Chapter 20
"It''s just a small hup in our investment ns. As long as we prevent Arabe from marrying Percival,
there will be other opportunities."
Beatrice nced up, her eyes full of shrewdness. She forced Vivienne to marry Percival not merely
because of the Ellington family''s investment. More importantly, it was to protect Arabe.
Arabe was her carefully nurtured protégé. She had poured a lot of human and financial resources to
mold Arabe into the well-known talent she was in Havenwood today. In the future, the benefits
Arabe could bring to the Hawthorn family were substantial. She would never let Arabe marry
Percival.
Therefore, even if through marriage, the benefits the Ellington family could bring to the Hawthorn
family, it was just a small frypared to Arabe, who was a more stable investment.
She was worried that the marriage contract with the Ellington family would face problems, thus she
forced Vivienne to get engaged to Percival.
Vivienne''s theft was a disgrace to a prestigious family, and the Ellington family naturally wouldn''t want
her anymore.
The engagement would naturally be cancelled, saving them the trouble of bringing Vivienne back. This
was also the reason why she supported Arabe''s n.
Beatrice pondered for a moment, then said to Arabe, "Go to the media and expose this."
Arabe was startled. "But doing this will also have a big impact on our family."
The Hawthorn family''s daughter was a thief. How would outsiders view the Hawthorn family? This
seemed to be a lose-lose situation.
"It''s okay, her mother took her away from our family, so we are the victims." Beatrice sat on her
Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
expensive custom chair, and her eyes were showing a hint of indifference.
Arabe was stunned for a moment, thenughed. "I understand, Grandma."
At the Havenwood police station.
Vivienne was slouched in the interrogation chair, her long slender legs crossed. On the table in front of
her was a phone that thew enforcement officers had forcefully shoved but couldn''t get rid of.
In the quiet interrogation room, the phone was ringing non-stop. The twow enforcement officers that
brought her in were sweating, extremely nervous.
Seeing her not answering the phone, one of them gently persuaded, "Ms. Hawthorn, this phone has
been ringing for a while, why don''t you answer it?"
Vivienne nced up, and a sarcastic and confident smile showed on her lips. "Sorry, I always abide by
thew. I remember the police saying I must surrender my phone to assist in your investigation."
Thew enforcement officers were at a loss for words. They felt like crying.
In ordance with normal procedures, they really didn''t have any problem. Vivienne was reported for
theft, and it was a valuable item. They brought the suspect back for questioning and confiscated her
phone, all within normal procedures; they didn''t give Vivienne a hard time.
But as soon as they brought Vivienne back to the station, the phone in the chief''s office rang. Since
Jan wasn''t there, they answered it.
The result—scared them half to death!
More than a dozen calls in a row, all from their superiors, all asked if they had arrested a woman
named Vivienne. After telling the truth, they were severely scolded and told to let her go. But when he
was about to let Vivienne go, she wouldn''t leave. She just sat there, and no amount of persuasion
could get her to leave.
They had no choice but to call their superiors and report Vivienne''s situation. Their superior asked them
to hand the phone to Vivienne, but she adamantly refused to answer the phone.
Thew enforcement officer awkwardly chuckled. "We have already investigated and found out that
you did not steal Ms. Lockwood''s mother''s bracelet. You can go home now. We have other work to do,
and it''s not very convenient for us to carry out other work with you here."
"I find it quite nice here, very quiet." Vivienne leaned back in her chair and said casually, "I did steal Ms.
Lockwood''s mother''s bracelet. Why don''t you check again? You might have missed some useful
evidence."
Thew enforcement officer didn''t know what to do. Who would stay in an interrogation room and
refuse to leave? However, the main problem was that if she insisted on not leaving, they would not be
able to exin to their superior.
At the hospital.
After Percival and Isolde finished eating, Thomas hurried in. He nced at Eartha and Isolde, then
walked to Percival and whispered, "Ms. Hawthorn has been arrested."
Percival suddenly looked up, his eyes sharp. "What happened?"
"Half an hour ago, the media reported that the Hawthorn family''s youngdy was taken away by the
Havenwood police for stealing a fifty-dor bracelet..." Thomas told Percival about the investigation.
Percival''s face darkened. He pushed his wheelchair and left. "To the police station."
Tranquil Estates, the Lockwood family''s residence.
Arabe took a sip of the water Coral poured, her eyes instantly bing dark. "Coral, did Vivienne
really steal your mother''s bracelet?"
"My mother''s bracelet wasn''t lost at all. I said that on purpose." Coralughed.
"What?" Arabe''s face was full of disbelief. "Why...why would you do that?"
"For you," Coral said. "I noticed you''ve been downtely, and I figured it''s because of this country
bumpkin from the Hawthorn family, right?"
Arabe didn''t say anything; she just pursed her lips lightly.
"I reckon she must''ve taken you for a ride, so this time, I wanna teach her a lesson."
Arabe gripped Coral''s hand, tears swirling in her eyes. "Coral, I''m really touched that you''d go to bat
for me like this, but I still want to plead on behalf of my sister. Please ask your brother to let her go.
She''s a missy from the Hawthorn family, after all, and the Hawthorns have done me a solid."
"You''re too kind," Coral said, somewhat disgruntled. "People like Vivienne deserve a good kick in the
pants. Just because she''s from the Hawthorn family doesn''t mean she can walk all over you."
She paused, then said, "But don''t sweat it. There''s no proof to begin with. In a couple of days, I''ll have
a word with my brother. Once we ''find'' the bracelet, she''ll be sprung from the cop shop."
Arabe was crestfallen. She''d hoped that Vivienne would be stuck in the mmer forever. But it was
all good. At least this incident would put the kibosh on the marriage between the Ellington and
Hawthorn families.
Jan was in his study, sorting out some work. His phone rang. He nced at the caller ID and
promptly answered with respect, "Herman."
"Are you outta your damn mind?!" The call barely connected before angry words flew from the other
end.
Jan was taken aback. "What''s going on, Herman? Why are you so mad?"
"How dare you ask me what''s wrong? Is this how you always handle cases? You simply haul people
into the station without a shred of evidence? Is this your standard operating procedure? Sort this mess
out right away, or you''re out! Don''t bother showing up at the station anymore!" The voice at the other
end of the line hurled a few more angry words and then hung up.