“The diamond necklace is missing!”
The cashier’s voice caught the attention of the surrounding crowd.
The jewelry store manager also rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
“What? The necklace was just on the counter, how could it be lost?”
“What happened? Which necklace is missing?”
The cashier quickly pointed at Marie and said, “It’s… it’s the one she wanted to try on just now…”
“Mrs. Lincoln, how do you educate your child? Even if she likes that necklace, she can’t steal it!” Mrs. Johnson was the quickest to react and immediately accused Marie of stealing the necklace.
As Mrs. Johnson spoke, the eyes of the surrounding cashiers all fell on Marie, even though there was no evidence, she was the prime suspect.
She liked that necklace, and Madam Lincoln refused to buy it, so it was likely that she stole it.
“At such a young age, she’s already so ill-behaved. Mrs. Lincoln, do you even know how to discipline your daughter?” Mrs. Johnson continued to fan the flames.
“But it’s true, she’s been to juvenile detention before, stealing is nothing new to her.” Mrs. Johnson added fuel to the fire.
When Mrs. Johnson mentioned that Marie had been to juvenile detention, the faces of the surrounding cashiers and the store manager changed.
Even Dean Franklin looked over in their direction curiously.
Madam Lincoln was alarmed when she realized that Dean Franklin had taken notice of the situation.
“Marie, quickly take out the necklace!” she exclaimed, afraid that Marie’s theft would tarnish the reputation of the Lincoln Family.
She was angry and anxious, and instinctively raised her hand to slap Marie.
However, just as her hand was about to strike, Dean Franklin’s voice suddenly came through.
“There’s no evidence, we can’t just accuse someone without proof. The store has surveillance, we can just check the footage.” After Dean Franklin spoke, Madam Lincoln’ expression eased somewhat.
However, her eyes were filled with disgust as she looked at Marie.
If she could, she would have killed Marie the moment she was born.
She took a deep breath and said coldly, “Just admit your mistake! It will save everyone some trouble. If we have to check the surveillance and the store calls the police to arrest you, I won’t be able to help you!”
She wanted to show as much composure as possible, to make the dean understand that she wouldn’t let family ties cloud her judgment.
“I didn’t steal the jewelry, so I’m not afraid of the surveillance,” Marie replied calmly.
Madam Lincoln gritted her teeth and said, “Why are you so stubborn!” Mrs. Johnson’ smile grew even wider.
“I guess you won’t cry until you see the coffin!”
“Out of all the people in this store, only you are capable of stealing.”
“Tell me, if it wasn’t you who stole the necklace, then who else could it be?”
Today was the perfect day for her to come shopping!
Because of this theft, Dean Franklin’s impression of the Lincoln family would definitely be greatly diminished.
Marionette used to always be favored over her daughter in school, but that situation will probably never happen again!
“Why do you have to embarrass yourself like this?”
Of all the people present, Madam Lincoln was the one who least wanted to review the surveillance footage.
She was already certain that it was Marie, this uncultured girl, who stole the necklace.
If Marie were to return the necklace now, the most that would happen is that she would be embarrassed.
If it escalated to reviewing the surveillance footage, then that would be troublesome!
Furthermore, for her reputation in the social circle, she must ensure that Marie attends a reputable school.
She had already planned to pay her way into a private school in a few days, but now…
It’s over!
Everything is over!
Which school would accept a problem girl who has been in a juvenile detention center and has stolen again after being released?
The more Madam Lincoln thought about it, the angrier she became, and she raised her hand again, wanting to slap Marie.
However, this time she was stopped by Mrs. Johnson’s insincere words.
“Oh, Mrs. Lincoln, don’t be too angry.
Children need to be taught, and Marie isn’t naturally ill-mannered.
“If you could take some time out of your card games and beauty treatments to teach your daughter how to behave, she wouldn’t have turned out like this.”
Madam Lincoln forcefully pushed away Mrs. Johnson.
“How I teach my daughter is none of your business!”
After speaking, she sternly warned Marie.
“If you admit your mistake now, I won’t hold it against you.”
“But if you persist in your stubbornness, then I won’t care about you anymore.”
“Lincoln Family, don’t have a misbehaving daughter!”
