to crime out of jealousy and poverty.

Beckett looked at me, his gaze shifting from anger to complete disappointment and disgust.

"Elara, I really misjudged you."

"I thought you were just arrogant and spoiled, but I never thought you were a thief."

"Where is my mother's brooch? Hand it over now."

I looked at the three of them―the perfect little family of liars. Every bit of warmth I ever felt for Beckett vanished.

I spoke slowly. "Are you sure I'm the one who took it?"

"Who else could it be?"

Beatrice shrieked, clutching my bag tightly. "You're the only suspicious one here."

The commotion was so loud that the mall security and a middle-aged man in a suit soon arrived.

Beatrice saw the manager and immediately pointed at me.

"Mr. Miller, there's a thief in your mall. Arrest her immediately and take her to the VIP lounge. I want to search her myself."