Reborn From Ashes novel Chapter 294

"It's... fake?" Francis froze, completely blindsided.

Panic set in, and cold sweat dripped down his face. His eyes darted around the room, only to be met with countless stares, all fixed directly on him.

The feeling was unbearable. It was like everyone in the room was laughing at him.

Instinctively, he took a step back, his hand brushing against the emerald stone.

The emerald fell to the ground and shattered on impact.

Everyone's gaze shifted to the fragments. As they examined the pieces more closely, it became clear that it was nothing more than a stone. Only a sliver at the cross-section revealed a thin layer of emerald, a telltale sign of forgery.

"This… This can't be! It's impossible!" Francis stammered, completely losing his composure.

The evidence was right in front of him, yet he refused to believe it.

"Dad…" Morgan mumbled, his voice trembling. He felt like he was being roasted alive, his dignity burned to ashes.

He'd invited all his classmates—sons and daughters of wealthy families—expecting to impress them. Instead, his father's grand birthday celebration had been turned into a humiliation, with a fake emerald stone as the centerpiece.

It was mortifying.

"It's over…" Lily thought, her mind reeling as everything went blank. She realized, at last, just how big of a mess she had made.

"Is the whole thing fake?"

Charlotte and the others gasped, utterly shocked. Their gazes landed on Hayden, desperate for answers.

But Hayden simply stood there, calm and detached, watching them with a cold, emotionless stare.

This was exactly the outcome he had planned for. The Sterling family was now infamous, their reputation thoroughly tarnished.

"Mr. Sterling, I think I'll take my leave now. Apologies."

"Yeah, same here. Let's catch up another time."

"What did I do?" he asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Are you really trying to pin this on me? You think I brought you this stone? You should already know where it came from," he said coolly, his words slicing through the tension.

The room fell silent again. The color drained from the faces of everyone in the Sterling family. They all instinctively turned toward Lily.

The emerald was her doing.

"Well," Hayden continued with a smug grin, "why don't you go ahead and explain? Tell everyone exactly how you got that stone."

His words cut straight to Lily, who erupted in hysterics.

"You set me up! Both stones were fake! This is all your doing!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. "You wanted me to steal that worthless stone, didn't you? This is your fault!"

"Oh, spare me the act," Hayden retorted coldly. "You stole it, and now you're blaming me because I didn't hide it well enough? Really?"