The jade pendant Maria had was of the same design as Vincent's work.

Furthermore, it was numbered " Because of this information, Bill found it more confusing.

Maria was a mere ordinary girl from a small, poor town. How could she get her hands on such a precious thing?

“Back when I was working at the digital store, I was able to save some money from my salary, especially when the business was doing good."

Then, she paused for a bit to prepare them for something they might not believe. "I bought it with my own money.”

To be precise, she only bought the materials.

But the entire craftsmanship was hers.

Of course, Maria didn't find it wise to talk to Bill about it in detail. After all, she couldn't trust them.

"You bought it? How could you have afforded it?"

It was obvious that Bill was in utter disbelief. This girl had just graduated from high school. There was no way she could have made enough money from part-time jobs to afford such a precious jade pendant.

ALL of a sudden, Bill thought of something. He wasn't sure if his idea would lead to somewhere, but there was only one way to find out.

He held up the jade pendant in his hand and tried scrutinizing it. As he looked closely, the only thought that kept running in his mind was the possibility that this pendant was just an imitation made out of cheap materials.

The more he pondered this theory, the more he believed it. If Maria could afford a piece of jewelry, it would most Likely be just an imitation of the original work.

It wasn't an outrageous idea. After all, many had already tried to copy Vincent's pieces. On that note, Bill supposed that this pendant was just one of those cheap replicas that could be bought at a roadside stall.

The truth was, he was no jade expert.

His knowledge of jades was actually so insufficient that he wouldn't even be able to tell a broken jade from a broken glass.

“Fine. It seems that this was all a misunderstanding." Bill then wryly returned the pendant to Maria.

The sudden change in her husband's attitude put a frown on Julie's face. She wanted to say something more but ended up keeping it to herself.

She might not be too familiar with Vincent's works, but she knew her husband well.

Julie reckoned that Bill must have hastily concluded that Maria's pendant was just a piece of counterfeit jewelry that she got from a small workshop in the village. Or perhaps, he thought that it was probably made of inferior raw materials.

However, compared to Bill, Julie could at least tell that it really was made of fine jade.

“Dad! Are you really just gonna let this slid They had wasted so much time all morning, yet they still couldn't find Jadee. Of course, Vivian still wasn't appeased.

Even if the pendant was a fake, she couldn't let Maria off the hook so easily and be cleared of suspicion.

Trying to think of another way to pin the blame on Maria, Vivian thought of suggesting that they search the new girl's room this time.

"Isn't there any surveillance camera in such a high-class villa?" Maria asked in an arrogant tone, as if mocking the father and daughter's stupidity.