Chapter 34 Being Driven Away
Chapter 34 Being Driven Away
Chapter 34 Being Driven Away
Ingrid Sterling appeared to have the upper hand and looked at Rejoyla. "Miss Lynn, do you have anything to say for yourself? Just give me back my necklace, and I'll let this go!"
"Joy didn't steal the necklace. Paula," Jacquelyn stared at Paula sternly with her beautiful eyes, "When did you see Joy?"
Paula Thompson looked up timidly. "It was probably before 4 am. Master Sterling's medicinal meals usually take three hours to get ready. So, I usually wake up at this time."
"Oh, four o'clock in the morning. It's not even light out yet. You have sharp eyes! You can even see the necklace in Joy's hand? And you followed Joy without being noticed? That wouldn't be possible if you were following her close behind. You had to keep some distance to avoid being noticed. But how could you see the necklace from such a distance?"
Paula Thompson pursed her thick lips. She didn't dare to look at Jacquelyn, replying, "I have good eyesight. Besides, I wasn't that far away. Miss Ingrid's room is the first room by the stairs. I was hiding around the corner of the stairs. The hallway lights were on, so I could see the necklace clearly!"
Jacquelyn frowned and was at a loss for words. But she believed Rejoyla. She knew her daughter never coveted wealth nor fame since she was young. Even if Joy really liked jewelry, she could ask her to buy some for her now since their lives were much better than before. Why would she steal Ingrid's necklace? However, the tricky part of this situation was that there was a witness. The truth was hard to tell at this time.
"Jacquelyn, I know this has put you in a difficult position. How about this? As long as Miss Lynn hands over the necklace, I will pretend that this never happened. I can guarantee that I will not tell
anyone. This will not affect Miss Lynn's reputation!" Ingrid looked at Jacquelyn with teary eyes, pretending to be a pitiful victim. Rejoyla couldn't stand her look and rubbed her arms, saying impatiently, "I have said many times that I didn't take your necklace. Don't look at me like I'm a thief!"
"Miss Lynn, you…" Ingrid held her chest, acting as if she was shocked by such a brazen person. She looked at Rejoyla with a sad look and said, "Miss Lynn, since you don't admit it, do you dare to let me search for your room?"
"Why should I allow you to search my room? What do you take me for?" Rejoyla questioned. She was not a weak girl and would not allow anyone to search her place without a solid reason!
"If you're innocent, let me search it. Unless you're guilty!"
"I'm not a thief, nor am I a child in your family. And you're not a police officer. You have no right to search my room. Well, since you lost a necklace, let's call the police. I'll let them search my room if they have a search warrant!" Rejoyla replied with a cold smile.
Did these people really think she was a pushover? Did they all want to see her humiliated? Alright, she might as well make a big deal out of it and let everyone see the "good" upbringing of the Sterling family, who ganged up to harass a young in-law." Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can you involve the police in such a matter, Joy? You are making a fuss over nothing. Here's the deal: since you don't agree to let Ingrid in, I will go to your room to take a look. Your mother, Jacquelyn, can come with me. This way, you can be at ease, right? This matter needs to be settled."
"If you still refuse to let us in, I can drop this. But people may think that you did steal the necklace. Joy, you will have to live with such a reputation in the future. You should think about it carefully. I'm not going to SEARCH your room, I'm just going in there to HAVE A LOOK. And your mother will do
this together with me. The rest will stay outside. Is this okay?" Heidi Tupart finally spoke up in a friendly tone."
She didn't expect Rejoyla to be so hot-tempered that she could call the police. Moreover, Heidi didn't think this girl was bluffing, but really meant to do it. Of course, she couldn't allow such a thing to happen. Otherwise, if this matter were spread, the reputation of the Sterling family would also be affected. Although Georgina was wrong, Jacquelyn and Rejoyla took advantage of Georgina's mistake and stepped on her and her husband Nick's common branch family's dignity to establish their own power in the Sterling family.
No matter what Ingrid wanted to do, Heidi couldn't let herself be suppressed by Rejoyla again, otherwise she would really become a laughing stock.
Jacquelyn glanced at Burton Sterling and stopped Rejoyla, who was about to retort, saying, "Okay, let's do this!"
Rejoyla had a blind date this evening. Jacquelyn couldn't let her daughter's reputation be tarnished because of this. Rejoyla's current status was already somewhat awkward, and if she were to add the accusations of greed, vanity, and theft to her name, she would surely have no chance to enter the upper class society ever again.
Jacquelyn could not allow this to happen. So it would be better to resolve this matter as soon as possible. Rejoyla frowned at Jacquelyn, and Jacquelyn twisted Rejoyla's arm slightly, forcing her to comply.
"Joy, your key!"
"No need. I didn't lock the door. You can just push it open!"
Ingrid was a bit shocked. She thought that Rejoyla, who was stingy, would definitely lock her door. However, she didn't lock it! This was not good. Heidi raised her eyebrows, and she and Jacquelyn got into Rejoyla's room. Soon the two came out. Jacquelyn's face was dark, while the corner of Heidi's mouth was slightly hooked. Heidi looked at Rejoyla with a pink diamond necklace in her hand."
Upon seeing the necklace, Ingrid exclaimed and ran over to Heidi. She trembled as she took the pink diamond necklace from Heidi's hands, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Suddenly, she turned her head to stare fiercely at Rejoyla. "Miss Lynn, do you have anything to say for yourself? My necklace was found in your room! YOU THIEF!"
