A ring just appeared in front of the guests in such a direct way, found from Albina’s personal bag. Now, she could not explain it.
The guests looked at Albina in different ways. Those who knew the situation well looked at Albina with sympathy, those who did not know her looked at her with mockery and disgust.
No matter what kind of people, everyone is disgusted with the thief. Especially, this ring had just been told that it was very important to Yolanda.
-Yolanda, look at this ring to see if it is yours,” asked Emma as she looked at Yolanda. Although it was a question, her tone already sounded very confident.
Yolanda was about to pick it up when, suddenly, Umberto stopped her:
-There’s no need to see it. This ring is yours.
Hearing these words, Albina looked at him and pursed her lips, her eyes already full of anger and undisguised disappointment.
Umberto had clearly heard what Yolanda and Emma said with her. This time he was still choosing Yolanda’s side. Did he also think she had stolen the ring?
As expected, even after a year, she hadn’t changed as usual.
Yolanda was filled with surprise, that she hadn’t expected Umberto to help her either. She hastened to say:
-Yes, the ring is mine. It is the engagement ring between Umberto and me.
Emma was instantly moved. She looked at Albina with her doomed gaze:
-No wonder you still refuse to let us check, and insist that the record insults your character. Now the ring has been found in your purse – what are you going to argue?
Albina looked at her slightly, with cold eyes, but without the slightest panic:
-What am I going to argue? How can I argue? The ring was found in my bag, but that doesn’t mean I stole it.
-If it wasn’t you who stole it, who else could have done it? The bag was close to you. Who could have put something in it with force? -Emma’s voice rose and she turned her head to look at the guests, “Look everyone. The evidence is already here and she is still arguing and insisting that she didn’t steal the ring.
Seeing Albina being besieged, Jaime was in a good mood, with a smile on his lips saying:
-That’s right Miss Espina, you must admit it if you stole it. Ask Miss Carballal for the cupola. She is kind-hearted and will definitely forgive you.
The anger she had just suffered was vented at this moment. His mood was really soothing. He couldn’t wait to see Albina’s face crying in pain.
Miguel grabbed Albina’s wrist and made her stand behind him. His eyes were biting as he looked at Emma and her friends:
-Shut up. I know in my heart what kind of person Albina is. She definitely wouldn’t steal this ring.
-Maybe that’s not true,” Emma snorted coldly. They say you can know a person’s face, but not their mind. I know Albina is Mr. Eagle’s girlfriend, so we understand that you feel sorry for her, but now that the evidence is here, you shouldn’t speak against her conscience. You shouldn’t speak against her conscience.
Jaime also added:
-This ring must be visually estimated at over two million. I recall that Ms. Espina’s family doesn’t seem to be doing particularly well. Perhaps…
He laughed a little and did not finish the words, but the meaning was expressed.
Miguel looked at him coldly without understanding why Jaime kept denigrating Albina.
Albina knew exactly what was going on. It was that she had not chosen to join forces with him and her conspiracy had been discovered by Umberto. That was why he was enraged and wanted to target herself!
She gave him a weak look:
-Although it is true that my family is not as well off as all of yours, I am not so bad off as to worship the golden calf.
Then she looked at Yolanda and Emma:
-You said you lost the ring in the bathroom, but you forgot that the reason I went to the bathroom was because my skirt was accidentally stained with red wine. I went to clean it up. At the time, my purse was over the sink and I didn’t have it attached to my body.
Emma’s fingers tightened for a moment:
-So what can you prove?
Albina tilted her head and smiled slightly:
-At the time, I had a conflict with Miss Carballal, so I didn’t pay extra attention to my purse. Maybe someone took advantage of my inattention and put the ring in it?
She said, pausing for a moment, and fixed her eyes on Emma:
-Speaking of which, what were you doing Miss Elvira when we were talking? I remember, at the time, you were standing quite close to where I put the bag.
