Chapter 42: Chapter 42

"Stop the car!" Flora shouted, and the car screeched to a halt by the side of the road. Flora stammered, "Um... let's just keep going!"

Remembering how fierce Mrs. White was, Flora felt that her chances of snatching back the other half were gone!

The car resumed its journey, and she squeezed one end of the necklace, letting it hang down vertically. Fortunately, she had only lost about one-third of it, and the pendant was still intact. If she could find a way to attach the missing half, it shouldn't be a problem, right? However, that was the only possible solution as she couldn't go back and continue snatching from Mrs. White!

The other one-third of the necklace also did not know where it fell! Staring at the half of the necklace, Flora studied it for a long time but couldn't see anything extraordinary about it. How did it attract so many people's liking? She wondered if Oliver would be furious when he finds out that she gave the necklace to Maxwell. Based on their relationship, he definitely will, right?

The car stopped in front of the café, and Flora got out. She immediately saw Lily standing at the entrance. She walked towards her quickly.

As soon as Lily saw Flora, she bombarded her with words, "Where the hell have you been for more than a month? Couldn't even find half a trace of you! Isn't that rude?!"

Flora made a hushing gesture towards her and chuckled, "Darling, this is a public place, please don't be so loud." As she spoke, she discreetly looked back and glanced at the black-clad people guarding the car. Seeing that they weren't insane enough to follow them inside, she leaned over to Lily's ear and whispered, "Where can I repair a necklace here?"

"It's on the first floor of the department store inside. why do you need to repair a necklace?" Lily asked with confusion.

"I have a necklace that needs fixing. Let's have a coffee first," Flora pulled Lily towards the café. To prevent those men from suspecting her whereabouts, she had to use this kind of diversion.

"Flora, I don't like coffee, I prefer having a big meal!" Lily protested unhappily. Extorting money from Flora was the most interesting thing for her, and it had been over a month since she last extorted her. Anyway, Flora had plenty of money, and she wouldn't mind the cost of a lavish meal. She always accepted Lily's extortion openly.

"I'll treat you later, so now, whether you want to drink it or not, you have to sit here and behave!" Flora threatened and then called the waiter to order a pot of coffee.

Lily asked again, "Flora, where have you been this month? You didn't even go to class."

Flora sighed helplessly, thinking about her life over the past month. It could be described as pitiful. When she raised her eyes, she spoke in a cheerful tone, "Nothing, just went on vacation at a relative's house."

"You went on vacation during classes?" Lily rolled her eyes disdainfully. The reason was so lame!

Flora didn't want her to continue asking, and also wanted to quickly deal with the necklace issue. She leaned in towards Lily and said, "I'm going to get the necklace fixed. If someone comes looking for me, tell them I went to the bathroom."

"Who would come looking for you? Your brother Henry?" As Lily mentioned Henry, her voice began to droop, and her eyes were filled with envy. In her eyes, Flora had it all - good luck, a good background, and an incredibly handsome and charming underground boyfriend! Oh, life is so unfair!

When Flora heard the name 'Henry', she felt a little startled. She hadn't seen Henry for over a month. To save her as quickly as possible, Flora walked briskly towards the department store on the first floor.

Flora stopped at a counter and handed half of the necklace to the attendant, saying, "Miss, do you have any necklaces with the same design as this one?"

The attendant looked and understandingly asked, "Miss, are you looking to have this necklace repaired?"

Flora nodded, and the attendant apologized with a shake of her head, "I'm sorry, but this necklace is too old-fashioned. We haven't sold it here for a long time. But if you like, we can help you repair it into a set necklace, and it won't cost much."

A set necklace? Flora shook her head and moved on to the next store. Maxwell would easily notice if it was turned into a set. She needed to keep looking.

After asking dozens of stores without finding an exact match, Flora was about to give up. However, right before giving up, she finally found the same design at the last store. Overjoyed, she immediately handed the necklace to the technician for repairs, and the technician fixed it quickly. When he handed the necklace to Flora, she couldn't even tell the difference from before.

After the necklace was repaired, Flora excitedly returned to the café and presented the necklace to Lily, saying, "Remember this?"

Lily took a look and asked in confusion, "Isn't this the necklace I gave you as collateral? How could I forget?"

Seeing that even Lily couldn't detect any problems with it, Flora finally felt relieved and smiled, "Yes, by the way, where did you get this necklace from?" Flora asked casually, but she was eager to hear her answer.

"My mom won it while playing cards." Lily smiled and then said uninterestingly, "I asked her to win me a diamond ring, but she still hasn't won it back. She's so useless, after all those years of playing cards!"

Flora had no interest in knowing her mother's card-playing history and continued to ask, "Where did that person get this necklace from?"

Lily was taken aback and looked her up and down before saying, annoyed, "Why are you asking so many questions? It's not like it's stolen goods. Besides, if it were, you could melt it down and make ten rings to wear around your neck, and it would still be valuable!"

Flora awkwardly laughed and said, "No, I was just curious. People have a strong curiosity. Can you help me find out? Please!"

Seeing that she wanted to know, Lily agreed with a mouth full, "Okay, okay, I'll ask my mom and call you back."

Call... Flora felt a sudden panic. How could she not have thought of that? She was being closely monitored by Maxwell now and had no opportunity to contact the outside world. Even if Lily found out, she wouldn't be able to tell her! Flora believed that she still had a chance to see Lily, so she nodded lightly and made a soft sound of agreement.

"Can we go for a fancy meal?" Lily reminded, not forgetting about her desire for a nice meal even for a moment.

Flora had actually forgotten about it quite quickly, but after Lily's reminder, she nodded and got up, saying, "Sure, let's go."

"That's great! There's a five-star hotel right next door, woohoo!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.

And the two of them walked out of the coffee shop and headed towards the five-star hotel.

Flora had a lot on her mind and didn't feel like eating at all, but seeing Lily's happy expression, she couldn't bear to disappoint her.

The server led them to a secluded table in the corner. After Flora and Lily sat down, Lily enthusiastically grabbed the thick menu full of various snacks and appetizers and happily ordered. Flora only requested a mango pudding and looked around the lavishly decorated lobby with a lack of interest. Suddenly, her gaze was drawn to a familiar figure. Flora froze and instinctively stood up, looking towards the entrance.