A Warm Marriage After Rebirth

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Philip Hale Is Caught

”You must be Seraphina, right? If anything is confusing you, feel free to ask me, though I can’t guarantee I’ll have the answers.” Felix Gallagher shed his presidential gravitas, looking just like a refined uncle.

Seraphina Sterling turned and pointed to some raw stones that had small windows cut into them. ”How come the texture of every one of these big stones with an opening looks so good? Does that mean all of them will yield high-quality jade when they’re cut open?”

”Whether or not you can cut good jade, that all comes down to luck! However, the better the color in the window, the greater the chance of finding good jade inside!” Philip Hale interjected. ”President Gallagher, I set aside these fine specimens especially for you.”

Felix Gallagher stared at the stones with their cut windows, carefully mulling over Seraphina Sterling’s words. Moments ago, he’d only been focused on whether the stones were from a new excavation. When he saw that every cut window revealed excellent color, he simply assumed it was a fine batch of material and didn’t think twice. But now that he considered it... ’How could every single piece be good?’

”Mr. Hale, you’re so very thoughtful. Mr. Gallagher, I imagine buying these stones must be costing you a fortune, right?” Seraphina Sterling met Felix Gallagher’s sharp gaze without a trace of fear.

It was this very boldness that made Felix Gallagher look at Seraphina Sterling with new respect. He didn’t hesitate for a moment before revealing the transaction amount. ”Two hundred million.”

”Since you’re spending this much money, if Mr. Gallagher wants to inspect the goods, I imagine Mr. Hale wouldn’t object, would he?” Seraphina Sterling turned her head to look at Philip Hale, whose expression was now incredibly foul.

”Who the hell do you think you are? President Gallagher just looked over these stones himself, and there are no problems. What’s a broke, clueless student like you doing here making trouble?” Philip Hale’s tone was harsh and his expression severe—enough to frighten a small child to tears.

However, his outburst had zero effect on Seraphina Sterling. ”Mr. Hale, you’re so desperate to stop me. Could it be because you have a—guilty conscience?” Seraphina Sterling’s eyebrow arched in clear provocation. She looked like a rebellious child, but her words cut off any excuse Philip Hale could have used to stop the inspection.

”Mr. Hale, it’s just an inspection. No need to be nervous. I, Felix Gallagher, am a man of my word who honors his commitments. As long as there’s no issue with this batch of stones, I will pay the full amount immediately!” Felix Gallagher had clearly taken Seraphina Sterling’s side. Ordinarily, he might have dismissed her words, but these were critical times; he couldn’t afford a single slip-up.

Philip Hale’s face was a dark mask. If he could, he would have thrown Seraphina Sterling out himself.

Seraphina Sterling had already observed them in detail and now picked out a total of six stones. Felix Gallagher was a self-made man; though his eye for stones wasn’t yet infallible, it was damn close. ”Mr. Hale, would you please cut all six of these open?”

Hearing this, Philip Hale didn’t show the slightest hesitation. He immediately waved over the stone-cutting technician, his tension easing considerably.

”Wait!” Seraphina Sterling stopped the technician. ”Mr. Gallagher, even if not a single piece of good jade comes out of these six stones, it won’t prove there’s anything wrong with this batch! Mr. Hale can just claim that your luck is bad!”

A warm smile played on Seraphina Sterling’s lips, but it sent a chill down Philip Hale’s spine. ”Mr. Gallagher, I’ll lay my cards on the table. Mr. Hale and I have some bad blood between us, which is why I’m helping you. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend! If I’m not mistaken, these six stones are fakes. If you don’t believe me, feel free to have an expert take a look! Of course, if you can’t find an expert on short notice, I can handle it for you.”

”Se-ra-phi-na Ster-ling!” Philip Hale glared daggers at her. ”Do you have any idea what you’re saying? Spreading rumors like this is a serious blow to my shop’s reputation! I can sue you for this!”

”Young lady, you can’t just say whatever you want! Mr. Hale has been in this town for years, how could he possibly sell fakes?”

”That’s right! Young lady, you can’t just slander Mr. Hale like that!”

”Even if you have a grudge against Mr. Hale, you can’t just ruin a man’s reputation! Who were your teachers? Did they teach you no morals at all?”

...

”Mr. Gallagher, call the police!” Seraphina Sterling remained perfectly calm, the two dimples on her cheeks looking especially cute. She showed no awareness whatsoever that she was ordering around a billionaire CEO, her expression utterly natural.

What was even more surprising was that Felix Gallagher actually did as she said without a word.

Seraphina Sterling took out a small fruit knife and began to carefully scratch at the surface of one of the stones. Time ticked by, second by second. The shop was eerily silent, all eyes riveted on the small knife in Seraphina’s hand.

Seraphina Sterling worked at a steady, unhurried pace. After a full half-hour, she finally stood up. ”Mr. Gallagher, look closely. This is the seam. These stones appear to be high-grade raw jade. However, if I’m not mistaken, these so-called ’high-grade’ stones are actually gambling stones that were cut open, showed no green, and were then glued back together. A fake ’skin’ was then created over the seam and the surrounding area to make it look flawless!”

A wave of fear washed over Felix Gallagher in retrospect. ’Thank goodness! Thank goodness! Thank goodness I ran into this girl. Otherwise, this would have been a complete disaster!’

Philip Hale’s face was ashen. ’He’d been doing this for so long, and no one had ever discovered it. How could he have been exposed by a broke student like Seraphina Sterling?’

”In truth, very few people come here for stone gambling. If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Hale probably thought these stones would show green, so he cut them himself. It’s just that his judgment doesn’t seem to be too sharp, and he didn’t find any good jade. But not wanting to waste the material, he came up with this method to recoup his losses!”

A warm smile remained on Seraphina Sterling’s face, even though her objective had been achieved.

”Philip Hale, you are under suspicion for fraud and the sale of counterfeit goods. Please come with us.” Ginny Gable did her best to ignore Seraphina Sterling, who was standing off to the side. ’Don’t tell me she’s involved in this too?’