Chapter 10 Checkmate in High Society
The video on the colossal screen was so high-definition you could see the sweat beads on the man's forehead.
It was a grungy, underground workshop. A man in a dirty tank top—'Old Rat'—was holding the very same "Tang Dynasty Imperial Jade Crown" that sat on the silk pillow on stage.
"Yeah, it's done," Old Rat's voice boomed through the theatre's surround-sound speakers.
"Chemically aged quartz and brass wire. Took me three weeks.
Tell Madam Lin it'll pass any basic visual inspection, but she better not let a real appraiser touch it.
She owes me my half million cut by Friday, or I'm telling her husband about our little. .. extracurricular activities in bed."
The theatre exploded. It wasn't just gasps this time; it was absolute bedlam.
"A fake! She tried to sell a fake at the Sovereign Auction!" "And she's sleeping with the forger! Her poor late husband!" "Disgusting! The Lin family is an absolute fraud!"
Madam Lin let out a blood-curdling screech, covering her ears. "Turn it off! Turn it off! It's AI! It's a deepfake! She's framing me!"
"Is the bank transfer a deepfake too?" I shouted over the noise.
The screen switched. It displayed Madam Lin's personal bank ledger, showing a transfer of 500,000 yuan to an account registered to "Old Rat" with the memo: For the Tang Crown.
"You plotted to sell a worthless piece of chemically treated trash to the elite families of Jingcheng," I said, walking down the aisle toward her.
My voice was a hammer, driving the nails into her coffin.
"You tried to extort a hundred million yuan from charity.
And worse, you tried to frame me for it.
You are a thief, an adulteress, and a fraud. "
[DING! Annihilation Complete! Major antagonist thoroughly destroyed! Reward: +5,000 Schadenfreude Points! +50,000,000 Yuan Bonus!]
"I'll kill you!" Madam Lin lunged at me, her hands curled into claws, aiming for my face.
Before she could even take two steps, a massive hand grabbed the back of her designer dress, violently yanking her backward. She crashed to the floor in an undignified heap.
I blinked. It wasn't security who had stopped her. It was Lu Chen.
He stood between me and the writhing Madam Lin like an impenetrable wall, his dark eyes blazing with a terrifying, protective fury. "Touch my wife," he rumbled, his voice shaking the floorboards, "and I will bury you alive."
"I am not your wife!" I hissed at him, enraged that he was trying to steal my victory moment.
Before Lu Chen could respond, the heavy mahogany double doors at the back of the theatre burst open. A squad of Jingcheng police officers marched in, led by a stern-faced inspector.
"Madam Lin!" the inspector barked. "You are under arrest for grand fraud, charity extortion, and conspiracy. Take her away!"
Two officers dragged the screaming, flailing Madam Lin toward the exit.
Lin Wan stood frozen in the aisle, her face completely pale. Her white lotus mask was shattered beyond repair. She looked around at the elite crowd, who were staring at her with blatant disgust. The heiresses who used to fawn over her were physically turning their backs.
The stress, the humiliation, and the sudden realization that she was utterly ruined finally broke her. Lin Wan's eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed to the plush carpet in a dead faint. Nobody moved to help her.
I looked down at her pathetic form, feeling a cold, hollow sense of vindication. This is for my parents, I thought. And I'm not even done with you yet.
As the chaos slowly began to settle, an old, raspy voice cut through the murmurs.
"Wait. Halt the proceedings."
From the ultra-VIP booth on the balcony—a booth reserved solely for the untouchable, ruling families of the Capital—an elderly man emerged. It was Patriarch Ye. The most powerful man in the country, a man whose mere cough could crash the stock market.
He leaned heavily on a dragon-headed cane, his cloudy eyes staring fixedly down at the aisle.
But he wasn't looking at the fake crown. He wasn't looking at the arrested Madam Lin.
He was staring directly at me. Specifically, at my collarbone.
My emerald dress featured a deep, elegant sweetheart neckline. Nestled just below my right collarbone was a small, uniquely shaped, crimson birthmark. It looked like a blooming plum blossom.
Patriarch Ye's hands began to tremble violently. He dropped his cane. It clattered loudly down the balcony stairs.
"That mark..." the old billionaire choked out, tears suddenly welling in his fierce, weathered eyes. He pointed a shaking finger at my chest. "The plum blossom mark. It's her. My god... it's my missing granddaughter!"