「The next day.」
“Ruby Grant, you swept the trash from your section into the street of the worker next to you!
Do you call that a decent thing to do?
Get over here and apologize to David!” Ruby Grant hadn’t even left her home when Fiona Halloway and a group of people barged in.
Today, Ruby was on the day shift, so she didn’t have to leave as early as before.
She looked up and saw Fiona Halloway acting high and mighty, as if Ruby had truly done something despicable.
Faced with such aggression, she didn’t waste her breath on pointless arguments.
Instead, she played along with what they were saying.
“I can apologize to him, but only on the condition that I get to go to the scene and see for myself if that’s really the trash I cleaned up yesterday.”
Ruby Grant stood there, holding Ceci tightly in her arms.
Ceci stayed obediently in her mother’s embrace, her beautiful, wide eyes staring at the loathsome woman in front of them.
“Trash is trash.
How are you supposed to recognize which trash is yours?”
“Exactly.
But if even I can’t recognize it, then how did my colleague David recognize the trash on your street as being from my section yesterday?”
“You!” Fiona Halloway was speechless.
She had thought she could easily handle this young woman, but she never expected her to actually have a brain.
The people nearby gathered around, pointing and murmuring, “There goes Fiona Halloway, bullying a widow and orphan again.
Have some decency!”
Seeing she was losing the crowd, Fiona Halloway finally relented.
“Enough!
If you want to identify it, then go identify it.
If you can’t prove that trash isn’t yours, you’ll pay him compensation, or else you can get the hell out of here.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“Then it’ll be deducted from your salary!”
Ruby Grant froze.
‘Deducting my salary again?’
The other cleaners also gathered around.
Seeing the situation, they all felt immense sympathy for Ruby Grant.
The trash had no name and couldn’t speak; how could anyone prove who it belonged to?
They figured Ruby had already lost before she even started.
A short while later, the group followed Ruby Grant and Fiona Halloway to the street.
Next to the green belt on yesterday’s street, cigarette butts, plastic bags, dirty tissues, and all sorts of wet and dry trash were piled up conspicuously, the stench so bad it made people cover their noses.
Ruby Grant couldn’t help but glance at David Goodman.
He stood behind Fiona Halloway, arrogant and smug, without a hint of guilt on his face, as if none of this had anything to do with him.
Ruby Grant lowered her gaze.
“I deny it.”
“You…
The evidence is irrefutable!
Do you think you can solve this by just denying it?”
Fiona Halloway crossed her arms, a cold, disdainful glint in her eyes.
If she were to just use her authority to crush her and hand down an internal punishment, Ruby Grant wouldn’t even have a chance to seek justice.
She was only going through these motions as a show for the crowd.
But Ruby Grant said, “I have a witness.”
“A witness?
And where would they be?” Fiona Halloway sneered, looking around mockingly.
‘What witness could there be?
These old ladies who work under her?’ Fiona Halloway almost laughed out loud.
Ruby Grant wrung her hands.
Her heart was pounding with uncertainty.
‘Will that old lady really come as she promised?’
Just then, a luxury car drove up and stopped by the roadside.
A woman dressed as a maid got out.
Immediately after, the maid turned and respectfully helped an old lady out of the car.
“Ma’am, is that the cleaner you were talking about?”
“Yes, that’s her!”
Under the confused gazes of the crowd, the two of them walked up to Ruby Grant.
“Miss Grant, I lost a family heirloom, a sapphire ring, here yesterday.
Now that I’m here, can you return my ring to me?” the old lady said, just as she had been instructed.
The crowd of cleaners buzzed with commotion.
“Isn’t Ruby Grant just digging her own grave?
Why would she bring the victim to the scene?”
“Yeah, isn’t that just stupid?”
Ruby Grant gently patted Ceci, who was in her arms.
Ceci had just woken from a nap and was now surveying the unfamiliar surroundings with her large, grape-like eyes.
Ruby took her out of the baby carrier and cradled her in her arms.
Only then did she look at the old lady.
“You must be joking, ma’am.
I didn’t take your ring.”
The old lady took a moment to glance at the baby in her arms.
‘This child looks just like my grandson!
But I haven’t heard anything about Caleb having a child.
It must be a coincidence!
Ever since Caleb’s mother passed away, I was so heartbroken I moved back to Sudonia.
I heard that Caleb got married these past few years to a woman who also comes from a prestigious family, but I don’t know anything else.
The most important reason I came back this time was to see my granddaughter-in-law!
And, of course, to pay my respects to Shirley.’
“Ruby Grant, finding something and not returning it is the same as stealing.
Stealing an item worth millions can land you in prison!”
Before the old lady could even speak, Fiona Halloway, unable to hide the coldness in her eyes, cut in.
“Even though I’m your supervisor and I usually take extra care of you because I pity your situation, I can’t possibly cover for you now that the owner has shown up and the facts are right in front of us!”
“Once you’ve worked for two more months and paid off the money you owe David Goodman, you can leave!”
“Ma’am, I’ll see that justice is done for you.
Ruby Grant stole someone else’s property.
After she pays back her colleague, she will be fired immediately, and she will personally be responsible for compensating you for your entire loss!”
Fiona Halloway had said all the right things, making herself out to be the good guy, as if Ruby Grant were a massive burden she had been dragging along.
