Ch. 1961..1965
Chapter 1961
Caprice and Isabel turned around at the same time.
At the next second, Caprice broke down in tears and grievance drowned her. She cried and ran to her mother. "Mommy..." Sherry’s chest tightened when she saw her precious daughter crying. She too strode toward her daughter.
Caprice threw herself into her arms.
Sherry hugged the girl and asked, "What’s wrong, Caprice? Tell Mommy what's wrong."
"Sobs..." Caprice was suffocated by her tears and grievance, preventing her from speaking properly.
Ata closer look, John realized Sherry was hugging Caprice. He disregarded his image and strode over with furrowed brows. He asked, "What happened to Caprice?"
"Daddy..." Caprice then hugged the man as tears continued to roll down her cheeks.
John hugged her as he scanned around with a frosty gaze.
The security guards and staff who stopped Caprice before were stunned and dumbfounded.
The people who went outside to greet Sherry and John and then followed them inside were also stunned. What happened?
The thief called the richest man in Glanchester Daddy?
John Stockton was her father?!
Even Sophia and Heather were shocked.
Seeing Caprice crying in her father’s arms, and the richest man in Glanchester and his wife looking angry and worried, Heather's face turned pale and she nearly lost her balance.
Caprice was the only daughter of John Stockton, the richest man in Glanchester! It was then Odell and Sylvia came over.
Sylvia saw Isabel's messy hair and dirt-stained face. She strode over to her daughter and asked anxiously, "Isabel, what happened?"
Odell frowned and asked, "Did someone hit you?"
Isabel pursed her lips and said, "Dad, Mom, I'm fine. It's Caprice. She was kicked and beaten because she protected me." Her words silenced the entire crowd.
Heather's body started to shake uncontrollably.
Sophia fell onto her husband's shoulder, looking horrified.
Isabel was the daughter of Odell and Sylvia?
Isabel and Caprice were not just some celebrities or influencers. One was the daughter of the Carters, the wealthiest family in Westchester, and the other was the only daughter of the richest man in Glanchester.
Everyone was silenced, including the staff and the security guards.
Only Caprice's sobbing could be heard.
John and Sherry patiently calmed her down.
"Caprice, it's okay. Daddy and Mommy are here.”
‘Tell us what happened and we'll take over from here."
Caprice had never been mistreated so badly before. Her parents’ words only made her cry louder.
"Uncle John, Aunt Sherry, it's my fault. | failed to protect Caprice,” Isabel went over to them and explained.
Caprice snorted and said in her sobbing tone, "It's not your fault, Isabel.”
Isabel tried her best to help.
John patted the girl’s head and said, "Alright, Daddy knows what’s going on. Don’t cry."
Sherry then looked at Isabel and saw the girl's wretched state. She asked in a serious tone, "Isabel, what happened to you and Caprice?
Chapter 1962
Isabel scanned the crowd with a frosty gaze before she told Sherry about the stolen pink diamond.
Caprice was suspected to have stolen the pink diamond because they found the diamond in her purse.
Sherry frowned.
Caprice had almost a hundred of those diamonds in her closet, why would she steal someone else's?
Something was not right.
"Daddy, Mommy, | didn't steal it. | don’t know how the diamond ended up in my purse," Caprice snorted and explained. John and Caprice looked at her gently.
Sherry said, "Caprice, we believe you."
John hugged the girl tight and then looked at the crowd coldly.
Those who called Caprice a thief immediately averted their eyes from John and looked down in guilt.
Sherry scoffed coldly. "You people were loud when you called my daughter a thief. What's with the silence now?" Then, hurried footsteps came.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stockton, Mr. and Mrs. Carter, we're sorry that you have to wait so long."
The owner of the estate, Mr. and Mrs. Duwait, came over with flattering smiles.
When they had a clear look at the situation, their smiles froze. "W-What's going on here?"
Sherry explained coldly, "Your staff accused my daughter of stealing the pink diamond and they found it inside her purse."
Mr. and Mrs. Duwait were both stunned. They first had a glance at Caprice crying in John's arms before they switched their attention to the staff.
Mrs. Duwait bellowed, "Why would Ms. Stockton steal? What's going on here?"
The leading female staff explained in a trembling voice, "I-I’m not sure either. | heard the alarm and the next thing | know, the pink diamond was gone. Only Ms. Stockton was here and | found it inside her purse.”
If she was alone here and the pink diamond was inside her purse, would it not make her a thief?
Mr. and Mrs. Duwait exchanged a quick look and then said to Sherry, "Mrs. Stockton, if Ms. Stockton likes the pink diamond, | can give it to her."
Both Sherry and John were offended.
Odell, Sylvia, and Isabel also reacted with frosty expressions.
Before anyone could say a word, Caprice cried, "I didn’t steal your diamond! | didn't even touch it!"
