Chapter 471
Raiden glanced at her. A look of displeasure flashed across his eyes.
She's blatantly staring at me as though she wants to strip me naked. How disgusting.
“Have a seat, Ms. Young. Let's talk about today's antique appraisal.”
Lina sat across from Raiden with a blush on her face. Looking at him shyly, she said in a coy voice,
“Feel free to tell me what you need, Mr. Fletcher. I'll do my best to get it done.”
The man smirked. His charming smile was bewitching, holding her utterly spellbound.
How is this man so devilishly handsome?
“I believe you've heard about it, Ms. Young. There is a national treasure in this batch of antiques. Let's
talk about the appraisal of this cultural relic.”
Lina shook her head to remove the evil thoughts filling her mind and smiled. “I have heard quite a lot
about it the past few days, but I wonder what this cultural relic is to be called a national treasure?”
Raiden parted his lips and said simply, “An emerald seal.”
“What?” She jumped to her feet and stared at him in disbelief. “W-What did you say? T-That relic i-is
the emerald seal lost by the Haju people for thousands of years?”
Nodding, he replied, “That's right. It's the emerald seal. This cultural relic has been resold several times
overseas. No one knows if the one that was shipped back is real, so I would like you to verify it on the
spot.”
“No, no, no.” Lina waved her hands. “I-I can't do that. How can I appraise such a precious cultural relic?
You should look for reputable antique appraisers to authenticate it instead.”
“Oh?” Raiden arched his brows and smiled. “Aren't you a reputable antique appraiser, Ms. Young?
Unless you're admitting that you're not Vespera?”
“That's not what I'm saying. I am Vespera.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Since that's the case, what are you afraid of? You're well-known all over the world. Are you worried
about making a mistake? I heard that Master Vespera's skills are out of this world, whereby you can
determine the authenticity of an antique with your eyes closed. This should be extremely easy for you,
isn't it?”
Lina felt a tinge of itch on her scalp as her mind buzzed.
The techniques in creating counterfeits have become so good now that I can't even tell the difference
between a real and fake Beauty's Tear. How am I supposed to authenticate an ancient relic from
thousands of years ago?
“M-Mr. Fletcher, what if, just hypothetically speaking, I made a mistake about the authenticity? What
kind of punishment will there be?” she asked tentatively.
Raiden narrowed his eyes at her and said solemnly, “We haven't even started, and you're already
backing off? The emerald seal concerns the bloodline of Chanaea's descendants. If the authentication
is wrong, there's no doubt you'll be imprisoned for life once it's found out.”
Lina shuddered in fear.
She was starting to regret impersonating Vespera.
I thought that this identity would bring me good fortune and that I could have a smooth-sailing career
progression. However, I never expected it to be a ticking time bomb. If I don't handle this well, I'll have
to spend the rest of my life in prison!
“T-That serious? I've never seen a real emerald seal before, so I'm not completely confident about this.”
Seeing that she was terribly frightened, Raiden arched his brows and smiled. “You don't have to be so
nervous, Ms. Young. Just perform as per usual. The government has sent several cultural relic experts
to work with you in the appraisal today.”
Lina breathed a sigh of relief.
I'll just keep quiet and listen to the experts' opinions first, then use them to come up with my own
conclusion.
“All right. I'll do my best,” she said.
Afterward, she looked at him shyly and asked, “Mr. Fletcher, can we be friends?”
With a half-smile, Raiden looked at her and responded, “Let's discuss this after you've successfully
determined the authenticity of the emerald seal.”
Lina could only nod in agreement.
A commotion broke out when Bailey and Lydia showed up at the museum.
“Look. Bailey is here.”
“Didn't she have a miscarriage a few days ago? What's she doing here instead of staying at home?”
“Isn't it obvious? She's worried that her position in Hallsbay would be threatened in which a new talent
would replace her.”
“How shameless. Does she have to be the only big shot? Must she be jealous when someone takes
over?”
“Well, what do you expect? She's been the big shot for so long that she can't bear to let it go.”
“I heard that Mr. Luther will be attending today's appraisal as a special ambassador. She's probably
worried that he won't be able to control his lust and that he'll fool around and leave her.”
“Pfft! Now that you mentioned it, I just remembered that we have a chance to seduce Mr. Luther now.
Let's take the opportunity to sleep with him while Bailey can't.”
“Mr. Luther used to accompany her personally in the past. Now, their loving relationship is gone, and
they're like strangers. She's probably been kicked to the curb.”
Laughter ensued from the heated discussion.
Lydia could not take it anymore. Just as she was about to step in, she was stopped by Bailey.
“Bailey, they're saying such awful things! How can you endure it?”
Bailey smiled in resignation. “They've said nastier things before you came to Hallsbay, but they all ate
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmtheir words, didn't they? They're just jealous of me. I should be happy. Why get angry?”
Uh... She's quite broad-minded. However, there seems to be something unusual in her words. Could it
be that she'll make them eat their words again? If that's the case, I'll leave them be for now. It'll feel so
exhilarating to show them how wrong they are!
Bailey's indifferent, haughty, and cold attitude instantly angered the women around them.
One of them dashed out of the crowd and stood in front of Bailey with a sneer. “You're just a bastard
with an unknown father. Seven years ago, you shamelessly slept with Mr. Luther and gave birth to
three illegitimate children. Did you think you could be above your station because of that? Pfft! Your
children are just bastards like you. Bastards will only give birth to bastards. None of them are pure.”
Bailey frowned slightly.
She could tolerate other people insulting her and Sophia, but no one was allowed to insult Zayron and
the other kids.
Her children were her life.
At that moment, Felicity and Gwendolyn approached from a distance. The two of them were the most
distinguished women in upper-class society, attracting everyone's attention as soon as they appeared.
Felicity walked toward Bailey. Narrowing her eyes at the latter, she chided, “Are you mute? You've
always been eloquent. Why are you letting her insult you?”
With that, she turned around, raised her arm, and slapped the socialite across the face.
“The Luther family's daughter-in-law and grandchildren are not people you can criticize.”
Everyone present at the scene, including Bailey, was stunned.
Felicity was always gentle and dignified. Although she was a little assertive, no one had ever witnessed
her slap another in front of a crowd, especially when the other party was a young woman.
The socialite held her cheek and looked at Felicity with teary eyes.
Mom clearly said that Mrs. Luther hates Bailey. She said that Mrs. Luther would see me in a new light if
I ridiculed Bailey in front of her. W-What's going on?