Hearing this, the maid beside the old lady whispered, “This cleaner’s supervisor seems like a good person.
Ma’am, why don’t we use this opportunity to call the police and have them help find your ring?”
The old lady suddenly reached out and placed a hand on her personal maid.
“Miss Grant, what exactly is your plan?
You can lay it all out now, can’t you?”
Ruby Grant then turned to Fiona Halloway.
“I told you I have a witness.
And this lady is my witness.”
Calmly, Ruby Grant turned to the old lady.
“Ma’am, when you came looking for me yesterday, what was I doing?”
The old lady recalled, “Yesterday, you were cleaning the street, and you threw all the trash into a garbage truck that happened to be passing by.”
“So, in other words, all these dead leaves, cigarette butts, plastic bags, and tissues are not the trash I cleaned up from my street, correct?”
“Of course not!” the old lady said, raising an eyebrow.
“This is clearly the result of the person responsible for this street being negligent and lazy.
What does it have to do with you, young lady?”
The old lady’s maid muttered, ‘This doesn’t have anything to do with our lady losing her ring, does it?’ She was starting to feel that her mistress and this cleaner had a rather unusual connection.
“Supervisor Halloway, I believe I’ve proven my innocence now.”
Fiona Halloway’s face went pale, then red.
“Fine.
But don’t celebrate too soon.
Even if David was lazy and the trash isn’t yours, what about you stealing her ring?
If we don’t get to the bottom of this today, I won’t let you off the hook!”
David Goodman added, “Yeah!
Don’t even think about leaving until you hand over that ring!”
But Ruby Grant just smiled.
“Ma’am, your ring is currently in the grass by David Goodman’s feet.
I wasn’t sure if he would be carrying it with him or if he had hidden it somewhere else.
But just now, when you accused me of stealing your sapphire ring, he moved the stolen item.”
The only reason she had dragged out the argument with Fiona Halloway for so long was to wait for David Goodman to expose himself.
Yesterday, she had only seen David Goodman pick something up, but she wasn’t entirely sure what it was.
Even if she had told the old lady right then and there, there was no guarantee the item would still be on him ten or twenty minutes later.
She guessed that David Goodman wasn’t sure of the item’s value and wouldn’t try to sell it off so quickly.
And just as she expected, he thought that since a night had passed and no one had come looking for it, it was safe to carry it on him.
But when the old lady, as planned, accused Ruby of “stealing” the valuable, he panicked.
With a guilty conscience, he started to move the item.
He planned to take it back after the commotion died down, sell it, and make a windfall.
And no one would ever discover that he was the one who took it.
However, the security camera had silently recorded everything.
As Ruby Grant slowly explained all this, David Goodman’s face turned crimson, and he vehemently denied it.
“What nonsense are you spouting?
The camera here has been broken for months!
You’re trying to bluff me, aren’t you!”
Ruby Grant and the old lady exchanged a look.
The maid beside the old lady had a moment of realization.
“So that’s why you had me go to the traffic management bureau last night to request an overnight replacement for the security camera, Ma’am!”
The truth came to light, and everyone finally understood.
Seeing this, Fiona Halloway immediately tried to shirk responsibility.
“I have nothing to do with him!
I didn’t know anything about this.”
One of the older cleaners said in surprise, “Isn’t he your own nephew?
How could you not know?”
“Yeah, a minute ago you were calling him ‘David, David’ and insisting on taking Ruby’s hard-earned money for your nephew.
You didn’t say you had nothing to do with him then.”
“Officer, this aunt and nephew are definitely in it together.” The police had arrived by now, and the old lady’s maid was speaking to an officer.
“You two, come with us.”
Because the amount was substantial and the impact so negative, both of them were handcuffed and taken away.
As she was being led away, Fiona Halloway couldn’t stop staring at Ruby Grant, as if wondering how a poor, lowly cleaner with a child could have had the skill to plot against them like this.
They didn’t even know when they had fallen into the trap she had set.
The brilliantly clear sapphire ring, recovered from the grass, was also taken by the police as evidence.
It would be returned after being photographed and documented.
This scene was reflected in Ruby Grant’s eyes, and the corners of her lips curved into a smile.
Normally, the matter would have ended here.
But this wasn’t all Ruby Grant wanted.
“Officers, I’d like to file a report, too!”
As dawning realization spread across Fiona Halloway’s face, Ruby Grant walked forward, holding Ceci with tears in her eyes.
“A few days ago, I was falsely accused of finding a gold necklace and not returning it.
But I was truly framed.
I never saw any gold necklace.
Since you’re already investigating matters on this street, could you also help prove my innocence?”
The two officers exchanged a glance.
Five minutes later, they had Ruby Grant write up a statement of the situation.
“We’ve received it.
We will investigate this matter carefully.
If what you’ve said is true, we will certainly see that you get justice.
The punishment your workplace gave you will be nullified, and we will urge them to retract it.”
Fiona Halloway looked at Ruby Grant in shock.
Cornered, she shrieked desperately, “Ruby Grant, what are you talking about?!
So it was you!
You held a grudge against me just because I docked three thousand from your pay, is that it?
I can tell you right now, the one who wants to crush you isn’t me, it’s—”