"Terence, the necklace you gave me is gone! It's the one you got after fighting in 12 consecutive boxing matches, and it's the only one in the world! Hurry and help me find it—it means a lot to me!" Winona cried.
Things descended into chaos, and all the lights were flipped on. Celeste had just made sense of what had happened when someone grabbed her arm and dragged her back from the door.
"Mr. Ford, this person was sneaking out of the hall. The necklace might be with her."
As soon as the words were out of their mouth, a necklace fell to the floor behind her. The person standing beside her hurriedly picked it up and held it high. "Look, here it is! I knew she was sneaking off for a reason! She's a thief!"
All eyes landed on Celeste at those words. Some people were appraising, some were disdainful, some were disgusted, and some were just excited by the drama.
Winona had already made her way to Celeste when the necklace had fallen. She said, "I know your parents died when you were young and that a playboy brother raised you. I can give you everything else that you want, but that necklace really means a lot to me.
"The necklace isn't all that's gone missing. My bracelet and diamond ring are gone, too. They were all from Terence, so please let me search you for them."
She waved as she spoke. Two bodyguards shot forward and grabbed each of Celeste's arms before starting to tug at her clothes.
Celeste's expression darkened. "Let me go! I didn't steal from you! There are surveillance cameras everywhere—look at the footage if you've lost something! You think you can just search me like this after forcing a false accusation on me? Do you think you're still abroad?"
She tried her best to break free, but a woman's strength still fell short when compared to a man, especially since two bodyguards were holding onto her.
She couldn't escape them, and the crowd watched her coldly. Her gaze hardened as the bodyguards tried to strip her. Then, throwing caution to the wind, she kicked Winona hard in the abdomen.
Winona screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Everyone stopped what they were doing.
"Come on, she's the heiress of the Lodge family. Why would she steal a necklace? This must be a misunderstanding."
"Why wouldn't she? Mr. Ford won that necklace after fighting in boxing matches, and Celeste is hopelessly in love with him. Who knows how long she's been jealous of Winona?"
"She even had the nerve to kick Ms. Ford. Do you see the look in Mr. Ford's eyes? He's going to kill her."
Sure enough, Terence charged forward as the crowd whispered among themselves. His eyes were filled with heartache as he checked on Winona. Then, he turned to give Celeste a deadly look.
"Do you want to die, Celeste Lodge? How dare you hurt Winona! Apologize now!" he roared.
Celeste remained where she was, her fingers trembling as she pulled her clothes tighter around herself. She said sarcastically, "You didn't do anything when she ordered her bodyguards to seize me and strip me in public, yet you're making me apologize for fighting back. Do you even have a heart, Terence? She orchestrated this whole thing—there's no way I'm apologizing for that."
With that, she turned to leave.
Terence's expression turned hideous, and he stormed after her, stretching out an arm to stop her from leaving. He said commandingly, "I told you to apologize. You're not going anywhere if you don't."
She clutched the hem of her clothes so tightly that her nails almost bit into her palms. Her blood boiled, but all she did was force out, "What if I refuse to apologize?"
What would he do if she didn't apologize?
He sneered and raised a hand. The two bodyguards from earlier came to grab her again. Terence said, "We need an assistant in the boxing ring to hype things up. I'll send you up there."
