Chapter 6

"I'm not a thief!" Brielle shouted in protest.

She clung to Victor's arm, glaring at Niamh. "This necklace is mine!"

"Brielle!" Victor frowned, clearly disapproving of her behavior.

But Brielle didn't care.

If she admitted it now, she'd be admitting she was a thief, wouldn't she?

Brielle whispered urgently to Victor, "Victor, if the Douglas family finds out I stole something, do you think you'll still have a chance with Ms. Douglas?"

Victor's resolve wavered.

Seeing this, Brielle pressed on. "Besides, I found this in the dressing room. How can she prove it's hers?"

Seeing how confident Brielle seemed, the crowd exchanged uncertain glances. The situation stalled.

Just then, Sophia descended the stairs. Her gaze swept over the whispering siblings before landing on Niamh. She spoke loudly. "Exactly. Miss, you say the necklace is yours—do you have proof? It's not like your name is engraved on it, right?"

Hearing Sophia's words, Brielle, who'd been scheming with Victor, felt even more emboldened.

She straightened her back and demanded righteously, "Sophia's right. You say it's yours—does it have your name on it?"

Niamh suddenly smiled.

To Brielle, that smile looked like defeat.

Brielle grew even more smug. She decided to turn the tables. "This was a homecoming gift from my mother. You're just jealous, aren't you?"

As she spoke, she deliberately lifted the ruby pendant—larger than a pigeon's egg—showing it off to everyone.

What an idiot…

Sophia's lips curved into a faint smirk.

Niamh strode forward and grabbed the necklace, fiddling with it. "Still not convinced? Fine. I'll show you exactly how you're going down!"

"What are you doing?" Brielle quickly grabbed her hand.

Following Niamh's movements, Brielle noticed for the first time that the pendant could open.

Had she actually engraved something inside?

Brielle immediately looked to Victor for help.

Victor grabbed Niamh's wrist, squeezing hard, his face dark with warning. "I've never seen you at a party before. Did you sneak in here to scam people?"

Niamh laughed. "Well, You two really are siblings—equally shameless."

Then Niamh called over two security guards. "Hold them. Today, I'm going to show everyone who this necklace really belongs to."

The next second, the guards stepped forward, pulling Victor away and forcibly restraining Brielle by both arms.

Now Brielle was truly panicking.

She shouted at Sophia, "What are you standing there for? Can't you see I'm being bullied?"

"I…" Sophia opened her mouth but said nothing.

She lowered her head, shoulders slumped, looking utterly frightened.

Niamh shot Brielle a vicious glare.

How dare she bully her precious cousin right in front of her?

Niamh yanked the necklace over and opened the pendant, showing everyone the photo inside. "This was a gift for my eighteenth birthday. The photo inside is of me. Is that proof enough that this necklace is mine?"

There's even a photo?

Brielle's legs gave out. The moment the guards released her, she collapsed onto the floor.

She stared blankly at Niamh.

Niamh crouched down, dangling the necklace in front of her face. "What 'real heiress'? You're nothing but a petty thief."

Brielle shook her head frantically. "That's not true! I found this in the dressing room!"

But no one believed her anymore. Stealing at such a grand event was utterly disgraceful.

Everyone pointed and whispered, their eyes brimming with disdain.

Seeing no one believed her, Brielle looked pleadingly at the butler. "Tell them! I really did find this necklace in the dressing room!"

The butler looked uncomfortable.

After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Ms. Russell, please don't put me in a difficult position. I didn't enter the dressing room, so I can't say for certain. But I can tell you this—our staff cleans the dressing rooms immediately after each guest finishes using them."

With that statement, Brielle's identity as a thief was sealed.

"That's not—"

Brielle tried to argue, but Niamh cut her off impatiently. "Enough. I don't have time to listen to your excuses. This necklace is filthy now that a thief like you wore it. You'd better figure out how you're going to compensate me."

Hearing she'd have to pay, Brielle forgot all about saving face. She scrambled up from the floor and yelled at Niamh. "Are you insane? I already gave you back the necklace!"

Niamh shrugged nonchalantly. "I find it disgusting. I don't want it anymore."

"You—" Brielle stomped her foot in frustration.

Everyone had heard the necklace was worth thirty million dollars. Did she have thirty million? Even if Heath and Amara came right now, they wouldn't be willing to fork over that much money.

"Victor." Brielle turned to Victor for help again.

By now, Victor was losing his patience.

This was the second time Brielle had humiliated herself. If this kept up, how could he possibly meet Ms. Douglas? If Ms. Douglas had a bad impression of him, how could he ever become the Douglas family's son-in-law?

Seeing Victor not only refuse to help but look visibly annoyed, Brielle panicked.

She pleaded urgently, "Victor, you can't just abandon me!"

Victor snapped at her irritably, "Then why didn't you think about the consequences before you did it?"

But seeing her helpless expression, he softened slightly. "I'll call Mom and Dad."

Heath and his wife had just parked the car when they received their son's call. They rushed over in a panic.

When Heath saw Niamh's face, his anger instantly melted into fawning flattery.

He bowed deeply. "Ms. Niamh Douglas, you're here! Did the newly found Ms. Douglas come with you?"

Niamh instinctively glanced at Sophia.

Seeing no expression on her face, Niamh immediately understood—these two old fools were no good either.

Her face turned cold as she glanced at Brielle. "Mr. Russell, your daughter stole my necklace and claimed it was hers. Now I don't want it anymore. So tell me—how are you going to compensate me?"

"We'll pay! We're willing to compensate you double the price." Heath didn't dare object. He quickly laid out his offer. They couldn't afford to offend Niamh.

"Dad!" Brielle pouted, looking aggrieved.

When she wanted to buy things, the family only gave her three hundred thousand dollars. But now they were willing to spend sixty million on someone else's necklace?

"Shut up!" Heath glared at Brielle.

Then he turned back to Niamh with a sycophantic smile. "Brielle was just brought back into the family. She hasn't broken her old habits yet. We'll make sure to educate her properly when we get home. Ms. Douglas, please don't hold it against her."

Niamh rolled her eyes. "Fine. At least you know how to behave. I won't bother arguing with a thief. But Mr. Russell, your daughter is something else. I've never seen a thief so brazenly confident about stealing before. Tell her to be more humble—especially if she ends up in a police station. That kind of attitude will get her into trouble."

"Yes, you're absolutely right." Heath nodded repeatedly, showing no sign of anger at Niamh's insults.

After transferring the money to Niamh, he grabbed Brielle and dragged her out of the venue.

Once they were outside the ballroom, Heath shoved Brielle down the steps without a shred of pity.

Brielle stumbled backward several steps before losing her balance and falling to the ground.

"Dad." She looked up helplessly at Heath's impatient face.

Heath sighed in disappointment. "Brielle, I'm not asking you to make connections that could help the Russell family. But you can't keep embarrassing us like this. Compared to your sister, you're still far too lacking."

With that, Heath shook his head and walked away.

Clearly, he was utterly disappointed in her.

Brielle bit her lip hard, staring at his retreating figure. Her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood.

Sophia.

It was Sophia again.

That woman had already been kicked out of the Russell family. Why wouldn't she just disappear?

Brielle stood up from the ground, hatred practically spilling from her eyes.

Today, she was going to see just what kind of waves a lowly waitress like Sophia could make.