Faye knew Zayn as a talentless man who just happened to be honest and disinclined to lying. Was he able to tell that it was a fake?Her eyes whipped to Zayn, who returned her gaze with a smiling nod.Waine and Ruby, however, had their biliousness on full display. They spent minutes swooning madly over what they believed was the genuine antique. If it really was, as Zayn alluded, a complete fake, then that meant that 1.8 million dollars was nothing but smoke and mirrors!That could not be! That was unacceptable!Besides, they did not believe Zayn either. To them, he was speaking out of envy-induced spite, which only served to worsen Zayn’s already unflattering image in their minds.To show just how much she despised him, Ruby stomped on the man’s foot, shouting, “Shut up, you good-for-nothing freeloader! Get out of here, right now! You’re so young, yet you’ve already shown yourself to be rotten to the core; it’s not like you ever tried to learn to be decent growing up! It’s patheti
Zayn grinned, completely unfazed.“I have to admit, this fake of yours is rather exceptionally well-made. From its material, design, to its artisanship, every aspect has been imitated so well that you could fool the unlearned eye easily with it. I’m guessing that’s why you decided you could pull off this scam. You were so confident it would work—you were sure that my in-laws would be none the wiser,” Zayn began slowly while smirking confidently.He was a far cry from the weak-willed, pathetic mannerisms he usually assumed. In a blur, Waine and Ruby suddenly felt as though the man before them was someone else altogether.Zayn continued his analysis while circling around the clock matter-of-factly, spouting a wealth of technical jargon as though he himself was an antique expert whose words were just too convincing to disbelieve.As his analysis continued, Waine got darker. He might not have been an expert, but he was far from unlearned. He knew a few tidbits about antique appraisal,
Zayn lost control and accidentally let out a sputtering laugh. Who would have known that Blaze Hunt would be so invested into pretending to be cool? Gosh, ‘Fame is just a puff of smoke’? How hip, original and trendy he was!Zayn did not need to do the research to know that Blaze was a hack whose biggest motivation was fame and fortune. Anyone who disregarded their integrity and took part in a scam, as Blaze was doing with Nathan at the moment, automatically lost his respect.It seemed that Blaze had heard Zayn’s laughter, as he quickly turned to him with an angry scowl. “What are you laughing at?”Zayn shook his head. “Nothing.”Waine jabbed his foot at Zayn’s before turning to Blaze, “Mr. Hunt, please don’t be angered by his puerile actions. You mentioned that it was a ‘priceless antique?”“Oh, yes. Yes, indeed,” Blaze said as he brought himself back into their previous conversation. “Ahem, Mr. Carter? This is truly a Magpie’s Treasure Nest! Look at the material it’s carved from,
Waine’s current reaction was even more animated than when Blaze had introduced himself. In fact, he was so excited that he disregarded any form of reservation and strode towards him before bending slightly to catch Xavier’s hand and shake it vigorously. “Mr. Griffin, hello, hello! I’m Waine Carter, a big fan of yours. Super big fan!”Zayn was in a daze too. He finally recognized who it was. It was Xavier Griffin, the most famous name in antique collection. The last time he saw him was before his grandfather’s paralysis as the two older men were friends.Of course, since Zayn had still been a very young boy back then, he doubted that the old man would still recognize him.The old man’s appearance had ushered in an uncanny change to the atmosphere in the room. Gone was Zayn’s previous anxiety; now, he felt jaunty and blithe because he knew what kind of person Xavier was. The old man was a true paragon of expertise and virtue, well-respected by all not only for his mastery in antique a
Their concerted effort was working. Xavier was successfully led to the door, and just as he was about to leave, Zayn—who could not possibly let the chance slip away—cried out above the din, “Mr. Griffin, if you may? We have an antique clock, the Magpie’s Treasure Nest, with us right now. We’d be delighted if you could give it a once-over.”Zayn enunciated his request with such flawless, doubtless clarity that Xavier immediately stopped dead in his tracks and turned, his face bearing a shocked expression. “Is that so? May I see it?”In an instant, Nathan and Blaze’s faces warped into the most ogre-like grimaces. The glowers they shot at Zayn were brimming with broiling rage and even killing intent—never had they ever wished they could tear a man into pieces with their bare hands more than right now!Zayn Larson, you useless b*st*rd! Why is it so hard to keep your mouth shut?!Waine reeled back from his daze and caught onto Zayn’s suggestion. “Oh, yes! Mr. Griffin, we have an authent
“But that’s not what you said, Mr. Hunt! You examined it closely and said it cannot be anything but 100% real! You even schooled Zayn for it! You said he’s a non-expert who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and that his very assessment insulted this antique clock… and now you’re saying it’s fake?” Waine said, unleashing a very agitated verbal sally.Why would he not react this way? The twist was so sharp that it overwhelmed him! From euphoria to despair, back to hope, and now another nosedive? He was not even sure that his heart could take it!Ruby was also greatly agitated. “Yeah, Mr. Hunt. You told us it’s real! You’re the antique expert! How could you have been wrong? Didn’t you even examine it using specialized tools or something?”Blaze hated those two with the entirety of his being. They were eager to see him dead.Of course, he reserved the worst and most rancid for Nathan Sullivan. Had that stupid man not insisted on his cool, rich guy bluff and dragged him into this mu
Next, he tapped on his WhatsApp app and played a voice clip. He put the audio on speaker so that everyone could hear Nathan’s wretched voice, “Mr. Hunt, thank you for going through all this trouble. Waine and Ruby are commoners, so they’re incapable of recognizing that this is a reproduced antique. They’re both materialistic, money-mad snobs who’ll break into tears of gratitude the moment they unwrap my gift, hahaha…”When the voice clip had played, the atmosphere changed once again. Waine and Ruby were staring at him in cold disgust.“Nathan, I had no idea that you were that type of person!” scorned Waine through clenched teeth. Nathan was white as a sheet. He wanted to bury himself into the ground so badly now because it was just f*ck*ng embarrassing!Ruby chided, “Nathan, I’m terribly disappointed in you!”Faye insisted, “You can have all the gifts back. We don’t deserve it!”“Fifi…” Nathan regretted it greatly. He looked at Faye with pleading eyes. It was unfortunate that sh
Zayn was startled when he noticed how confused Xavier was. There was no way Xavier could recognize him, was there?If his cover was blown, his plan would be ruined. Frankly, Zayn was not planning on reuniting with the Larsons now, nor did he want Faye to learn that he was a Larson. It was fortunate that Xavier was close to him, so close in fact that the doubt in his gaze dispersed soon after. Aggrieved, Nathan burst out laughing when he heard Zayn’s remark. “Haha! Do you know how much the Magpie’s Treasure Nest is worth? How dare you make such a reckless remark?”He had a hunch that Zayn was not bragging, but more so acting like a fool. Zayn had the audacity to make such an absurd boast. Nathan had actually looked into Zayn’s identity and found that he was just a poor deadbeat who was from the countryside. A pauper like Zayn could not even afford to own a modern clock, let alone the Magpie’s Treasure Nest. It sounded even more ridiculous to think that someone had given it to hi