The word "fake" hit Daisy like a slap.
"A fake?" she blurted.
Her face drained of color.
That couldn’t be right.
She had personally taken the jade pendant from the Bennett family’s private collection.
It wasn’t something displayed for customers. It had been locked away in a secured vault alongside the family’s most valuable heirlooms.
How could it possibly be counterfeit?
Beside her, Samantha looked just as shaken.
She turned toward Daisy in disbelief.
"What do you mean?"
Before Daisy could answer, Derick stepped forward.
Grace silently handed him the pendant.
He examined it carefully beneath the light, rotating it between his fingers before lifting his eyes toward Samantha and Daisy.
His expression turned cold.
"So this was your plan all along?"
"You intended to fool the Taylor family with a fake heirloom."
The accusation landed heavily.
Everything had changed.
Before, they might have argued that the DNA results were a misunderstanding.
Now...
The counterfeit pendant became evidence of something much worse.
Premeditated fraud.
Identity theft.
Calculated deception.
The room’s atmosphere turned icy.
"No..."
Cold sweat rolled down Samantha’s temples.
"This isn’t what it looks like."
"There has to be some mistake."
"Someone must have switched it... Someone’s trying to frame us."
Her thoughts spiraled out of control.
Tonight had already gone nothing like she’d expected.
First, the DNA results.
Then the pendant.
Every backup plan she’d relied on had collapsed one after another.
Grace’s eyes hardened.
"A mistake?"
She let out a bitter laugh.
"The last time I saw this pendant, you never took it off."
"I only caught the flaws now because I’m finally holding it."
She raised the jade.
"I commissioned the original myself."
"You think you know my family’s heirloom better than I do?"
Neither Daisy nor Samantha had an answer.
The silence spoke for itself.
Grace looked toward Rose.
"Rose."
"You spent years working in emergency medicine."
"Draw Samantha’s blood."
"We’ll repeat the DNA test right now."
The room fell silent.
Samantha’s pupils contracted.
Her breathing stopped.
Last time...
Everything had been prepared in advance.
This time...
There was nothing she could do.
If they drew her blood here—
Everything would truly be over.
She stood frozen.
Unable to answer.
Unable to move.
Rose quietly watched her.
Samantha wasn’t refusing because she felt insulted.
She was refusing because...
She was terrified.
She knows the truth, Rose realized.
She doesn’t dare take another DNA test.
Grace noticed it.
Derick noticed it.
Everyone did.
Samantha’s hesitation had already answered the question.
The tension inside the room became almost unbearable.
Grace suddenly exploded.
"What do you think this family is?"
She slammed the counterfeit pendant onto the marble floor.
Crash!
The jade shattered into dozens of pieces.
Fragments scattered across the foyer.
"Get out."
Her voice shook with fury.
"Get out of my house."
"We spent years searching for Sophia’s child..."
"And the two of you used that pain to manipulate us."
"I’ve rarely met people more shameless."
Rose immediately hurried to Grace’s side.
"Easy."
She gently supported the older woman’s arm while discreetly checking her pulse.
Thankfully...
Her blood pressure had risen, but nothing appeared immediately dangerous.
Rose quietly let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
Victoria also stepped forward.
Unlike her usual gentle demeanor, her expression had become unusually firm.
"You’ve caused enough damage."
"Please leave."
"And don’t ever come back to this house."
Daisy’s face twisted.
Only minutes ago, Victoria had been the one cornered and humiliated.

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