But as bad as she got, she couldn't be this untrustworthy.
The old lady had given her this set of jewelry before, saying that it was saved up for her as a dowry. Since she wasn't getting married, she just gave it to her outright.
The sentimental value of these jewels was apparent.
Louis looked at him and moved his lips slightly, as if to say something.
Still, he held it in.
Faye was Archie's aunt by blood, after all. And because Archie's parents had passed early on, she'd taken great care of him from childhood. So even if they realized something was wrong with her, it wouldn't do to say it too directly.
Natalia understood how Louis was thinking.
The only difference was, she suddenly remembered a few days ago, when Faye had suddenly come to Pinewood Manor and brought up the matter of the antiques.
"Archie, do you remember how, four days ago, Aunt Faye came to the mansion and threw a tantrum that I shouldn't have switched out her antiques?"
Archie nodded. "I remember. Why?"
"I always felt it was a bit strange. Aunt Faye never used to care about this sort of thing, so why did she suddenly run over and ask about those antiques? Do you think she'd wanted to take those antiques back in the first place and didn't want to ask, so she threw a tantrum to provoke me into returning them and only held off when you came back…"
Archie frowned.
Louis didn't know what had gone down that day, but he was a smart person. Just from Natalia's few words, he'd gotten a basic grasp of the situation.
He shot Archie a meaningful look.
Archie fell silent for a while and muttered, "I've already sent Brian to investigate. He should turn up some results in a couple days. No matter what it is, this set of jewelry shouldn't have ended up in a place like this. When we're done investigating, I'll ask Aunt Faye about it directly."
Natalia nodded.
Seeing that, Louis patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't overthink it, either. The McCarthy family is in a spot right now where it's easy to get things blown out of proportion, but you're not at the point where everyone's a potential enemy. Investigate it first, then we'll see."
Archie nodded.
The group left with their worries gnawing at them.
Archie took Louis back to his research facility first before driving back with Natalia.
However, the moment they arrived home, he received a call from Brian.
"I've turned up something in the investigation you tasked me with, Mr. McCarthy."
Archie paused, his expression darkening.
"Speak."
Brian told him his findings.
Seeing Archie's face sink lower and lower, Natalia walked over, worried, and grasped his hand.
After a while, he said, "I've got it. Send people to keep an eye on things and don't move without my order."
Brian complied on the other end, and Archie hung up.
Natalia hurriedly asked, "Have you found anything? What's happened?"
Archie scoffed.
He didn't say it directly, instead simply looking at her.
"Come with me somewhere tomorrow, and you'll find out."
"…"
…
The next day, Natalia took a holiday from shooting and went out with Archie.
The two sat in the car with Brian driving. Nancy was on there too as they walked towards the rock prospecting center.
Before they left, when Archie told her the address, Natalia had already guessed the gist of it.
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