Chapter 77 – Conned
The next day, Romeo ordered himself a lavish breakfast.
He was already making plans on how to spend that large amount of money the necklace would fetch.
Just thinking about it made him giddy like a teenager and he managed to eat twice his usual portion size for breakfast.
Romeo tidied himself up and went to a collector in heavy spirits.
To ensure the necklace was not stolen, he had secured it on his waist and wrapped it with gauze under his clothes.
He took the necklace for assessment only after he had secured a private audience with the manager.
However, his hopes were to be quickly dashed.
“Is this your idea of a joke?” The manager slammed the table where he was inspecting the necklace.
Romeo had a bad feeling about it.
As far as Romeo knew, the necklace was the family heirloom of Lester’s first wife and should be valued in the tens of millions at least. How could the manager think it was a joke unless he was cheated.
Either the manager was trying to cheat him, or his ex-wife Rose, the current Mrs. Aprice, cheated him.
Out of the two, it was likely to be the latter.
But he kept his thoughts to himself and asked the manager to clarify.
“This necklace is one of the hottest items in the upcoming auction in P city. Only we insiders know that it is going to be on the list, no one from the outside knows that. How dare you come to me with this cheap replica and try to fool me? Even if you were a thug, you should have at least stolen a legit item.” The manager spat out the last words disdainfully.
Romeo had been a rich person since he had helped Rose become Mrs. Aprice. He had not faced such humiliation in a long time and could barely keep a clear head.
The manager’s tone reminded him of his younger years when he had been looked down on and disdained for being poor.
He never wanted to go back to those days. Especially since he knew that Rose was still enjoying the luxurious life of being Mrs. Aprice.
He politely replied to the manager despite his misgivings.
“I think there should be a mistake. This necklace has been with me for over ten years now. At that time, I bought it from a woman who told me she was forced to sell her family heirloom because of financial difficulties and it cost me a pretty penny too.”
The manager looked at him considering his words and shook his head in disbelief.
“Well, then you have been cheated. This is a replica. If you want I can show you by breaking the diamond. But feel free to take it to others to verify. Any collector worth his salt could tell you this is fake. You will understand when you see the real one.”Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.
Romeo clenched his fists under the table and asked with an embarrassed smile, “Who put it on for the auction? I want to know if it’s the same bitch who conned me!”