Love Beyond the Mask

Chapter 74

The Elate City project was of utmost importance, involving the participation of all senior executives.

Ludwik had a reputation as a relentless taskmaster.

Without delay, the executives responded, “Mr. Lippert, Elaine has messaged about a flight delay and NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

sends her deepest apologies.”

The man’s face was a mask of icy disapproval. “Tell her to get here as fast as she can!”

At that moment, in Banyan City at the Valentine Mansion.

Yvonne and Monica stood awkwardly before the couch, where Elaine unveiled a 28–carat diamond as

large as a pigeon’s egg and glanced at it with a sly smile before handing it to Monica.

“What’s this about?”

Elaine stood up, her eyes harboring a chill in the night. Smirking, she remarked, “Claire from the Lutz

family is celebrating her 80th birthday tomorrow. I’ve heard that her husband, Hunter Lutz, has gone

out of his way to buy a huge diamond from the Skye Gem Ltd. boutique to please her. You’re going to

replace it with this one. Aren’t you furious about Whitney snatching back the General Manager position

from you?”

Monica pondered for a moment, then her eyes lit up with understanding. She knew exactly what the

diamond Elaine handed her was.

She looked at Elaine in shock.

She hadn’t expected Elaine to have such a clear grasp of Skye Gem Ltd.’s internal affairs, even the

fact that Monica had been secretly buying subpar gems to pass off as quality merchandise.

Elaine had only shown up a couple of days ago, but Monica felt as though she had been preparing for

a long time. Elaine appeared well–acquainted with all matters related to Whitney, possessing an

intimate knowledge. of every detail.

This terrifying capacity for strategy sent shivers down Monica’s spine.

She was now almost certain–Elaine seemed to hold a personal grudge against Whitney?

Trembling with excitement, Monica hurried off to set her plan in motion.

Tomorrow promised to be quite the spectacle!

The following afternoon, Whitney headed to Skye Gem Ltd. to start an investigation into the diamond

supplies.

She sent for Monica, the instigator, to come to her.

Yet Monica was nowhere to be found.

Whitney instructed the materials manager to take her to the company’s storeroom to personally inspect

a batch of diamonds for authenticity.

As she stepped into the storeroom/before she could even flick on the light, the door suddenly slammed

shut behind her.

Whitney’s brow furrowed, her bright eyes flashed with alarm, and she immediately sensed something

was amiss. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t open the door.

After a tense half hour, the door suddenly burst open from the outside.

As Whitney looked up, a squad of police officers rushed in. They glanced at her, then at the cabinet of

diamond. materials she was standing in front of, and immediately cuffed her wrists. “Are you Whitney?

Take her away!”

12-14

“What’s going on? Whitney asked, confused and apprehensive.

The officer looked at her coldly. “During Claire Lutz’s grand 80th birthday celebration, the globally

limited ‘True Love Collection‘ 28–carat diamond purchased from your company’s boutique was found to

be a counterfeit! Now, an inspection by the trade department found over half of the jewelry from the

Skye Gem Ltd. boutique to be fake. As the General Manager and designer at Skye Gem Ltd, you’ve

been implicated in dealing with counterfeit materials–a serious criminal offense under commercial law.

You’re coming with us to the station “What?” Whitney was incredulous.

Simon, who had rushed over after hearing the news, went pale and said, “Claire’s diamond was bought

from our company, and it was revealed to be a fake at the luncheon. The scandal has rocked Banyan

City. Claire was so upset she had a heart attack on the spot, and the Lutz family is furious. Two hours

ago, the trade department’s inspectors found a mass of fakes in our boutique, and it’s already hit the

news. Whitney…”

“That was Monica who bought the subpar materials,” Whitney’s eyes narrowed, guessing this was a

setup by Monica. “Officer, I left Skye Gem Ltd. two months ago. I designed ‘True Love Collection‘ but

had no hand in production–that was Monica’s responsibility. Please investigate thoroughly!”

The officer seemed to have anticipated her defense. “Whitney, there’s no need for excuses. Monica has

already provided evidence of your collusion with a subpar gem supplier, involving kickbacks amounting

to millions. And this manager from your company also claimed you entered the storeroom to destroy

evidence. Come with us, now!

Whitney turned to look at the materials manager, who was visibly evasive.

Her face turned ashen. This matter involved the Lutz family–one of the city’s magnates–and was no

small affair.

Panicking, she immediately reached for her phone to call L. He had told her to contact him if anything

happened, and though unsure if he could help, he was the first person she thought of.

Back in Elate City.

Elaine strode into the office in a professional dress. “Where’s Mr. Lippert?”

The office was deserted.

The assistant spoke gravely, “The Sea Bay project has run into trouble due to a typhoon. Mr. Lippert

left to deal with it just a moment ago.”

At that instant, Ludwik’s personal phone rang on the desk. Elaine narrowed her eyes at the caller ID–

Whitney.

The assistant reached for the phone, intending to deliver it to Ludwik.

But Elaine interjected, “Give it to me; I’ll take it to Mr. Lippert.”

“But it’s Mr. Lippert’s personal phone.”

“You know who I am? I’m heading to the project site now. What’s there to worry about?” Elaine said

with a gentle, reassuring smile.

The assistant’s face flushed with embarrassment. Elaine was the vice president of Imperial Gem

Corporation, a company that not only sold jewelry but also owned countless subsidiaries. Her status

was unparalleled; she was a socialite and even addressed Mr. Lippert by his first name, Ludwik.

Reluctantly, the assistant handed her the phone.

Elaine took it and left the office, deliberately slowing her pace on the ten–minute walk to the project

site.

Whitney’s frantic calls came through twice, and Elaine watched the phone ring without answering,

letting it go to voicemail.

12:141

The corners of Elaine’s mouth curved in a deep, knowing smirk.

Back at the storeroom, Whitney frowned, baffled as to why L wouldn’t answer the phone. Desperate,

she could only assume he was busy with something critical.

Immediately, she rang Tiana, but before she could utter a word, a cop snatched the phone right out of

her

hand.

She was herded into the squad car, and Simon hurried over.

Squinting against the sun, Whitney whispered urgently to him, “The Lutzes are livid. Can you get Tiana

to vouch for me, see if it’ll make any difference? And find her, quick. I’ve got something at her place

that could clear my name. Tell her to bring it to the station.”

Simon frowned, nodding with grave determination.

He was clueless about Monica’s shoddy gemstone dealings, totally in the dark about the fake

diamonds hitting the market–diamonds that Hunter had unluckily snagged a whopper of a dud!

Damn it all!

Simon realized belatedly that Monica had been framing Whitney with evidence from the beginning. He

dialed Monica right away.

But Monica was playing Houdini, dodging his calls.

At the station.

Whitney was marched into an interrogation room. The harsh white light overhead blanched her face,

draining it

of color.

Her mind was buzzing, trying to connect the dots at lightning speed. It was crystal clear–Monica was

pinning her as the fall guy.

With a resounding thud, an interrogator slammed a pile of documents onto the table in front of her.

In a stern and solemn tone, he spoke, “So, Carter, the supplier of those knock–off diamonds you’ve

been taking kickbacks from, has confessed. According to him, you not only provided subpar raw

materials to Skye Gem Ltd., embezzling over twenty million, but you also peddled his shoddy diamonds

to other jewelers, sparking a nasty turf war in the biz. Your profit from this collaboration exceeded sixty

million, with a seventy–thirty split between you two. Is this true?”