Emma: -You’re talking nonsense! -Emma suddenly interrupted her with slightly troubled eyes. Noticing that all the guests were looking at her, she hastened to say, “I did no such thing. This was Albina deliberately framing me to get rid of her own sin.
At that moment Yolanda, who had said nothing, suddenly spoke, sighed and looked at Albina:
-Miss Espina, I know you are not willing to divorce Umberto, but now things are definite. Umberto and I are already engaged. You’re not going to change anything by stealing a ring.
Emma’s eyes lit up too:
-Exactly. Albina still has another motive. This ring is Yolanda’s engagement ring, and Albina is Mr. Santangel’s ex-wife. I think she must be jealous of Yolanda’s engagement to Mr. Santangel, so she deliberately stole the ring.
Albina laughed at these words:
-I was the one who brought up our divorce back then, but it was me who harassed with unreasonable demands and became shameless. Don’t you have a heart with a guilty conscience saying this, Yolanda?
Hearing these words, the guests instantly whispered. They had not received any news about Umberto’s marriage. They hadn’t imagined there were so many things.
Yolanda’s eyes darkened. Her fingers clenched tightly:
-Umberto’s conditions are there. If he and I weren’t already engaged, more girls would fight for him. And, Miss Thorn, to speak bluntly, you’re simply not good enough for Umberto…. Don’t worry, though. I won’t call the police on account of you stealing the ring. As long as you give me an apology and swear not to bother Umberto in the future, I won’t call the police this time.
Her eyes were hidden with pride. Albina had no way to prove her innocence. The situation was now in her favor. He had to force Albina to swear in front of a large crowd.
The guests present were all in the circle. As long as Albina dared to seduce Umberto in the future, she would definitely be universally condemned and despised by all.
Albina’s eyes turned cold:
-Apologizing to you is not possible. I repeat that I did not steal the ring. It is better to call the police and let them investigate properly. I have always behaved well. I’m sure the police will be able to prove I’m innocent.
Yolanda gritted her teeth. She hadn’t expected Albina to be so difficult to deal with that she would rather call the police than admit her mistake.
The Aguila family also spoke up at that moment:
-Let’s call the police, since this happened at our banquet. We are obliged to find out what happened and prove that we are all innocent.
By saying this, they had already made it clear that they were on Albina’s side.
Yolanda’s face turned deathly pale, unconsciously wanting to look at Umberto, only to discover that somehow Umberto had disappeared.
Where had he gone!
As everyone watched her movements, they also suddenly realized that Umberto had disappeared and wondered where he had gone.
At that moment, there was a sudden commotion coming from the door. The crowd looked toward the sound and saw two men in police uniforms approaching. The one leading the way was surprisingly Umberto!
-Umberto, you, what’s going on? -Yolanda’s expression is nervous.
Umberto looked at her with an indifferent look:
-No one touched him the ring on the floor, right?
-No! I always did what you said and I didn’t let anyone touch the ring -Camilo hurried to say- Umberto, have you called the police?
Umberto nodded:
-I did a moment ago when the ring disappeared. Since there was no definitive proof, it was better to leave it in the hands of the professionals.
Saying that, he stepped out of the way and let in the police and the people coming behind with all kinds of professional equipment.
Those squatted by the ring and began to carefully extract fingerprints, while others took fingerprint collectors and approached Albina, Emma and Yolanda, asking them to insert their ten fingerprints into it.
Albina looked stunned. She thought that, when Umberto had just identified the ring to be Yolanda’s so quickly, this time he was going to unconditionally side with Yolanda.
It turned out that he was trying to keep Yolanda from touching the ring, fearing that she would do something to destroy the ring’s fingerprints.
His lips quivered wordlessly and he moved abruptly to insert his fingerprints.
Emma’s and Yolanda’s faces turned a little ugly, especially Emma’s, whose face was as white as a ghost. But under Umberto’s strained gaze, she still honestly entered her prints.
After a while, the policeman stood up, looked at the three of them and spoke:
-The test results are out.