Chapter 268: What Did Rachel Do?

But Alani had failed to consider just how much trouble her actions could cause Luca.

Not only would she risk earning the resentment of Maison Premier and the Stones Group, but the situation could also attract unwanted attention from the outside world.

In the worst case, it could even damage Luca’s reputation.

After all, being accused of pursuing another man’s wife, even if she was only his fiancée, was enough to cause a serious scandal.

Arabella could understand why Alani didn’t want to become a pawn in a family-arranged marriage.

Especially when the man she was being forced to marry was Jack Denim.

But that didn’t mean she would allow Alani to use Luca as a tool, much less put him in a position where his reputation could be damaged.

Besides, if Alani was truly determined to reject the marriage, then she could simply do it.

’At worst, she can give up her current comfortable life and go abroad.’

She wanted to keep her status as Miss Stones while refusing to accept the marriage her family had arranged for her.

’She wants both.’

’Where in the world is there such a convenient deal?’

After saying goodbye to Philips and the others, Luca turned to Arabella.

"From what you’re saying, you seem to know why Ms. Stones is looking for me?"

"Hmm." Arabella tilted her head. "Didn’t Northstar receive an invitation from Maison Premier?"

Given Northstar’s influence in Capital City, it was only natural for Maison Premier to invite both major business figures and influential families to the wedding.

Luca paused.

Then he remembered.

A few days ago, Derek Joaquin, the general manager of Northstar Real Estate Company, had mentioned that Maison Premier had sent them an invitation.

Craig Arnold from Summit Capital had also called him around the same time to say that they had received one.

Luca hadn’t paid much attention to either matter.

Only now did he realize what the invitations were actually about.

’So it was for the marriage between Maison Premier and the Stones family.’

The group continued browsing the Antique Market for quite some time.

Perhaps Trish had been encouraged by her unexpected success with the white alabaster fish. She ended up spending another two hundred dollars on a pile of miscellaneous junk from various stalls.

She then repeatedly reminded the bodyguards carrying her purchases to be careful, treating every item as though it were a priceless treasure.

The others didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.

Finding a genuine bargain was already rare. Getting lucky once was more than enough to brag about.

No matter how lucky someone was, the most important thing in this line of work was still having a discerning eye.

Trish knew practically nothing about antiques. Finding the alabaster fish for thirty dollars had been nothing more than an incredible stroke of luck.

And luck couldn’t last forever.

Sure enough, Arabella eventually led Luca and the others into an antique shop.

Through her introduction, Luca learned that the shop owner was Arabella’s senior apprentice.

Franklin Biggs was the eldest son of her teacher, Adam Biggs.

"Franklin, you didn’t even come to my birthday party."

"Didn’t I tell you? I went to Rose City to visit your teacher," Franklin explained.

As they chatted, Franklin’s gaze repeatedly drifted toward Luca.

He had heard that Arabella was dating someone, and that her boyfriend was exceptionally handsome.

Now that he had met Luca in person, he had to admit the rumors hadn’t exaggerated.

The man had a striking appearance and an imposing presence.

"Trish, take out what you bought and let Franklin have a look," Arabella said, taking a sip of tea.

"Okay."

Trish quickly began unloading her purchases. Soon, a pile of questionable-looking items covered the table.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The moment Trish pulled out the Small Bronze Classic Putto, Franklin nearly choked.

It was clearly fake.

And the more Trish took out, the worse it became.

Most of them were obvious imitations.

Then came a plate so shiny that Franklin stared at it for a few seconds.

’If this is a genuine antique, I’ll eat my hat.’

If it had been anyone else, Franklin probably wouldn’t have bothered explaining.

He could have simply turned away and left.

He didn’t even need to inspect most of these pieces carefully. Any experienced employee in an antique shop could identify them as fakes at a glance.

But this girl was Arabella’s junior, so Franklin patiently went through the items one by one, explaining what was wrong with each piece.

He didn’t sugarcoat anything.

He had no intention of lying just to spare someone a little embarrassment and damage his own reputation in the process.

Fortunately, Trish didn’t seem disappointed when she heard that everything she’d bought was fake.

She simply scratched her head and smiled.

"Bro, you were right. Finding one real bargain is already incredibly lucky."

Luca gave her a disgruntled look.

"Of course. There aren’t that many bargains waiting for you to pick up."

Still, this was probably for the best.

Those few hundred dollars had at least taught Trish an important lesson.

Franklin caught the key point in their exchange.

"Wait. Did you say the little girl actually found a bargain?"

To be honest, he found that hard to believe.

It wasn’t because he looked down on Trish for being young.

It was because of the pile of things sitting on his table.

’You can’t expect to find a treasure simply by buying an entire pile of obviously fake junk.’

The sellers themselves had looked at these things before putting them up for sale.

’Wouldn’t they have noticed if there was a genuine treasure hiding among them?’

Franklin was still trying to make sense of it when Arabella answered.

"Yes. Trish really did find a great bargain today. A very big one."

"Oh?"

Franklin raised an eyebrow.

He knew Arabella didn’t understand much about antiques. However, she had a strong artistic eye and could sometimes recognize clues in things like ancient paintings.

"Let me see it."

Although Franklin hadn’t inherited his father’s talent for painting, he had developed a deep appreciation for ancient calligraphy and paintings.

If Trish had somehow stumbled upon a genuine masterpiece, especially one by a renowned artist, he would certainly be interested.

"Trish."

"Okay, Arabella."

Trish reached into her pocket.

Franklin watched her with growing curiosity.

Then his brows furrowed slightly.

’Not a painting?’

His expectations immediately dropped.

If it wasn’t a painting or piece of calligraphy, then there was a good chance Arabella had simply been fooled.

By this point, Franklin had almost completely given up on the so-called treasure.

Then Trish pulled out the item.

A glow flashed across the surface of the white carving under the shop’s lighting.

Franklin froze.

"This is..."

His hand slammed against the armrest as he abruptly stood up.

Disbelief filled his eyes.

Arabella had been able to recognize the clues almost immediately, but Franklin made his living relying on precisely this kind of discerning eye.

He carefully took the carving from Trish.

"You found this at a street stall?"

His voice was filled with disbelief.

The carving itself was impressive, but the material was what truly caught his attention.

It was unmistakably high-quality white alabaster.

’How could the seller possibly have missed this?’

He couldn’t understand how anyone could have been careless enough to let something like this slip through their hands.

"How much did you pay for it?"

"Th..."

"Three hundred thousand?"

Franklin’s eyes widened.

"That’s an incredible profit!"

"Thirty dollars," Trish said proudly.

"Hiss!"

Franklin sucked in a sharp breath.

"How much?"

"Thirty dollars."

Franklin stared at her.

Then he slowly pressed a hand against his chest and took a deep breath.

’My heart hurts.’

Was it really still possible to find a bargain like this in the antique world?

And the person who had found it wasn’t some experienced collector.

It was a girl who knew almost nothing about antiques.

Not long after Franklin returned the carving to Trish, Luca and the others were practically chased out of the shop.

Franklin claimed that he was in a terrible mood and needed to retreat into seclusion to recover.

After lunch, the group continued wandering around Capital City, visiting several other places before finally returning to the Franco de Santa Estate in the late afternoon.

That evening, Luca had just finished showering and was lying in bed when he received a message from Sophie.

<<<Sophie: Luca, are you free?>>>

Knowing Arabella would still need some time after her shower, Luca casually replied.

<<<Luca: I’m free.>>>

A moment later, Sophie called him on video.

The instant he answered, her first question made him sit up.

"Luca, did Rachel do anything strange to you?"