Chapter 60: The Diamond necklace.

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Claudia sat on the bed, staring at the vase of tulip flowers she had broken two days ago. The maids had offered to clean it up, but she wouldn’t let them, because looking at it renewed her rage and frustration. It made her blood boil hotter the more she thought about it.

He saved her.

After all the troubles Sandro and she went through just to loosen the cables holding the chandelier. Sandro even had to use a fake ID so that he would be part of the chandeliers’ cleaners for the party. Now everything was ruined because Alexander Vaughn chose to save her.

Why would he even do that?

He hated their family. He had destroyed her father and took away his most prized possessions. He was supposed to hate Anna too because that little nobody was nothing other than a tool for his revenge. He should have been glad to see her die. But instead, he pulled her away just before she could get crushed by the chandelier.

Claudia chewed her lips, feeling her head spinning with anger. She couldn’t take this anymore. Alexander Vaughn was supposed to be hers. They have been engaged even before she was born. Marrying him was the only way to restore her family’s glory he had stolen from them. She would never let that daughter of a dead prostitute take what belonged to her.

She had to do something.

With that thought playing in her head, Claudia scrambled off the bed and stormed out of her room. She needed to see her mother. She didn’t think she would be able to handle this alone.

As she neared the door of her mother’s study, she slowed down when she heard a different voice.

It wasn’t her father’s. This was lower and gravelly. It was a familiar voice she had heard more than once in her life. Sebastian.

Just the way she had Sandro, her mother had Sebastian. They were the loyal dogs of the Steele family.

Claudia stopped at the door and pressed her ear against the hinge side of the door to listen.

"The bidding went completely out of line from what we expected, madame. Young master Seith Ford was with the bastard daughter," Sebastian was saying in a low, cautious tone.

"Did you say Seith Ford?" Irene asked, and Sebastian nodded.

Irene scoffed dryly. "Apples don’t fall far from the tree after all. A harlot will give birth to a harlot. Go on," she ordered Sebastian.

"The young master was pushing the price, but an anonymous VIP member took the lead and took the necklace off the auction table. I wore the mask like you said, you don’t have to worry about that, and I also used the hidden account... Just that two billion dollars was a crazy amount for a single piece of jewelry."

"I do not care about the price, Sebastian." Irene’s tone was very cold and sharp. "You were supposed to secure it at all cost. Do you know what you have done by letting the necklace slip away?"

Claudia was confused for a moment. Why would her mother be concerned about that stupid necklace? She had donated it to an auction about two months ago just to spite Anna. It was of no worth.

"Madame, if I may... it is an old heirloom. Miss Claudia only used it to provoke the bastard daughter. You don’t have to worry about it."

"Worry?" Irene scoffed dryly. "Neither you nor my daughter understand what that necklace means. That diamond belonged to the first heiress of the Steele family. It’s passed down to the generation of heiresses. My daughter should be the one in possession of it. Without it, she is an illegitimate heiress. Do you get it now?"

Claudia’s eyes widened in horror. What was her mother talking about? That necklace was given to Anna by their grandmother... Did that mean it was supposed to be hers and not Anna’s? And did she just auction off what was legitimately hers?

"Claudia was reckless," Irene continued. "But what do I do? She’s my daughter. That was why I sent you to buy it back because if the wrong person looked closely at those diamonds, everything I built for my daughter will collapse. And now... Do you know who bought it?"

The room became silent for a long, suffocating moment. Claudia held her breath, she could feel her pulse thudding wildly in her ears.

"Who, madame?" Sebastian asked.

"Alexander Vaughn," Irene said with venom. "We must get that necklace even if hell has to break loose."

Claudia stumbled backward, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle a gasp. Her mind had gone totally blank. Alexander had the necklace? This was the same man who craved to destroy their lives. Now, he was in possession of the thing that could make her the true heiress. What had she done?

Oh God. This couldn’t be happening, Claudia thought, racing back to her room. There must be a way out of this. She must get her necklace back.

Reaching her room, she shut the door and rushed to the nightstand to grab her phone. Her hands were trembling so badly that she almost dropped it twice before she managed to slide the screen open and called Sandro’s number.

The line rang four times before he finally picked up.

"I told you not to call me," Sandro’s irritated voice came through the line.

"Listen to me, Sandro, we have to change the plan," Claudia whispered quickly. "That girl has to die. I don’t care about making it look like an accident anymore. Just find a way to get rid of her and..."

"I can’t do anything for you now, Ms. Steele," Sandro cut her off mid sentence.

"What do you mean you can’t do anything for me? I am paying you!"

"I’m hiding right now," Sandro snapped quietly. "One of my street contacts got picked up by the cops this morning, and the idiot gave them the address of my current hideout to save his own skin. The cops are raiding my block as we speak."

Claudia’s heart leaped into her stomach. "Are they going to catch you?"

"Not if I stay low," Sandro said, his breathing a bit heavy through the receiver. "But the neighborhood is crawling with police cars, and they are checking every face on the street. I can’t carry weapons, and I can’t move my car. If I step outside my door today, I’m going straight to prison. You need to sit tight and wait until I can slip past them and find a new place to hide."

After he said that, the line went dead before Claudia could utter another word.

She slowly lowered her phone in disbelief. She was trapped. If Alexander gave Anna the necklace, she would be finished. She was no true heiress without the necklace.