At the Potter Mansion, Randy and Erica hauled arge chest downstairs.


    Erica put her hands on her hips, panting. "Melody Nichols sure knows how to hoard stuff. What even is this? It''s so heavy."


    "We''ve seen it," Randy replied. "It''s all jewelry. Oh, and 50 kilograms of gold bars."


    Erica rolled her eyes. "50 kilos? Thought it''d be some crazy amount."


    "That''s still worth 20 million dors, you know," Randy said, opening the chest.


    They had checked out the contents with Debra before, though they hadn''t gone through it carefully.


    Now they had to find anything simr to that sapphire ring. Digging through all this jewelry was going to be a massive job.


    "The collection is no joke. Some of these pieces are decades old."


    "Maybe it''s part of her dowry. Dowries are worth a fortune."


    Erica''s eyes sparkled, but Debra shrugged. "Not sure, but it''s worth at least 200 million."


    "What do you think of this ne?" Erica said, draping a ne around her neck. "Pretty nice, huh? Easily worth over a million."


    Randy marveled, "Looks great."


    "If you like it, take it," Debra said casually.


    Erica froze. "Wait, isn''t this stuff supposed to be coteral? Is the olddy giving it up?"


    "She doesn''t want it anymore."


    "How do you know? Did she say so?"


    "To get the shares back, she''ll have to give these up."


    Randy was puzzled. "What did I miss?"


    Marion exined, "Debra offered her a deal. These jewelry in exchange for 10% of the shares."


    Randy''s jaw dropped. "She agreed to that?"


    "She will," Debra said firmly. "Melody has spent most of her life managing the Nichols family. That''s her priority. This chest might be valuable, but it can''t be cashed out quickly. Aside from the gold, which is worth 20 million, the rest isn''t immediately useful. But with those shares, she gets influence in thepany and a monthly dividend. People like us might hold onto the jewelry, but Melody? She''ll choose the shares."


    Erica thought it over and nodded. "Makes sense. That power-hungrydy wouldn''t let go of her grip on the Nichols Group. Even if it''s just 10% of the shares, she''d go for it."


    "The gem on this ring is wless, identical to the one Jordan gave me," Debra said, taking out both rings.


    "Andrew has testing equipment. I''ll go grab it," Erica said.


    "I''lle with you." Randy followed her upstairs.


    Debra examined the two gemstones and pulled out another ring.


    "Where did you get this ring?" she asked Marion.


    "At an overseas auction," he replied. "My mother had a simr one, so I bought it."


    "Your mother had one?"


    "Yeah."


    "Where is it?"