?Chapter 1681:


    The next day, Christina took the child out shopping, intending to buy her several fresh sets of clothes.


    They had barely spent any time browsing when Christina felt a subtle sense of unease. Her intuition warned her that someone was tailing them. With the girl in her arms, she casually pulled out her phone, pretending to make a call while quietly surveying her surroundings. As her eyes swept past a corner, she caught a figure hastily ducking out of sight.


    A faint, knowing smile curved across Christina’s lips. She chose not to confront them — not yet. Instead, she turned and stepped into a luxury boutique, waiting for the perfect moment to catch them unprepared.


    “I’ll take the red one. Please package it for me,” Christina said, gesturing toward a limited-edition red handbag. It had caught her eye immediately; it would make an ideal present for her mother.


    “I’ll take this. Put it on my card,” a fashionably dressed woman said nearby, sliding her credit card across the counter. The woman beside her lunged forward at the same moment, attempting to snatch the bag from the sales associate’s hands.


    Christina moved faster. She seized the limited-edition red handbag before anyone else could touch it.


    “That’s mine! What do you think you’re doing?” the woman with the credit card scoffed, her voice thick with contempt.


    “You bumpkin! How dare you steal Miss Hewitt’s bag? Have youpletely lost your mind?” The other woman shot Christina a venomous re.


    Christina recognized them both at once. The woman holding the card was Violette Hewitt. The one who had tried to snatch the bag was Violette’sckey, Irene Navarro. Christina had already studied detailed files on the Hewitt family and everyone connected to them — Irene included.


    “You im it belongs to you,” Christina said evenly. “Does your name happen to be written on it?”


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    The two women froze for a brief moment. Irene snapped back, “Does it have your name on it?”


    “No. But since no one’s name is on it, whoever gets there first owns it. I reached it before you, so it’s mine.” Christina smiled and lightly swung the bag at her side.


    Violette and Irene were furious. They were not ustomed to being challenged like this.


    “My family stands among the four most powerful ns in Lionesspaw. If you value your life, you’ll return that bag and apologize,” Violette said coldly.


    “That’s right,” Irene added, her tone dripping with arrogance. “Challenging Miss Hewitt means challenging the entire Hewitt family. I’d advise you to think carefully if you don’t want to suffer.”


    “And who exactly do you think you are, ordering me to apologize?” Christina answered, a taunting smile lifting her lips.


    The child in Christina’s arms, already frightened, tightened her hold around Christina’s neck and pressed her face into it.


    “Don’t be afraid. These lowlifes can’t hurt us,” Christina soothed gently in fluent Lionesspawian, patting the girl’s back.


    Violette and Irene exchanged a startled nce. They had assumed the girl wouldn’t understand Lionesspawian and had nned to curse her freely in their native tongue. Hearing her speak it wlessly left them momentarily speechless.


    “I’ll give you ten seconds to reconsider,” Violette said, her expression turning icy. “Hand over the bag and apologize, and I might let this go.”


    “Do you even understand the Hewitt family’s standing in Lionesspaw?” Irene began. “Let me exin—”


    Christina cut her off before she could finish. “Of course I understand. Among Lionesspaw’s four most powerful families, the Hewitts rank third. But is that really worth boasting about?”


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