Chapter 213 Caught Red–Handed

Yunice kept her hand on the ginseng box, her tone light and deliberate. “Do you know bhow /brare a century–old bginseng /bis? And do you know that once rare medicinal herbs like this pass through the hands of a licensed supplier, they’re immediately authenticated and tagged with a unique serial number to mark their value?”

Elsie’s face showed clear confusion.

She had never heard of medicinal herbs having serial numbers.

Yunice asked, “So, do you think this ginseng might have a number on bit/b?”

Elsie hesitated. “It’s so valuable, I was afraid to damage it, so I didn’t check. I’m not bsure /bif there’s a number on it or not.”

Yunice continued, “Then you must not know that a month ago, someone reported a stolen century–old ginseng. They even provided the serial number–this bone /bright here in my hands.”

Elsie’s eyes flew bwide /bopen; she bstared /bat Yunice in shock.

Yunice held up the gift box. “If you can’t provide proof of purchase for this ginseng. I’ll have every reason to believe you stole it.”

bElsie /bwent pale. She never imagined Quinton would discover the ginseng had been swapped–let alone that he would report it to the police.

She especially didn’t expect the ginseng to have ba /bserial number, or that she’d get caught red- handed…

Owen stepped up. “You’re just targeting my sister. Someone must’ve switched the ginseng to set her up! I bdemand /bto see the security footage!”

He bred /bat Jackson band /bTaylor, suspecting them of ying dirty tricks just to humiliate the Saunders family.

“Owen!” Elsie bwas /bfed up with this idiot of a teammate.

bLinda /bsneered. “So Mr. Owen allows his sister to gift us stolen property, and instead of taking responsibility, you turn around and use bus/b? Fine, let’s check the footage. You think the Powell family is afraid of byou/b?”

When the security footage was bbrought /bout, Elsie stood frozen in ce.

Everyone knew that prominent families valued their privacy, for banquets like this, photography and bfilming /bwere strictly prohibited. Surveince? Unheard of But the Powell family had secretly installed cumetai?

Landa exined, “Don’t worry–only the gift table was monitored. Since all your gifts are valuable, we had to verify each one to avoid misunderstandings like this. We wouldn’t want to be assed of anything shady”

308 PM

Chupter 213 Caught Red–Handed

That bline /bwas clearly aimed at Elsie.

Finished

Elsie, face flushed with shame, tugged at Owen’s sleeve band /bwhispered with a trembling voice. “Owen, let’s not watch the footage. We’ve obviously been set up–let’s just take the loss…”

But Owen, ever the blunt one, dered, “Don’t give up. Elsie–don’t be afraid. I’ll clear your

name.”

Then he turned ba /bcold re toward Yunice band /bgritted out, “bAnd /bI’ll make sure the one : your name is exposed too.”

The footage appeared on the big screen. Clear as bday/b, it showed Elsie at bthe /bgift table, proudly announcing herself as the Powell family’s future granddaughter–inw.

“She really bhad /bthe nerve to me it on the staff messing up the registry. Turns out she just binted /bher own worthb./bb” /b

“No wonder she kept trying to leech off Ms. Taylor’s bstatus/b–she just wanted to get noticed by the bPowells/b.”

“Infamy is bstill /bfame, I guess. At least now everyone knows her, huhb…/b”

Elsie shook her head in agony and copsed into Owen’s arms. “That’s bnot /btrue! I wasn’t trying to fake anything–Paul promised he’d marry me…”

bOwen /bstill believed she was innocent. He shouted, “You all know the truth deep down!”

Then he bshot /ba bitter look at Taylor. “Stealing someone else’s man isn’t exactly something to be proud of.”

With that, he wrapped an arm around Elsic. “I’m taking you out of hereb./b”

Yunice took the chance to speak bup/b. “Then I’ll return the stolen ginseng to its rightful owner for you.”

Owen shot her a murderous re. As iif /ithings weren’t humiliating enough already.

Jackson mmed his cane on the ground, face bdark /bwith fury. “You think the Powell family is your stage for bdrama/b?”

This was his birthday, not a ce for public spectacle.

Linda didn’t waste another second. She ordered the Saunders family to be escorted out.

the servants pushed them from the hall, Owen kicked back in frustration.

Eluc, pale and trembling, choked out, “Owen, I’m sorry. I bwas /bjust too bnaive/b… bThat’s /bhow I got med. You can hit me if you want