Reborn With a Money-Making System: Ruined Actress to Nation's Treasure-Chapter 117: A Jewel Doesn’t Lie

I always thought I was born under a bad-luck star, that my life was always shrouded in gloom. But for some reason tonight, I began to wonder whether I was really that unlucky, or maybe the opposite.

Maybe it was because Helcia had such an unlucky life too, so when an unlucky soul met an unlucky body, everything suddenly tilted toward something good.

Did that make sense? Probably not. But honestly, who cared?

"How can we be sure about that?" Maxwell scoffed. "Ms. Delacroix is known for being very private, so no one knows who has worked as her assistant."

Dorian immediately backed him up. "Alright, enough. There’s no need to turn this into a big scene."

He glanced around the gala hall, and clearly noticed that most guests weren’t eating anymore. They were staring at us, delighting in the drama rather than their expensive dinners.

Honestly, if I were them, I’d let my food get cold too.

"I don’t want our guests feeling uncomfortable," Dorian continued. "And really, why bother proving anything? I bought this necklace for my fiancée. Of course it’s real."

"Exactly! There’s no way you’d buy a fake!" Maxwell added loudly, like a loyal parrot.

Lando, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered at all by having their family mess displayed in public. "Why stop now?" he said casually. "We already started a mess. Let’s finish it instead of running away."

Before any of them could speak, he turned his wheelchair toward a woman who had been standing at a distance.

"Ma’am, if you don’t mind, can you help us solve this confusing situation? Selling imitation goods is illegal, right? Maybe you could also report this to Ms. Delacroix later."

The woman nodded right away. "Of course. I’d be happy to help."

Lando looked confident, while for some reason Dorian began to show signs of unease. He suddenly couldn’t keep his composure.

"There is no need to do that!" Dorian snapped. "We don’t even know who she is!" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Lando blinked at him slowly, like he couldn’t believe how stupid that sounded. "Don’t be rude like that. She’s one of our guests, so how could you not recognize her?"

He continued, "She’s Ms. Diana Reiss, a well-known jewelry designer as talented as Ms. Delacroix. Dorian, you should stop speaking ill of Ms. Reiss. She has donated so much money to this event."

Ouch.

The room went awkwardly silent.

It was honestly embarrassing, because one of the hosts didn’t even recognize the VIP guest he invited.

More than that, it seemed some people already knew Diana Reiss well and were aware that she really had worked as Irene Delacroix’s assistant in the past.

Victor Brixton seemed to think the same, because he suddenly descended from his little stage and said into the microphone, "That’s enough." He added, "If you want to fight, do it behind closed doors — don’t—"

"Why would we need to finish it behind closed doors?" Lando cut him off. "It wouldn’t take long to prove which necklace is real or fake, unless... the one Dorian bought is the fake one, and he’s afraid his action will be exposed."

I nodded proudly as my husband defended us like that. The only way to face a barking dog is to hold a stone and make it afraid.

"Nonsense!" Dorian snapped. "There is no way I bought something cheap for my fiancée!"

"Then let’s prove it," I said calmly. I turned to Diana. "Ms. Reiss, please, we need your expertise."

Diana walked toward us. She didn’t show much expression on her face, but from the sharp way she looked at Dorian, I could tell she had been offended earlier, and she wasn’t going to forget it.

"Could you both remove your necklaces for a moment?" Diana asked politely.

She lifted both her hands, palms facing up toward me and Madeline.

Without even thinking, I took off my necklace and placed it gently in her left hand.

Meanwhile, Madeline clicked her tongue softly, clearly annoyed, probably thinking this was pointless. After all, she was convinced her fiancé would never give her something fake.

With a slow, almost theatrical sigh, she took off her necklace and dropped it into Diana’s right hand, like she was doing everyone a favor.

Diana glanced at both pieces once, then twice, her fingers brushing over the diamonds carefully. The room was so quiet that even the faintest metallic click from the clasps sounded loud.

A moment later, Diana finally looked up with a serious expression. "These pieces may look identical," she began, "but only one of them is real."

The air tightened like someone pulled an invisible string across the room.

Several guests leaned forward, pretending to take a bite of their food even though their spoons were completely empty. At this point, nobody cared about dinner anymore because this was better than any drama show.

Madeline lifted her chin, already stretching her lips into a proud smile, ready to savor her "win."

"This one is the original," Diana said, raising her left palm, the one holding my necklace.

Madeline’s face instantly darkened, and her smile twisted into a scowl. "What?" she snapped. "This is ridiculous! You must have judged them wrong! There’s no way mine is the fake one! Did you switch them earlier?!"

"Are you blind?" I raised a brow. "Ms. Reiss clearly never moved the necklace to her other hand."

Madeline’s face turned even darker. Panic flickered in her eyes. She whipped her head toward Dorian like a drowning person grabbing anything to stay afloat.

"Dorian, this is crazy, right?" she blurted. "You... you wouldn’t buy me a fake necklace, right?!"

Honestly, I had the same question. Why would Dorian give Madeline a fake necklace when he clearly had more than enough money?

Thirty million dollars sounds insane to normal people, sure. But for someone born into a billionaire family like him? That amount should feel like pocket change.

So why do it? Why would he give his fiancée something fake?

Was he tricked by someone or did he simply believe Madeline wasn’t worth the real one in the first place?