"Mrs. Duwait, it's just a piece of diamond. Do you think my daughter would want it?” Sherry asked with a scoff. Mrs. Duwait's expression froze. She turned to her husband for help.
Mr. Duwait explained, "Mr. and Mrs. Stockton, please calm down. I'm sure there's a misunderstanding here."
His eyes flickered as an idea rushed into his mind. He told the staff, "Bring me the surveillance footage." The staff wore a troubled look and did not move at all.
Mr. Duwait bellowed, "Why are all of you standing there?"
“Beverly said the surveillance cameras in the area are all down," said one of the staff.
Mr. Duwait immediately looked at the leading staff. She was the one who arrived at the scene after the alarm went off and was the one who found the diamond in Caprice's purse.
Mrs. Duwait and the other guests switched their attention to Beverly. Beverly lowered her head in guilt. Her body was shaking terribly. "Mr. Duwait, how timely it is for your surveillance cameras to be faulty," John said with a scoff.
Mr. Duwait lost his usual elegance. He disregarded Beverly and shouted at the other staff, "Go bring me the surveillance footage from security!"
The staff nodded and ran toward the security room.
“Wait a minute. Cast it on the big screen when you get it," Mrs. Duwait added.
Chapter 1963
Mrs. Duwait already knew what happened without looking at the surveillance footage. The reason she told the staff to cast it on the big screen was because she wanted to show everyone the truth and clear Caprice's name in front of John and Sherry.
The staff nodded and went off. "Mrs. Duwait, | have a suggestion," Isabel stepped up and said.
Mrs. Duwait looked at her standing in between Odell and Sylvia. She hesitated for a moment before she said, "What is it, Ms. Carter?"
"You can call me Ms. Ross.” Isabel corrected her.
Mrs. Duwait looked at Odell and Sylvia in confusion.
Odell explained without changing his expression, "She used her mother's family name."
Mrs. Duwait chuckled. "| see."
She then looked at Isabel and asked, "What are you proposing, Ms. Ross?"
Isabel said with a smile, "I'd like to ask your security guards to block every exit of the estate." Mrs. Duwait knew what Isabel was trying to do.
She sneaked a furious glance at Beverly trembling at the side before she said to the security guards, "Bring all your men here. Before we get to the bottom of this, no one is allowed to leave."
"Yes, Madam." The security guards nodded and went off.
Isabel smiled. She intentionally sneaked a gaze at Heather standing among the crowd.
Heather's eyes flickered. She nervously held her mother's hand, seeking comfort.
Her mother, Sophia, was not in a good shape either. Her hands were cold and her face looked pale.
The atmosphere was suffocatingly quiet.
Suddenly, the big screen further away lit up, attracting everyone's attention.
Caprice also looked at the big screen.
The scene was showing her walking around the collection display.
Awhile later, she arrived at the pink diamond display but she walked away after a few glances.
While she was looking at a painting, the staff named Beverly snuck into the frame.
She stared at Caprice as she opened the glass case to take the pink diamond out.
Then, the alarm sounded.
She pretended that she had just arrived and screamed at the empty display case.
After she attracted a crowd, she accused Caprice of stealing the diamond because she was the only one there. The crowd then started to criticize Caprice without bothering to find out the truth. Some of them were extremely harsh with their words.
No matter how Caprice explained, no one listened to her.
When the screen revealed the truth, the people who criticized Caprice earlier immediately looked down in guilt. John and Sherry were furious. They stood by Caprice's side and supported her.
Heather then appeared on the screen. She asked Caprice what happened but someone else asked her who Caprice was. She then told everyone that Caprice was Liam's girlfriend and it attracted more criticism.
They questioned Liam’s taste in women and they showed no respect for Caprice as a person.
John grunted coldly. Sherry was infuriated.
Odell and Sylvia were both displeased as well.
Caprice was surprisingly calm. Now that the truth had been revealed, she was rather curious about how the diamond ended up in her bag.
She had her bag with her all the time and no one touched it before.
Chapter 1964
The footage continued to play on the screen.
Awhile later, Sophia and Heather started to incite a search on Caprice's purse.
Caprice gave her purse to Beverly.
Beverly searched her purse in front of the crowd and found the diamond necklace in the deepest compartment of the purse. Caprice finally knew what happened.
Beverly intentionally reached deeper into the purse at the very end to sneak the pink diamond inside and take it out in front of the crowd, so that it would look like Caprice had it in her purse all along.
Even an idiot knew what happened after seeing the footage.
The footage ended after that.
The crowd was once again silenced and only the screen's noise could be heard. Those who criticized Caprice were all silenced, nervous and anxious.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Duwait were in an awkward position as well.
Caprice was mistreated at their estate and they were unaware of it until now. They did not know how to face John and Sherry without guilt eating them up.
