Chapter 6 The Vicious Maid

Vivian emptied her new Louis Vuitton handbag and even shook it desperately, its zipper wide open. Her cosmetics, cellphone, small packs of tissues, and earbuds were all scattered on the coffee table. It was clear that she had emptied her bag in search of something.

Hearing Vivian's panicked cries, Bill and Julie rushed over at once, thinking that something bad had happened to their precious daughter.

"What's wrong? Why are you screaming?" Bill asked in confusion.

Lily leaned over and whispered to him, "Mr. Jenkins, Miss Vivian's favorite piece of jade seems to be missing. She has been searching for it all morning."

"I swear I put Jadee in my bag last night!" Vivian cried anxiously. She sank into the sofa in despair mixed with anger.

She was incredibly fond of that precious stone and brought it with her wherever she went. And because she liked it so much, she even named it Jadee.

Vivian clearly remembered that before going to bed last night, she put Jadee into her brand new Louis Vuitton bag. The handbag was left on the sofa in the living room overnight.

After realizing what the commotion was about, a frown appeared on Julie's face.

"Bill, is Vivian talking about your birthday gift to her? The million-dollar jade piece you bought at an auction six months ago?"

"Yes, that's the one," Bill sighed, feeling kind of irritated.

"That was Master Vincent Geoffrey's work! If it weren't for that charity auction, I couldn't have bought it at such a low price."

Vincent Geoffrey was the most famous jade carving master in the country. His name was legendary in this industry.

He had no children, nor did he take any apprentices. Consequently, his superb skill and talent was to die along with him. Every piece of his work had become a unique and invaluable masterpiece that couldn't be replaced as the master grew older.

Jadee, one of Vincent's notable works, was small yet exquisite. It was about the size of a thumb. When it was put up for bidding in the auction, Bill managed to acquire it for just 1.2 million dollars, which was a steal compared to Vincent's other prominent masterpieces.

It was one in a million, and now, it was missing. Bill couldn't believe that such a precious jade piece would simply be misplaced. Someone must have taken it!

The atmosphere in the living room immediately became a little awkward.

Of course, Bill was upset. Although they were substantially rich, one million dollars was still a fortune to them.

"Sir, Madam, I don't want to speculate... But is it possible that Jadee was stolen?"

At this time, Lily broke the silence and offered an explanation heavy with implication.

Noticing that she captured everyone's attention, she continued slowly, "It's just as Mr. Jenkins said—Jadee couldn't have just gone missing just like that. If someone stole it, then maybe we can still find it. I swear I'm innocent. You can search me and my room."

Bill didn't hesitate to wave his hand dismissively. "No, that won't be necessary. You're one of the highest-rated maids the Sheffield housekeeping center recommended. They swore to us that you're clean as a whistle. Besides, you've worked for us for several years now, and we've never lost anything before. If you were to steal something, you would've done it long ag—"

Just then, a thought suddenly occurred to him. "But Maria... Where is that girl?"

Seeing that her plan was sailing so smoothly, Lily couldn't help but secretly grin smugly.

She then pointed at the door and explained, "Miss Maria got up earlier than me this morning. When I got up, she was already practicing some sort of martial art in the yard."

Lily spoke casually, but there was a deliberate insinuation that the others couldn't miss.

As expected, the Jenkins family immediately latched onto that important piece of information: Maria had gotten up earlier than Lily, which meant that she was the prime suspect.

If everyone else was still asleep at the time, Maria could've easily stolen the jade from Vivian's bag.