CHAPTER 3 – THE EMERALD NECKLACE
Detective Harris ordered everyone to remain inside.
The officers separated Adrian, Marissa, and Lena into different rooms.
Lena cried as she explained everything.
Mrs. Vale had called her into the wine cellar.
She had already removed the emerald necklace from the safe.
Then she deliberately pushed one section of the crystal display.
When the shelves collapsed, she ordered Lena to stand in the middle of the broken glass.
"If you don't confess," Marissa had warned, "I'll make sure no family ever hires you again."
Meanwhile, the insurance investigator searched the house.
Twenty minutes later, an officer called from upstairs.
"Detective... you need to see this."
Inside Marissa's dressing room...
Hidden beneath a false compartment in an expensive jewelry case...
Lay the missing emerald necklace.
Still inside its original velvet box.
Beside it were receipts for luxury vacations...
Offshore account information...
And copies of forged invoices worth nearly four million dollars.
Adrian stared at the documents.
"How long?"
The investigator answered quietly.
"Years."
Marissa hadn't only framed Lena.
She had been stealing from their own companies, filing false insurance claims, and moving money through shell businesses.
The broken crystal shelf had never been about revenge.
It had been the final distraction before she disappeared with millions.
But Adrian's canceled flight had ruined everything.
As officers handcuffed her wrists, Marissa looked directly at Adrian.
"You'll regret this."
He answered without raising his voice.
"No."
"I'll regret marrying someone I never truly knew."
Lena lowered her head and quietly cried with relief.
May you like
For the first time in months...
Someone believed her.
