So Vesta had known for that long. And she had never mentioned it.


    Did she truly not care, as Leah suggested? If she had asked Thorne about it and received a reasonable exnation, then perhaps there was no need to dwell on it. In that case, it made sense that she wouldn''t bring it up unprompted.


    But the diamond was worth over four billion dors. That was more than Neural Nexus Tech and all the other gifts Thorne had ever given Vestabined. Knowing how much everyone was wondering about the diamond, for Vesta to learn it had been given to someone else and keep silent... that didn''t sit right.


    Perhaps she was so confident in her rtionship with Thorne that she believed what she would gain after their marriage would far surpass the diamond''s value. In that case, she might consider it too trivial to mention.


    But what if her silence was a deliberate concealment?


    Rhoda had the same thoughts. Seeing the grim expressions around her, she tried to smooth things over. "I still think Thorne and Vesta''s rtionship is very strong. We shouldn''t overthink this. Besides, if we want answers, we can just ask Vesta when she gets back, right?"


    "Yeah, when Vesta gets back—" Leah began.


    Just then, the door opened and Vesta walked in.


    Every head in the room swiveled towards her.


    Maureen''s eyes flickered. She was the first to rise, her voice gentle. "Vesta, you''re back. Are you hungry? The kitchen—"


    At the same time, Leah blurted out, "Vesta, I just told everyone about Thorne giving that multi-billion-dor diamond to Charlene."


    Vesta''s steps faltered for a fraction of a second, but she recovered so quickly that herposure barely cracked.


    "Mm," she said faintly.


    Looking at her, no one knew what to say. But the matter was too important to ignore. Rhoda finally broke the silence, forcing a smile Lean was just telling us, and we could hardly believe it. So, it''s true?"


    Without waiting for an answer, she pressed on. "Why on earth would Thorne just


    give such an expensive diamond to Charlene? What did he say?"


    Vesta lowered her eyes and didn''t answer. Maureen shot a look at Rhoda. "Rhoda, that''s enough. Let Vesta sit down and have a drink of water."


    "Oh, right, of course," Rhoda mumbled.


    But at that moment, Vesta spoke. "I never asked Thorne, and he never brought it


    up."


    Laverne and Georgina were sharp. The moment Vesta had walked in and failed to answer Rhoda''s question immediately, they had sense of what wasing. Bueto hear her admit it so candidly was stiffa shock. They stared at her,


    utterly disbelieving.


    A heavy silence fell over the room. Her words were a tacit admission that she had likely already sensed Thorne''s change of heart and, faced with it, she had chosen-


    Feeling their eyes on her, Vesta said


    nothing more. It wasn''t that she didn''t want to keep hiding it. But she knew how perceptive her family was. And she knew even better that once the seed of doubt was nted she couldn''t pide the truth for


    long-not with Thorne''s increasingly obvious actions.