"How was I supposed to know why it was in my room? After all, my room wasn't locked. There were so many people coming in and out of this house every day. Who knows?" Rejoyla shrugged, pretending not to care. But she was secretly nervous that they had actually found the necklace in her room. What should she do?
"Miss Lynn, this is your fault. Now that there is the evidence and a witness, why are you still trying to get away with it? If you just admit your mistake, it won't be a big deal. It's not worth it to cause so much trouble over a necklace. As long as you promise not to do this kind of thing again, Ingrid won't hold it against you. Right, Ingrid? After all, we're all family here. For the sake of your grandfather, don't hold a grudge!"
Hillary's kind words seemed to be for Rejoyla's benefit, but in reality, she was making Rejoyla as the thief with "iron-lad" evidence. Rejoyla was not a stupid girl. She would be forgiven just by admitting her mistake? Did this woman think she was a toddler? Once she admitted to taking the necklace, it would forever be her stain. If anything went missing in this house in the future, she would be the first to be suspected.
"I've already said I have nothing to do with all of this!"
"My necklace was found in your room! How dare you say that! Rejoyla Lynn, you are so shameless! If I were you, I would be too ashamed to stand here!" Ingrid said sharply and glared at Rejoyla with an unpleasant expression.
Well, she had someone put the necklace in Rejoyla's room. She had originally wanted to search Rejoyla's room herself, but she didn't expect Rejoyla to be so difficult to deal with that she didn't get the chance to go into her room. Therefore, she could only agree to let Heidi and Jacquelyn go in. She couldn't disagree at that time, otherwise, she would look guilty.
After failing to achieve her initial goal, Ingrid lost her composure. She blamed everything on Rejoyla. If Rejoyla had not resisted and allowed her to search the room, as long as she confirmed that her contraceptives were not in Rejoyla's room, how could she have mistreated Rejoyla? She would definitely give Rejoyla some money. But now, she had no chance to execute her original plan.
Well, forget it. Having oral contraceptives was not a big deal anyway. So what if her secret was exposed? She just couldn't stand Rejoyla's attitude. She thought that Rejoyla was just a lowly girl who lived off of others and might be kicked out of the Sterling family at any time. Such a girl had no right to challenge her.
She wanted to make sure Rejoyla knew the consequences of offending her.
"Grandpa, you have to help me. I can't stay in this house anymore. Our family has never had anything stolen before. Since Rejoyla moved in, we've had constant problems. Georgina was kicked out, and now my necklace has been stolen. Who knows what she will do next? Grandpa, this is Sterling Manor. You can't let someone ruin the Sterling family's reputation!"
Rejoyla tilted her head and stared at Ingrid, who was crying and complaining. She didn't understand why Ingrid set up such a scheme against her. But now she didn't have time to think about it. She needed to break this scheme. Well, she didn't want to live here. She really wanted to move out. But
she couldn't leave in such a disgraceful way! If she was accused of being a thief and kicked out, how could her mother Jacquelyn continue to stay here in the future?
However, the person who framed her did it very thoroughly, with witnesses and evidence. She could insist that her door was not locked and that anyone could have entered, which meant that she was likely framed by someone else. But the problem was that she had no evidence to prove her innocence!
With no evidence, she had no chance to prove her innocence. Therefore, the key was evidence. Burton Sterling took a deep glance at Ingrid and then at Rejoyla, saying with a cold and stern tone, "Did you do it, Joy?"
Rejoyla was stunned. Finally, Burton Sterling, who had been watching from aside, joined in.
"No, I didn't!" Rejoyla replied.
"Well, the necklace was found in your room. Paula also saw you leaving Ingrid's room. You say you didn't do it. Then do you have any evidence to prove yourself?"
"I, I…" Rejoyla hesitated and could not defend herself.
Just as Jacquelyn was about to speak up for her, Burton Sterling coldly glanced at her, silencing Jacquelyn, who then dared not speak, pursing her lips and looking at Rejoyla with a sorry look.
"Since you have no evidence to prove your innocence, let's just leave it at that!" Looking at Rejoyla's defiant eyes, Burton Sterling said, "We can't keep you here. You should move out today!"
Actually, he could tell that Ingrid was behind the whole thing. So what? Ingrid was his granddaughter. When there was conflict between her and Rejoyla, of course he would make Rejoyla the scapegoat. If he really allowed a serious investigation and proved that Rejoyla was
innocent, then Ingrid would become the person who falsely accused Rejoyla. At that time, Ingrid would have no place in the Sterling family.
As for Rejoyla, Burton thought that the girl should blame herself for not being obedient and having offended Nick's family. He could allow the Sterling family to have any flaws because of her. Therefore, the only person to be sacrificed should be Rejoyla. But considering the sacrifice she made for the reputation of the Sterling family, he would compensate her.
"Grandpa, you are the wisest! Drive away this shameless thief, or I won't be able to sleep in peace anymore! If there's a thief in our house, we'll be living in fear every day!" Ingrid covered her mouth and sneered at Rejoyla. "By the way, Paula, please check our house thoroughly later, in case we have other stuff that has been stolen."
Rejoyla turned pale, trembling with anger. What did Burton mean? Was he going to make her a scapegoat and then kick her out of the Sterling family?