Chapter 385
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Chapter 385:
Instead of walking toward the street to hail a cab, Victoria turned sharply and walked around the side of the building, heading directly for the exclusive VIP elevator entrance.
Lily, a young front desk receptionist, was standing near the velvet ropes, gathering her things for a shift change. She saw Victoria marching back toward the elevators and immediately stepped forward, raising a polite but firm hand.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Lily said nervously. “Security just escorted you out. You cannot go back up p>
Victoria stopped. She lowered her sunglasses just enough to expose her glaring eyes.
“I am Jocelyn’s cousin,” Victoria said, injecting every ounce of old-money arrogance she possessed into her voice. “I left my Hermès clutch in her private office. Are you seriously going to stop a member of the Stein family from retrieving a thirty-thousand-dollar bag p>
Lily swallowed hard. The color drained from her cheeks.
“Ms. Wolfe left her office ten minutes ago,” Lily stammered, looking at the floor. “She is in the third-floor conference room for an executive meeting. The penthouse office is completely empty p>
Victoria let out a sharp, condescending scoff.
𝖱𝗲𝗰𝘰𝗆𝘮е𝗻𝘥 gа𝘭n𝗼vе𝘭ѕ.с𝗼𝗺 𝗍о у𝗈𝘶𝗿 𝖿𝗿iеn𝖽ѕ
“Perfect,” Victoria snapped. “Then I will not have to look at her face. If you delay me and make me late for my charity gala tonight, I will personally ensure you never work in hospitality in this city again p>
Lily was just a regular employee trying to pay her rent. She knew the terrifying temper of the Upper East Side elite. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.
She pulled her master keycard from her lanyard and swiped it against the VIP elevator panel. “Please just grab your bag and come right back down,” Lily pleaded softly.
Victoria didn’t even look at her. She stepped into the wood-paneled elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.
The doors slid open. Victoria stepped out, her high heels sinking into the plush carpet.
She pushed open the heavy walnut double doors of the CEO suite.
The massive office was dead silent. The faint, expensive scent of Gaston’s cedarwood cologne still lingered in the air, and the smell alone made Victoria’s heart twist with sick envy.
She did not look for a bag. She walked straight past the mahogany desk and pushed open the frosted glass door of the private washbasin.
Her eyes locked instantly onto the velvet jewelry box sitting open on the marble counter. Jocelyn, flustered after Gaston’s aggressive kiss and rushing to her meeting, had forgotten to put it in the safe.
Inside, the Queen Marie antique diamond necklace lay glittering beneath the soft vanity lights.
Victoria’s breath hitched. She reached out. Her fingers trembled violently as she lifted the historic jewel.
The heavy platinum and diamond latticework felt cold against her skin. The staggering weight of the central stones was breathtaking.
She turned toward the massive vanity mirror and, with a shaking hand, unclasped the necklace and fastened it around her own neck. The diamonds pressed like ice against her heated skin.