Madam Lincoln finished speaking, and Marie’s face also turned cold.
“Don’t you understand? I said I didn’t steal it.”
Madam Lincoln was so angry that her body trembled.
“You still won’t admit it? Fine! Then investigate! Investigate thoroughly for me!”
However, at that moment, the employee who went to check the surveillance hurried back.
“Manager, there’s a problem with the surveillance. We can’t find the footage from this morning.”
“How could this happen? Did you contact the technical department to fix it?” The manager asked anxiously.
“They’re fixing it, but they said it’s a hard drive failure. Even if they fix it, the footage won’t be recovered.”
Mrs. Johnson covered her mouth and chuckled, “So there’s no evidence now? Hehe, someone’s wish has come true!”
“Who said there’s no evidence?” Marie gave her a cold glance.
Then, she casually put her hand in her pocket and took out her phone.
It was the same phone that the original owner had used before going to prison, a low-end smartphone that had long been outdated.
But for a master hacker like Marie, as long as the phone was not broken, she could find anything she wanted to know.
“Why did you take out your phone?” Madam Lincoln scolded her.
“Isn’t it embarrassing enough?” Marie ignored Madam Lincoln and focused on tapping the keyboard interface on her phone with her chubby fingers.
Two minutes later, she looked up and handed the phone to the store manager.
“What is this?”
The store manager took the phone, looking puzzled.
After seeing the video on the phone, his eyes widened suddenly.
“Isn’t this the surveillance footage from the store?”
Mrs. Lincoln looked at everyone’s actions in a daze.
At that moment, she suddenly had a bad feeling in her heart.
However, she didn’t believe that Marie could get the store’s video footage just by tapping a few times on her phone.
After hesitating for a while, she also leaned in front of the phone.
The video started from the moment Marie and Madam Lincoln entered the store.
The store manager held his breath and stared at the screen intently.
Soon, he saw the clerk who had received Marie place the lost necklace between two counters.
At that moment, Mrs. Johnson appeared.
Another clerk rushed to attend to her and accidentally bumped into the counter.
The next moment, the necklace fell into the gap between the two counters and got stuck there.
“Snap!” Mrs. Johnson felt as if an invisible slap had hit her face when she saw this scene.
Madam Lincoln, who was also watching the video, froze instantly.
She not only wrongly accused Marie but also acted so aggressively in front of Dean Franklin.
What should she do?
What if Dean Franklin blamed Marionette because of her anger?
“Quick, move this counter!” The store manager watched the video and immediately instructed the clerk.
Soon, the counter was moved, and everyone saw the lost diamond necklace in the gap.
“Sorry, it was my fault for not paying attention…” The clerk apologized quickly.
“Be more careful next time!”
The store manager warned coldly.
At the same time, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he did not accuse Marie of stealing the necklace; otherwise, the Lincoln Family would have the right to complain about their companies false accusation of customers.
Mrs. Johnson had been beaten up and her face was swollen.
She hesitated for a moment before defending herself, “How did she get the store’s surveillance video? Is the surveillance fake?”
“This is the store’s surveillance, and the camera angle is perfect. Besides, how could it be fake in such a short time?” Madam Lincoln quickly spoke up.
Although she didn’t know how Marie got hold of the store’s surveillance, she had to say something to salvage her image in Dean Franklin’s eyes.
Dean Franklin looked at Marie and suddenly spoke up, “so talented at such a young age! How did you manage to get the store’s surveillance video in such a short time? Did you study hacking?”
Although he was asking a question, his words were full of admiration for Marie.
Among the people present, only he knew how advanced Marie’s hacking skills were.
Marie’s recent actions involved not only obtaining the video but also repairing the surveillance system before retrieving the video.
The store clerk had just said that the surveillance video was lost, so Marie had to repair the system’s vulnerabilities, restore the video, and then retrieve it in just a few minutes.
He could guarantee that no more than ten people in Splendid Country could hack to this level.
Marie glanced at Dean Franklin with indifference.
“For me, this is not difficult.” Then, she turned to Mrs. Johnson and her flat voice carried a compelling pressure, “Kneel and Apologize to me!”