Chapter 463
Celeste’s voice was soft and urgent as she tried to pull Helena back toward the auction floor.
This hasty retreat didn’t align with Celeste’s usual calculated demeanor.
Right on cue, Helena snapped her head around. “Is that true? Who dares to outbid me p>
Spotting Mrs. Montgomery’s bodyguard rushing out the front doors, Helena descended into full panic mode.
Completely abandoning her confrontation with Sienna, she practically sprinted back to the auction table.
For a fleeting second, as Sienna watched Helena’s frantic silhouette, she could have sworn she caught a deeply buried glint of contempt in Celeste’s eyes.
But when she blinked and focused again, that deceptively sweet face betrayed nothing but a perfectly polished, flawless smile.
Sienna’s suspicions only deepened.
She knew that over the years, Celeste had bent over backward to win Helena’s favor, catering to her obsession by helping her hunt down rare jewelry.
Though Sienna wasn’t an expert on the market value of those gems, it was obvious Helena cherished them. She treated them like holy relics.
Helena was a veteran in the high-society collecting circle. If those jewels were cheap fakes, she wouldn’t have been fooled so easily.
So, was this unfamiliar man’s forgery technique simply that flawless?
Or had Celeste been playing a massive psychological long con, methodically stripping away Helena’s defenses to pull off this grand heist?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden scoff from Silas, who had been quietly observing the entire time.
He lazily set his teacup down, leaning back against the plush sofa. His eyes swept over the floor below, overflowing with the mocking amusement of a man watching a spectacular trainwreck.
“What’s so funny?” Sienna asked him.
The amusement in Silas’s eyes didn’t waver. “Just marveling at how two people can’t seem to piece together a single functioning brain between them p>
Sienna instantly caught the underlying meaning.
She recalled the cryptic comment he made earlier: *That entirely depends on the hidden motives and the conscience of the person who made the introduction p>
He wasn’t ignorant of what was happening; he had deliberately brought her here to witness it.
This was a man who never made a move without a calculated endgame.
“Does Ms. Sloan have an eye for fine jewelry as well p>
As they spoke, Tristan Devereux suddenly walked over, his gaze sweeping over Sienna with a probing intensity.
“Perhaps you’d care to appraise the piece for us p>
Sienna met his gaze evenly.
His smile was mathematically perfect. Even the polite curiosity in his eyes was flawlessly executed.
But Sienna had spent years dealing with the meticulous masquerades of psychopaths and narcissists.
She knew better than anyone that beneath a perfect smile lay the most twisted imperfections.
“I wouldn’t dare,” she replied, her tone perfectly flat. “I’m no expert, and I certainly wouldn’t presume to judge a royal relic p>
Helena let out a harsh sneer. “Of course she doesn’t know anything. What kind of lerkury does a woman from the countryside ever see? Enough of this, let’s not waste our time on her p>
The genuine jewels Helena had brought for the exchange had already been handed over to Tristan’s appraisers.
Sienna didn’t move an inch. Her eyes remained locked on the men evaluating the gems as she slowly took another sip of her tea.
Celeste’s gaze darted across Sienna’s face, her sweet smile beginning to crack under the pressure.
Noticing the minute shifts in Celeste’s expression, Sienna lowered her cup and let her voice cut through the tension.
“Mrs. Sterling, that sapphire necklace of yours… if I recall correctly, the matriarch custom-ordered it from Switzerland. She even had an old master craftsman link the chain by hand, didn’t she p>
Helena froze momentarily. “So what if she did? What business is it of yours p>
“It isn’t my business at all,” Sienna said nonchalantly. “I just happened to hear that it’s the only one of its kind in the world.
When the matriarch gave it to you, it was meant to be passed down as the ultimate Sterling family heirloom.
You are the only daughter-in-law in the Sterling household. If the old matriarch ever asks you to wear it for an event and you have nothing to show her, that’s going to be quite the spectacle p>
Helena’s fingers twitched. Instinctively, her eyes darted to the blue sapphire necklace resting vulnerable on the velvet table.
All the color drained from Celeste’s face in an instant, but her survival instincts kicked in, and she forced out a bright laugh.