When fate plays its hand

At that moment, Miranda finally realized what was happening. The trio must be a scammer.

Tobin sneered. “Did you hear that, miss? You really screwed up today. You’re not walking away without paying for this.”

Miranda shot him a sarcastic smile. “You’re telling me this rusty metal box is a family heirloom? Do I look that stupid?”

He snickered. “The box itself isn’t worth anything, of course. It’s what’s inside that matters. Bram, since she’s being difficult, why don’t you show her what’s inside?”

Bram opened the box and revealed a pile of broken pieces. “See this? This vase has been in my family for generations. It’s priceless.

“It’s real blue–and–white porcelain. Do you know how rare and valuable this stuff is? Even today, it’d be worth a fortune at an auction.”

Orson Langston, the elderly man, now helped to his feet by Bram, lit a cigarette and slowly took a drag. “I know you didn’t do it on purpose, but this really is a family treasure. Everyone in our family treasures it so much, we don’t even let anyone touch it.”

Miranda remained calm. “If it’s so valuable, why was it out in the middle of the road at night? And why was it packed in a rusty metal box?”

e vase is fragile, and

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He cleared his throat. “We were moving today, so we had to take everything out. The we were worried it might get damaged, so we temporarily put it in the metal box.

“Just now, we were waiting for a ride by the side of the road with the box right next to us. Then, out nowhere, your car swerved and hit the box and sent it flying into the street. Luckily, we jumped to the guardrail just in time. If we hadn’t, you wouldn’t just have broken a vase today–you could’ve killed us.”

“Wait, I hit it? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Miranda sald coldly. “My car was going straight the whole time, and I didn’t even swerve. How could I have hit something on the side of the road?

“Unless, of course, that metal box was intentionally placed in the middle of the street. Perhaps, waiting for someone to hit it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you accusing us of scamming you?” Tobin’s expression darkened, and he raised his voice.

Miranda wasn’t falling for it. She responded coldly, “Isn’t that exactly what’s happening?”

“Fine. If you think we’re scamming you, then we are. But you’re not walking out of here without paying up.”

Miranda’s expression turned icy. “If we’re both telling different stories, it’s best to let the cops sort it out. There are cameras on this road, and my car has a dashcam. Once they check it, the truth will come out.”

Tobin’s face changed at the mention of the cops. When she added that her car had a dashcam, his expression grew tense. This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

At that moment, Orson spoke up again. “Look, miss, there’s no need to make a big deal out of this. We messed up, but you’re not totally blameless, either, Let’s work something out.

“I’m an old man and don’t want to make things harder for a young woman like you. But my sons got to eat, and I don’t have a lot of options here What do you think?

Mirands subry stacced back, but Tobin seemed to notice. He quickly moved forward and blocked her

“I think this should be handled by the police “She pulled out her phone to call.

Seeing Miranda trying to make a call, Tobin flew into a rage. He snatched her phone and snarled,” Shameless bitch what do you think you’re doing with that phone? Listen closely–if you don’t hand over 50 thousand dollars today, I swear to ruin that pretty face of yours right now.”