"That’s enough!" Mrs. Duwait said to stop the playback. She began to think of an apology to Caprice.
It was then Sherry said, "No. Don't let it stop.”
Both Isabel and Caprice were still fine in the footage. Their hair was not messed up and their faces were clean. Sherry wanted to know what happened after that.
“Of course. Keep it playing!" Mr. Duwait responded.
The big screen continued to play the surveillance footage.
Anumber of people started to back away in silence, including Sophia and Heather.
Back on the screen, after the diamond was found in Caprice's purse, she explained she had no idea how it ended up inside her purse.
No one believed her except for Isabel. Many of them criticized her for her actions and even those who did not say a word wore contempt on their faces as if they were looking at a piece of trash.
Heather then stepped up and looked at Caprice in disappointment. " Caprice, you've disappointed Liam. Why did you steal it? Why didn't you think of him when you did it?"
Caprice’s eyes got teary. She yelled, "I didn’t steal it!"
Heather sighed. The crowd did not hold back with their criticism at all.
Isabel had it with the bullying, so she shouted at Heather and questioned her if she was trying to frame Caprice. Heather claimed that Caprice was caught red-handed, so there was no use trying to shift the blame onto her. Isabel was infuriated. She wanted to slap Heather but then a middle-aged woman came and called security. "Security! She's trying to hit someone!"
The security guards and a number of staff stood at Heather's side quickly surrounded Isabel.
Not only did they block Isabel, but they also pushed her to the ground.
It was then Heather lifted her foot and wanted to stomp on Isabel's face with her heel.
Caprice responded quickly and covered Isabel.
The stomp landed on Caprice and it was just the start of a series of brutal beatings.
Chapter 1965
Chapter 1965 Heather seized the chance to land a few more kicks on Caprice. The women around her joined her and stomped Caprice's back mercilessly.
Isabel was under Caprice’s protection. She shouted, "One more kick and I'll make sure all of your families are thrown out of Westchester!"
Only then the women stopped kicking but their contemptuous gazes remained.
It was until the staff at the entrance welcomed Odell, Sylvia, John, and Sherry, the crowd finally dispersed.
The footage showed a silent crowd with Caprice and Isabel on the ground, looking miserable.
The silence was like the quiet before the storm, so suffocating that people could not breathe.
Other than those who were not present, those who were at the scene of bullying Isabel and Caprice were all drowned in guilt.
It was John who broke the silence by saying, "Mr. and Mrs. Duwait, if you have any displeasure against me, please come at me. You shouldn't have gone after my daughter while I'm away."
"It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding, Mr. Stockton!" Mr. Duwait immediately explained nervously.
Mrs. Duwait echoed. "Mr. Stockton, it was our fault for letting this happen. We weren't at the scene when it happened. If we were, it wouldn’t have happened."
‘That's right!" Mr. Duwait added. Sherry then looked at the crowd. ‘The one who called Caprice a disgrace to Liam and kicked her just now, are you still here?"
“Aunt Sherry, she’s Heather Mason, the daughter of W Entertainment's chairman Roman Mason. Since Mrs. Duwait sealed all the exits, | believe she’s still here," Isabel said with a smirk.
Roman, who was among the crowd, shuddered in fear.
He looked around but realized his wife and daughter were no longer with him.
He searched for them and found them standing at the end of the crowd, looking horrified. There was no way they could escape now.
Roman bit the bullet and shouted at them, "What are you two doing back there? Apologize to Ms. Stockton and Mr. and Mrs. Stockton right now!"
His words diverted the crowd’s attention to the mother and daughter. Sophia's eyes flickered helplessly; Heather looked horrified.
They were like two thieves exposed under the spotlight with nowhere to run.
They reluctantly walked forward to John and Sherry. John's powerful aura pressured them, silencing Heather entirely.
Sophia mustered up enough courage and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Stockton, Ms. Stockton, it’s our fault for not teaching Heather right. But | believe she doesn't mean it. She doesn't want to kick Ms. Stockton."
Sherry scoffed. "She kicked my daughter five times, each kick stronger than the previous. Do you think I'm blind? | saw that face on her when she attacked my daughter."
Sophia was silenced.
Sherry was upset by the excuse. She asked Caprice, "Caprice | remember someone pushed you into the fountain when you were in Glanchester. Is she the one as well?"
Caprice's back still hurts. She hummed a reply and nodded. "It's her."
Sherry patted the girl's head. She then looked at Heather and said, "Caprice didn’t hold you responsible back then because she doesn't want to make things worse for you. Heather Mason, you've bullied my daughter enough."
Heather was frightened to her core. Her eyes flickered helplessly and said," |-| didn’t mean it. | really thought she stole the diamond, that’s why | said what | said. | hit her because she and Isabel hit me in the toilet."