“Alright.” Madam Virginia also wanted to know if Matthew would end up acknowledging Old Mr. Thompson as his master.
So, the mother and daughter stood quietly on the outskirts of the crowd, observing the situation.
Although they were a bit far, they could still hear quite clearly.
Everyone was looking at Matthew because all his stones had been cut open. Only one was ice jade, while the rest were water jade or even lower quality.
Matthew had lost!
There was no need to call in professional appraisers or experts to identify the types of jade.
It was obvious that the jade Matthew had cut was far inferior to Sylvia’s.
Sylvia’s red lips curved into a slight smile. “I’m sorry, Old Mr. Berry, but the results are out. What do you think?”
Matthew sneered, “Not necessarily, Sylvia. You’ve been plotting against me from the start, digging a pit for me to fall into. I won’t accept this result.”
Sylvia’s expression darkened. “What? Are you going to renege on the bet? A bet is a bet. What do you mean by this?”
Matthew looked aggrieved and pained. “Don’t think I don’t know. You must have colluded with the staff to select the best raw stones for you. They must have marked them, and all you had to do was pick those stones. Do you think I don’t know?”
Matthew continued, “I’m telling you, if you admit defeat and leave, I’ll let it go. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
There was a collective gasp from the crowd.
No one expected Matthew to be such a sore loser.
Sylvia was furious at Matthew’s shamelessness. “Ridiculous! I’m just betting on stones, not my life. Why would I need to cheat? If you don’t have any evidence, don’t slander me.”
Matthew snorted, “I see you refuse to be convinced until you are faced with grim reality. Everyone, get Sylvia and take her to the police!”
Suddenly, more than a dozen young men wielding steel rods rushed out from all directions. They were burly and intimidating, scattering the onlookers and causing chaos.
Franklin laughed, “Matthew, do you know who I am? How dare you attack my wife in front of me.”
Matthew was startled upon hearing Franklin’s voice.
His face turned pale as he remembered that Franklin was the president’s son.
He had lost his mind in anger and brought a group of men to attack Sylvia!
Panicking, he quickly said, “Mr. Maskelyne, this has nothing to do with you. I’m targeting Sylvia alone! Please leave.”
Franklin’s gaze was icy, his powerful presence intimidating. He spoke with a voice like shards of ice, “Matthew, you must have a death wish. Sylvia is my wife! No one can touch her!”
With a wave of his hand, several plainclothes guards hidden in the crowd surged forward.
“Looking for trouble!”
Matthew was shocked and immediately felt fear, his whole body tensing up.
The Sweeney family mother and daughter were also watching from outside. Seeing the chaos, they hurriedly followed the crowd and ran away.
“There’s a fight!”
“Someone’s fighting! Call the police!”
People scrambled to escape, and seeing the situation change, Matthew also tried to flee.
But Jasper stepped forward and kicked Matthew in the waist. Matthew felt a numbing sensation and fell straight to the ground, almost fainting from the pain.
He had truly lost his mind with anger and now regretted provoking Franklin. But it was too late for regrets.
Lying on the ground, he couldn’t even cry.
His men were already being beaten by Franklin’s guards, crying out in pain.
In no time, his men were incapacitated and had no fight left in them.
Franklin didn’t forget about Matthew. He strode over to the sweat-drenched Matthew, who was terrified and shouted, “Don’t come near! I was wrong!”
Matthew tried to crawl away in pain like a worm struggling for its life.
But Franklin kicked him in the head. Matthew screamed in terror, “No!” And then… an unpleasant smell filled the air.
He had wet his pants!
Franklin disdainfully withdrew his foot. “You thought you were tough? You wet yourself before I even hit you.”
Thinking he could mess with Sylvia?
Ridiculous!
Everyone burst into laughter.
Matthew lay on the ground, his face red with shame.
Franklin kicked him in the stomach. “Get lost!”
