Ex Cried as I Wed a Tycoon

Lyman paused mid-step and asked, "What's going on?"

The store manager, nerves etched across her face, turned to him. "Mr. Etheridge,

I just noticed there's a diamond missing from the earring!"

"I checked carefully before bringing out the store's signature piece," she continued, voice trembling. "Everything was in perfect condition, and I even had my staff record a video as we opened the safe. But now..." The manager looked at Lyman with desperate hope, silently pleading with him to believe she was innocent. But whether he did or not was entirely up to him.

She watched Lyman anxiously, terrified that one wrong move would cost her the job she'd worked so hard to keep.

"Find out exactly what happened," Lyman ordered, his tone clipped.

Isabel, never one to miss an opportunity to stir the pot, chimed in with feigned concern. "Oh dear, how could this have happened? I remember the diamond was perfectly intact when I wore the earring. It's a pink diamond, not exactly small, and worth a pretty penny, isn't it?"

Her words cast a heavy silence over the room. No one dared speak-if the diamond wasn't found, who knew what consequences they'd face?

Effie emerged from the changing

on?" she asked, taking in the tense

Isabel said, her voice sharp with accusation. "Did you know the earring's

earring in question. She didn't answer Isabel directly, but simply reached out.

He trusted Effie implicitly-if she had wanted that earring,

the earring and inspected

stare at it all you

didn't even bother acknowledging her, keeping her eyes on the earring and acting as if Isabel was talking

like they're balanced delicately on top. But n reality, the prongs are strong enough to hold the diamond securely. Unless someone used force, there's no way

did know her stuff-she'd spotted the issue right away. But so

do you know someone used force to pry the diamond out? Unless you were

withering look.

hurt. "Annabel, I'm just telling the

telling the truth, but you can't go around making accusations without a