The Billionaire's Intern (Maya Thompson) novel Chapter 502

<Chapter 231- The Missing Piece

Chapter 231: The Missing Piece

And yet, despite their rarity and value, the collection was still incomplete.

One final stone remained.

Unlike the others, its worth could never be measured in carats, rarity, or money.

Not because of what it was.

But because of who it belonged to.

Damien reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket.

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The movement immediately drew the manager’s attention away from the gemstones spread across the

table.

As Damien withdrew a small velvet pouch from his jacket, the manager’s eyes lit with anticipation.

He could only assume another rare gemstone was about to join the collection.

But the anticipation faded almost instantly, replaced by genuine curiosity as Damien emptied the contents

into his palm.

The manager studied the stone carefully.

Just a modest diamond.

Barely over a carat.

Its cut was old–fashioned, and decades of wear had softened much of its brilliance.

In terms of rarity and market value, it couldn’t begin to compare to the gemstones already resting on the

table.

Yet Damien’s gaze lingered on it longer than any of the others

A faint crease appeared between the manager’s brows.

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After decades in the industry, he knew value when he saw it, and compared to the collection before him,

this diamond should have been the least remarkable piece in the room.

Damien seemed to read the unspoken question.

“This one is different.”

Damien looked down at the stone Jamie had entrusted to him earlier that morning.

It held no record–breaking carat weight, no Fancy Vivid classification, and no multimillion–dollar auction

history.

Yet as Damien stared at it, the room seemed to fade away.

Chapter 231–Phe Missing Prece

This stone represented a different kind of legacy

It was the first diamond their father had ever purchased with his own money for the woman he loved.

The diamond he had intended to set into the ring he would use to propose to Malia.

But he never gave it to her.

Not because he loved her any less, but because of his own pride.

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After learning the truth about who she was and the world she had left behind for him, he had convinced

himself it wasn’t enough.

Not because Malia had ever cared about wealth, status, or luxury.

She didn’t.

She had willingly turned her back on all of it for him.

But he wanted to give her something worthy of the sacrifices she had made.

So he kept the diamond.

Not as a reminder of what he lacked, but as motivation to become the man he believed she deserved.

Years later, he passed it on to Jamie, intending for it to one day be given to the woman Jamie chose to

spend his life with.

But after overhearing his conversation with Dahlia that morning, Jamie had made a different choice.

He had placed the diamond in Damien’s hand and insisted it belonged in Maya’s ring.

Because if anyone deserved to carry that piece of their father’s story forward, it was Maya.

Damien’s thumb brushed lightly over the worn edges of the stone before he placed it beside the Argyle

pink diamond.

For decades, it had remained unfinished.

Now, it would finally become part of the ring it had always been meant for.

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“I want it cleaned and restored,” Damien said quietly, his gaze never leaving the diamond.

“Bring back its brilliance.”

A brief pause followed before his expression hardened.

“But do not alter it.”

The manager nodded.

“No recutting. No reshaping. No modifications.”

“Any scratches, marks, or imperfections it carries stay exactly where they are.”

–

<Chapter 231- The Missing Piece

That finally caught the manager’s attention..

Claim

Most clients who walked through these doors demanded perfection. They wanted flaws erased, edges

sharpened, and brilliance maximized.

Damien was asking for the exact opposite.

He wanted preservation.

His eyes lingered on the diamond resting beside the others.

“This stone is irreplaceable,” Damien said. “No amount of money can buy another one.”

Silence settled over the room.

The manager’s gaze shifted from the modest diamond to the extraordinary collection spread across the

table.

Together, the gemstones were worth a fortune, yet it was this simple stone that Damien handled with the

greatest care.

For the first time, the manager understood.

This was the most valuable piece in the room.

“I understand, Mr. Blackwood.”

Damien gave a small nod.

“Good,” he said. “Handle it accordingly.”

His gaze shifted to the manager.

“And the design?”

“Of course, Sir.”

The manager immediately crossed the room and approached the secured cabinet built into the wall. After entering a code, he retrieved a leather portfolio before returning to the table.

Opening it carefully, he slid the contents toward Damien.

At the center was Maya’s original sketch.

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