GET OUT

One hour later, Paige stopped crying and thought about what the future held for her. No matter how she thought about it, someone must have set her up.

The jade necklace could not have miraculously ended up in her room since she knew that she never took it. It had to be one of the maids.

Who else could it be? The one person she held as a suspect was the housekeeper. She was the only one who hated her enough to plot something so big.

However, she couldn't point her finger at her because she had no evidence. It would seem as though she was trying to push the blame for her crime onto someone innocent.

What hurt her the most was the way Zachary had stared at her as though she was a thief. He had shown trust in her just a few minutes ago, but now everything was ruined.

She tried to focus her mind on other things because she didn't want to keep crying. She suddenly remembered that the judges of the event she performed at the previous night had said they'd send a reply to her the next day.

She had filled out her email information on the form that was given to her as well as every available means of contact, but then she wasn't with her phone. It was still in her father's house. She had promised that she was going to get it, and she didn't want to let the situation at hand stop her from doing so.

She quickly showered and changed into different clothes before walking out of her room.

The moment she got close to the door, the housekeeper ran after her and said, "Hey, where do you think you're going to?"

"What? Am I not allowed to leave?" Paige asked.

"No, you're not allowed to leave. Everyone knows you're a thief. You stole from the hand that fed you, and now you want to run away. This must be what you're planning to do, and once you run away, Mr. Zach will never be able to catch you," Susan said accusingly.

Paige shook her head and replied firmly, "No, I'll never run away no matter what, because I'm innocent. I just need to go back home and get my phone."

The housekeeper still wanted to insist on her staying, but the butler intervened, saying, "Let her be, Susan, if she wants to go, she's free to do so. No one can hide from Mr. Zach."

"Thank you," Paige said to him. Afterward, she walked away.

After he left the house, Zach cursed under his breath while in his car. He thought back to when Paige had cried and balled his fist. It had affected him, but he tried not to show it.

Taking out his phone, he called someone and said, "I need you to recover something for me. An important piece of footage was deleted from my CCTV. Can you recover it?"

"Of course, I can. Just let me have the details." The person replied.

Zach forwarded all the necessary information to the man and waited for him to get back to him. After driving around for a while, he stopped by a mall, bought a few things, and went back home.

The moment he entered the house, he asked of Paige, and the butler told him that she had left.

"She left? What do you mean? Did she leave permanently?" Zach became afraid that Paige would not want to have anything to do with him anymore or work in his house since she had been accused of theft.

"She said she was going back home to get something. That was what she told me," the butler explained.

"Oh, I see," Zach replied.

He turned around and left the house. He knew the address of her former house and wanted to confirm that she had really gone there, so he drove out of the estate.

When Paige arrived home, she stood outside for a while contemplating how she was going to approach them. She soon made up her mind and knocked on the door.

Beverly was the one who opened the door, and the moment she saw Paige, she yelled at her, "What is a thief like you looking for here? Have you come back to steal more?"

Staring at Paige's clothes got her even more upset because she could see that there were branded clothes. She was putting on clothes from Dior, which was in the same league as the kind of clothes she wore.

"I'm here for my things," Paige replied boldly.

"My phone, my bag, my clothes; everything. My mom's things are also here," she added.

"Whatever you think belongs to you is no longer here; it has been thrown in the trash," Beverly retorted.

"You can't say that," Paige roared. "Why would you throw everything that belongs to me? Let me have my things, and stop being so evil."

As she spoke, a slap landed on her cheek. "I can see that you've not yet learned your lesson yet." Beverly seethed.

Anthony also came out, asking, "What is going on here?"

The moment he saw Paige, his mood changed into a sour one, recalling how she had outshone Candy during the performance last night.

He sneered, "What do you want? What do you think you're doing here? Get out of my house."

"I won't leave without my things," Paige replied.

At this point, Candy heard the commotion and also came out. The moment she saw Paige, she was filled with so much rage and jealousy, especially because Paige looked so beautiful despite being kicked out of the house.

She had hoped that Paige would become destitute, roaming the streets, and begging to survive, but to think that she was actually able to compete with her was something she couldn't get over.

She rushed forward and tried to slap Paige but the latter held her hand and pushed her back.

At this point, Zach, who had just driven into the estate, witnessed this scene from a distance and balled his fists.

Candy lunged at Paige again and this time, Paige pushed her so hard that she fell on her butt.

She cried out in pain but Paige couldn't be bothered with her as she turned her attention to Anthony and Beverly.

This seemed to upset Anthony and Beverly so much so that they both held her by her shoulders and pushed her away from the house.

Paige lost her balance and fell on her back while they ran back to Candy who was still on the ground and helped her up, before taking her into the house.

Paige remained on the floor, tears pouring from her eyes.

From where he sat, Zach felt visibly angry, his hands clutched the steering wheel as he struggled to control his emotions. Seeing the way Paige was being treated annoyed him so much, that he said to himself, "Mr. and Mrs. Summers, I'll teach you both a lesson. Nobody treats Paige this way and gets away with it; she's under my wing now."

After sitting on the ground for a while, Paige finally got up and wiped her tears. She noticed she had gotten a slight injury on her arm, but that was the least of her problems.

She needed to get back to Zach estate as soon as possible. She had thought that she would be able to get the things that belonged to her, but it was more important that she got back before Zach did; otherwise, he'd really think that she was trying to run away.

When he saw that Paige was leaving, Zach reversed his car and moved even backward so she wouldn't notice him.

When she finally got a cab, he followed the cab, seeing where she would go, but she stopped in front of his estate.

As she came out, she paid the driver with the little money she had and walked toward the gate, but they wouldn't let her in.

"I stay here," she said to the men at the post.

They said, "No, this is Zach estate, not not for people like you."

She insisted, "I stay here, I'm one of the maids of Mr. Zachary Fletcher."

"You are? Okay, let me call him," one of the men said.

They instantly called Zach, whose car was now parked a little distance away from where Paige was.

When he answered the call, the man in question asked him if Paige lived with him, and he said, "Yes."

Afterward, she was allowed to pass, her eyes had become even more puffy, as though she had not slept in days. She walked back into the house feeling dejected.

Zach finally drove to his villa, but he had called the same police officers to come again.

The moment Paige entered the house, he followed behind, and she was surprised. She turned and stared at him.

"Sir?"

She felt relieved because she had returned when she did. Zach may have been very upset if he came back before her.

Zach barely said a word to her and went to sit down. He asked the butler to send for all the staff to come to him and when they did, he said, "I have made up my mind that the person who stole from me must be punished. No matter what happens, I can't let a thief who stole from me walk freely."

Hearing this, Paige's heart began to beat very fast, as she thought that he wanted her to be punished since all evidence pointed to her.

The officers from earlier finally walked into the house, and staring at them, Zach ordered, "Arrest the thief and do not show any mercy."

Paige shook her head, "No, sir, I didn't do it. I promise you, I didn't do it."

She ran to Zach who was sitting and went on her knees, "Please, sir, I'm telling you the truth. I didn't take your necklace, I don't know who put it there. It wasn't me, please believe me."