Matthew screamed in pain, feeling like he was being kicked to death.
“Ridiculous! Think twice before messing with my woman.” Franklin glanced at Matthew disdainfully and walked away.
Matthew’s men struggled to help him up.
Matthew stood up weakly. “I’ve been beaten… Miss Andrews, I don’t have to acknowledge Old Mr. Thompson as my master anymore, right?”
Sylvia glanced at him indifferently. “Having Old Mr. Thompson take you as a disciple would be an insult to him. So… why don’t you call him godfather instead?”
Matthew hesitated and then became angry. “What did you say?”
This was even more humiliating than acknowledging him as a master!
But seeing Franklin’s cold expression and his guards behind him, he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Old Mr. Thompson, my godfather!”
Sylvia looked at him sympathetically. “Don’t worry, I recorded it on my phone. Even if my master can’t hear it now, he’ll hear it tomorrow.”
Matthew gritted his teeth in anger but couldn’t bear the humiliation any longer and came up with a plan.
Sylvia looked at Franklin with a smile on her lips. “I didn’t even have to lift a finger; you took care of it for me.”
“So… aren’t you going to reward your dear husband?” Franklin’s eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief.
Sylvia blushed, feeling there was more to his words. “Ahem, the stone betting is over; let’s go.”
Matthew shouted at Sylvia angrily, “Don’t think you can run! I’ve already called the police. Your president’s son gathered people to fight and beat up civilians; you’ll face consequences!”
Even if he couldn’t deal with Franklin directly, he wanted to embarrass him!
Franklin frowned slightly. “How foolish. I didn’t want to make this a big deal.”
Matthew thought he was scared and said smugly, “Oh, you’re scared now? I’m telling you, once the police arrive, it doesn’t matter if you’re the president’s son. Everyone is equal before the law.”
Franklin didn’t bother arguing and took out his phone to make a call.
Just then, someone shouted, “The police are here!”
The crowd quickly dispersed as several police officers arrived and saw men lying around in disarray.
Matthew pointed at Franklin and shouted, “Officers, you’re here! He’s the one who beat us up!”
“You’re lying! You brought these thugs to attack us first; we were defending ourselves. Officers, look at these steel rods; they brought them as weapons.”
Several onlookers who disliked Matthew’s behavior testified for Sylvia and Franklin. “Yes, Miss Andrews is right.”
“That’s exactly what happened.”
“He brought thugs first!”
The police were surprised by the scene but said firmly, “Gathering people for a fight is illegal. All involved parties must come with us to the station.”
They looked at Franklin nervously. Arresting the president’s son?
Franklin smiled and hung up his call; he had just spoken with Minister Griffiths.
Soon enough, Minister Griffiths called the police. “This is Minister Griffiths’ office. Be advised that Matthew at the Cultural Heritage Fair is a criminal suspect responsible for orchestrating this incident. He should be arrested immediately.”
Hearing this news, the police quickly arrested Matthew.
Matthew was shocked. “Don’t arrest me! Arrest Sylvia! Arrest Franklin! So what if he’s the president’s son? Are you afraid to arrest him?”
The lead officer awkwardly said to Franklin, “Mr. Maskelyne, we’ll investigate thoroughly and clear your name.”
Franklin responded calmly, “I trust you.”
The police soon took Matthew and his men away while wealthy individuals at the fair approached Sylvia eagerly. “Miss Andrews, are you selling these jades?”
“We can buy them at high prices!”
“Yes!”
Sylvia smiled lightly. “I’ll keep these two ice jades; you can bid on the rest.”
“No need for bidding; I’ll take them all for fifty million dollars!”
A middle-aged lady in a cheongsam stepped forward confidently.
Sylvia was surprised; fifty million dollars was indeed generous for just one ice jade and some water jades.
“Ah, it’s Minister Griffiths’ wife; no wonder she’s so generous,” Franklin recognized her as someone from a family dealing in jade jewelry.