Chapter 281 Selling the Ne


    ina looked totally lost. "Now what?"


    Maia was just about toe back into her life-and now she''d vanished again.


    It felt like fate just kept messing with them.


    Caroline wasn''t sure what to do either. Kingville was huge, and wandering around without a clue wouldn''t get them anywhere.


    And since it hadn''t even been a full day, going to the cops wasn''t really an option. Since Ruth had shown up at this mall, they figured it was a good nearby area. Jace to start. They decided to search the


    Caroline kept trying to call Maia, hoping maybe luck would be on their side and she''d answer.


    After a quick talk, she and ina agreed to split up and cover more ground.


    Meanwhile, Ruth had been hiding not far off, watching them leave with a smug grin.


    Still trying to find that brat? Keep dreaming.


    She brought it on herself anyway. After all those years raising her, she couldn''t even show a little gratitude.


    What good was keeping her around?


    Ruth headed back into the jewelry shop in the mall and went up to the counter. "Hello, do you buy jewelry here?"


    The saledy shot her a look like she didn''t expect much. "Let me see what you''ve got."


    Ruth pulled a small jewelry box from her coat and opened it.


    She felt pretty proud of herself for snatching this from Caroline''s room. That ne inside looked like it could be worth a fortune.


    It must''ve been pretty valuable.


    "This is a rare piece. Nothing in your store canpare. If I didn''t need money so badly, I wouldn''t even think about selling it," Ruth said, then added, "So, are you buying or not? If not, I''ll find another ce."


    The saledy''s eyes widened a bit, clearly impressed. She smiled quickly and said, "Hang on, I''ll get the manager."


    at


    Ruth''s heart skipped-if the manager wasing, meant this thing was worth serious money.


    While she waited, she admired the ne again.


    dib


    Soon the manager came over, took one look at the piece, and said, "We''ll take it. How much do you want for


    it?"


    Ruth blinked. Shouldn''t he be the one to say the price?


    She wasn''t sure-should I go big and ask for 100,000 dors?


    Chapter 281 Selling the Ne


    Might as well try.


    Ruth raised a finger, indicating she wanted 100,000 dors.


    The managerughed. "I''m not giving you one million. But if you''re serious, I''ll offer 500,000 dors


    Five hundred thousand?!


    Ruth was stunned. She only expected 100,000 dors-now she was getting five times that!


    She tried to act cool and nodded slowly. "Fine. Five hundred it is."


    After she got the money and walked out, the staff inside the shop couldn''t wait to take pictures of the ne and post them on WhatsApp Status.


    They''d been in the jewelry business for years-they knew right away this was a global limited-edition piece.


    There was only one like it in all of Kingville, and rumor had it some big shot had bought it.


    Now that they''d seen it up close, of course, they wanted to brag.


    The photos spread fast-and eventually, they reached the phone of the buyer, ke.


    ke was out of town on business when he saw the photos and immediately frowned.


    He wasn''t really worried about the ne, but Caroline might be in some kind of danger.


    He quickly called her. "Caroline, are you okay?"


    Caroline, sweating and exhausted from looking everywhere for Maia, said, "I''m fine-it''s Maia who''s missing. I''ve been trying to find her."


    Then she told ke the whole story from the beginning.


    "I''ll help," ke said. "I''ve got a lot of connections-I''ll get some people to search for her."


    That''s when it hit Caroline-of course. With ke''s resources, finding someone in Kingville wouldn''t be hard.


    She should''ve thought of that earlier, but she''d been too stressed.


    “Thanks so much for helping,” she said gratefully.


    "No problem,” ke replied. Then he asked, “Wait-you said you saw Ruth in a jewelry store, right?"


    Caroline hesitated. "Yeah... why?"


    Just from what she''d told him, ke/figured the ne hadn''t been sold by Caroline-it must''ve beer Ruth.


    But how did Ruth get her hands on it?


    He didn''t say anything about the ne for now. “Let''s focus on finding her first," he said.


    After ending the call, ke reached out to some people to help look for Maia. Then he told his assistant to pull security footage and check if Ruth had been to Caroline''s ce recently.


    11:13 Wed 25 Jun


    Aft