Liliana was completely stunned by Lucius's freezing attitude.
She still couldn't process what was happening.
She burst into hysterical tears. "I... I only did it because I love you so much! You forced me to do this! I love you, but you refused to marry me. You promised me back then that you would never love anyone else, that you would never marry anyone else! You broke your promise, Lucius! I only became like this because I love you!"
"Shut up, Liliana. Go get rid of the kid, or don't blame me for what happens next!" Lucius growled, his voice dropping into a dangerous warning.
He knew Liliana had no solid footing in the country and no one to protect her.
If she didn't willingly undergo the surgery, he would force the abortion on her himself.
Though he knew the unborn child was innocent, letting it live would completely ruin him.
Lucius's mind darkened with ruthless intent.
Suddenly, sirens wailed in the distance.
Madeline had returned, and moments later, the police swarmed into the venue.
The crowd, which had just started to disperse, immediately gathered around again to see what was going on. Madeline's neck was bare. She had reported her necklace—a masterpiece worth tens of millions of dollars called The Aurora—stolen.
Given the massive monetary value, the event organizers and local authorities took it incredibly seriously. If convicted of grand theft, the culprit faced over a decade in prison.
The police immediately locked down the venue, forbidding anyone from leaving.
Liliana's face turned stark white. She shrank behind Lucius, desperately trying to use his broad frame to hide herself from view.
But the officers marched straight toward her.
Liliana snapped defensively, "What do you want?"
A female officer responded sternly, "We just received a report from Ms. Monroe. She stated that you followed her into the restroom, and upon exiting, she realized her jewelry was missing. You are now a suspect in the theft of a high-value diamond necklace. We need to bring you in for questioning."
Liliana's eyes went wide. "She's framing me! She's lying! She attacked me on purpose, and now she's pretending she lost something just to set me up! I didn't steal anything!"
The surrounding crowd thrived on the drama.
Initially annoyed by the lockdown, their tune changed when they realized Madeline wasn't just causing a scene over nothing. Given the astronomical value of the stolen jewelry, stopping to cooperate with the investigation was perfectly reasonable.
The female officer warned her, "Miss, security footage from the hallway confirms you followed Ms. Monroe and entered the private restroom immediately after her. Furthermore, we found fingerprints on Ms. Monroe's neck. We simply need to match them against yours to confirm if you committed the theft. Please come with us."


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