Chapter 7 7.Frame

The panic on her face was not faked at all. Even though she had instructed Grace to hide the bracelet in Isabella's room to frame her, she hadn't ordered Grace to destroy it. After all, these bracelets were extremely valuable, and they were tokens from the Brown family.

"What else do you have to say? You're acting so malicious at such a young age," David's rage was ablaze, and he raised his hand as if to strike Isabella.

Naturally, she wasn't going to stand there and let him hit her; she had already moved to the side. She gave a nonchalant glance at Emily and her mother, her lips curling into a cold, mocking smile.

"If I really wanted to steal something, would I have put it in my room and waited for you to catch me?"

She thought David, who had climbed from a humble civil servant to become the Deputy Mayor, couldn't be a fool. However, she couldn't understand how such a shrewd man could be so easily manipulated by Charlotte and her daughter.

"Is someone else framing you?" David shouted.

"Whether it's a frame or not, you'll know after you see it," she said and walked over to her computer, entering her login password, and using the mouse to open the software for playing back surveillance footage.

On the computer screen, it was clear that at around eight in the morning, Grace sneakily entered her room and placed the jewelry box under the drawer by her bedside.

During that time, she was downstairs having breakfast with David.

Charlotte and her daughter hadn't expected her to have surveillance cameras in her room, and they seemed flabbergasted. Grace was so frightened that her legs went weak, and she knelt on the floor.

"Tell us, why did you frame me?" Isabella turned off the computer, her cold gaze fixed on Grace, who was trembling on the ground.

"I... I..." Grace stammered, her words failing to come out, glancing occasionally in Charlotte's direction.

"Grace, why are you looking at Aunt Charlotte like that? Could it be she told you to frame me?" She walked over to Grace, wearing high heels, and despite being a young girl, she exuded an indomitable aura.

Grace's face turned pale, and she rushed toward Charlotte, screaming, "Madam, save me!"

"Isabella, don't make baseless accusations." Emily spoke up at this moment, her voice coincidentally drowning out Grace's cries.

Charlotte, being a person who had seen her share of storms, maintained her composure, and she sighed at Grace, "How could you do such a foolish thing? Ever since you joined our Harris family, I've treated you like my own daughter. I've even covered your mother's medical expenses and your brother's school fees. Grace, you've disappointed me."

Isabella couldn't help but clap her hands as she listened. Well, that was managing with a mix of grace and might. If Grace dared to implicate Charlotte and her daughter, no one would cover her mother's medical expenses and her brother's school fees in the future.

Unless Grace was foolish, she would naturally understand Charlotte's words. She clenched her teeth and said to Isabella, "Don't wrong Mrs.Charlotte. No one instructed me; I just couldn't stand your spoiled behavior. So, I wanted to teach you a lesson."

"Admit that it was you who did it," Isabella said, taking out her phone. "The law states that theft above $250 can lead to a prison sentence. You stole and destroyed these jade bracelets, which are worth at least a million US dollars. That should be enough to land you behind bars. Once you're in there, good luck."

She was ready to report the theft to the police. She wanted to see if Grace would dare not to tell the police the truth.

However, before she could report it, David had already snatched her phone.

"Have you had enough drama? Do you want to stir up even more trouble, make it a public spectacle and tarnish the reputation of the Harris family before you're satisfied?" David said. After that, he slammed her phone on the dressing table with a loud thud and walked out of the room.

David was a person of influence and importance in New York, so he naturally didn't want his family's scandals to spread and tarnish his reputation.

So when Isabella said she was going to call the police, Charlotte wasn't afraid at all. She just smiled at Isabella, thinking this young girl was too inexperienced to go against her.

Isabella's expression turned a bit colder, but she managed to keep her composure. Although her initial goal wasn't achieved, Charlotte's attempt to frame her had failed.

"I almost forgot, Grace is Auntie's distant relative, right? Sending our own relatives to jail won't look good for Auntie," she forced a smile and said.

"Isabella is quite mature. Having such relatives at home is indeed regrettable," Charlotte replied, with a fake smile.

"As I see it, even though we shouldn't involve the police, we can't keep someone with dirty hands in the house. Auntie, don't you agree?" she added.

Since they couldn't send someone to jail, removing Charlotte's spy from the Harris family was also a good option.

"Of course, I'll send her away today." Charlotte replied through gritted teeth. She was in a difficult position and could only abandon Grace.

Ava, along with another servant, escorted Grace out of the room. The onlookers gradually left as well.

Charlotte walked to the door and instinctively glanced at the surveillance camera hanging from the ceiling. "Isabella, I've heard that this kind of thing isn't safe in your room. If it's hacked, someone might see you while you're bathing or changing."

"In fact, I used to think that it's overkill to be so cautious, but now, it seems that it's better to be prepared. Auntie, don't worry, I'll 'carefully' use it," Isabella said, emphasizing the word 'carefully.'

Charlotte feigned a smile, while Emily snorted before left one after the other.

Once the door was closed, the room fell into silence.

Isabella stood in front of the dressing table, looking down at her left palm, which had a two-centimeter-long cut. It was covered with a waterproof bandage. She had accidentally cut her palm when she shattered the jade bracelet. The fragments had sliced her flesh, and it had been quite painful.

A cold smile curled at the corner of her lips, and her eyes sparkled with a glint of triumph.

She had spent more time in the Brown family than in the Harris family since she was a child, so she had naturally seen this pair of heirloom jade bracelets. James's mother, Mrs. Brown, had said more than once, "When our Isabella grows up, let James, big brother, personally put the bracelet on her."

But in the end, this pair of bracelets ended up in Emily's hands.

Destroying such a priceless pair of jade bracelets was indeed somewhat regrettable for Isabella, but since Emily had presented the opportunity to her, she didn't feel the need to be polite.

There's a saying that goes: "Better a shattered jade than an unbroken piece of pottery." Jade is the finest of all gemstones, and it also has its own pride.

The sound of knocking on the door echoed, and Isabella clenched her palm, softly saying, "Come in."

Ava entered the room, holding a bowl of bird's nest soup to calm her nerves.

"Thank you, Ava." Isabella took the bowl and had a sip. Then, she picked up the USB drive and a note with an address on it from the table and handed it to her.

"Ava, I appreciate your help in sending this out for me."

"Of course. I'll take care of it right away." Ava didn't dare to delay for a moment when following Isabella's instructions.