Chapter 342 Real Jade Pendant
Rose turned at the sound of her name.
A hand came flying toward her face.
Instinct took over.
She sidestepped the slap, caught Samantha’s wrist before it could connect, and twisted it sharply behind her back.
"What is wrong with you?"
Rose’s voice was ice-cold.
Samantha stumbled several steps before catching herself. She shot Rose a murderous glare, breathing hard.
If that slap had landed, Rose’s face would have been shredded by those long acrylic nails.
The fury burning in Samantha’s eyes was almost tangible.
She had come to the gallery with Daisy to look through old business records, hoping to erase the last traces of something that had happened years ago.
Instead, she’d run straight into Rose.
The memory of the charity gala flooded back—the whispers, the humiliation, the public embarrassment.
Rose had been there to witness every second of it.
For all Samantha knew, she’d laughed about it afterward.
The thought made her blood boil.
"What gives you the right to be here?" Samantha snapped.
Every ounce of resentment she’d been carrying seemed to pour out at once.
This gallery had nearly become part of her future once.
Now Rose was walking through it like she belonged there.
Rose looked at her calmly.
"If you’re having problems with Ryan," she said evenly, "don’t take them out on me."
"You’ve got the wrong target."
She couldn’t help wondering...
Things still hadn’t been patched up between Ryan and Samantha?
Otherwise, Samantha wouldn’t be acting this unhinged.
Those words struck home.
For a split second Samantha’s expression froze.
Then a bitter smile spread across her face.
"You’re reading way too much into this."
She folded her arms.
"So Ryan and I have had problems."
"That doesn’t mean you suddenly win."
Her eyes glittered with cruel satisfaction.
"Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll ever replace me."
"Ryan has always treated you worse than he ever treated me."
"At least I knew what it felt like to have him choose me."
She took another step closer.
"What do you have?"
"A marriage you manipulated him into."
"That’s it."
"He has never loved you."
"He never will."
"If anything, he’ll spend the rest of his life resenting you."
The words echoed through the gallery.
Rose frowned slightly.
For just a moment, memories she’d buried years ago resurfaced.
Before she could respond, Alicia stepped between them.
"That’s enough."
She glared at Samantha.
"What kind of person goes around attacking someone else’s marriage?"
"What do you get out of reopening old wounds?"
Samantha looked at Alicia.
Recognition flashed across her face.
Ryan’s words from earlier suddenly came back to her.
The DNA sample she’d risked everything to obtain had been switched.
The only person she could think of was Victoria.
Victoria had left her completely exposed.
Arguing with Rose accomplished nothing now.
There were bigger problems.
"Sam."
Samantha didn’t take her eyes off Rose.
"Let’s go."
Daisy hurried over and gently caught her arm.
"Come on."
"We’ve got more important things to deal with."
The investigation into the Hill family had changed everything.
Neither of them could afford another scene.
Samantha cast one last venomous look at Rose and Alicia before turning away.
Rose watched them disappear toward the elevators.
She frowned.
If Ryan and Samantha had truly ended things...
Why were they still allowed unrestricted access to the gallery?
She had assumed their privileges would have been revoked immediately.
Unless...
Ryan simply hadn’t gotten around to it.
Kingswell Group was drowning in crises.
Compared to everything else on his desk, updating visitor permissions probably wasn’t a priority.
"Ms. Bennett?"
Alicia spoke carefully.
"You didn’t take what she said seriously... did you?"
Rose blinked and looked over.
Alicia offered an awkward smile.
"Please don’t listen to her."
"You and Mr. Knight were married for years."
"Feelings don’t just disappear overnight."
Rose smiled faintly.
"No."
"She wasn’t lying."
"But it doesn’t matter anymore."
"There was a time those words would’ve destroyed me."
"Not anymore."
The people she’d once loved...
The things she’d once desperately wanted...
None of them had the power to hurt her now.
Alicia studied her for a moment before breaking into a relieved smile.
"I’m glad."
"You’re stronger than I expected."
Rose simply smiled.
Strength had come at a price.
After enough sleepless nights...
Enough tears...
Eventually, there were none left to cry.
She checked the time.
Her grandfather should be awake by now.
She pulled out her phone to call his caregiver.
*****
Executive Offices
The administrative offices occupied the top floor of the gallery.
Before Ryan acquired the business, the Hill family had managed daily operations here.
After the ownership changed, Ryan had never bothered revoking their executive access cards.
It made today’s visit unexpectedly easy.
Daisy quietly exhaled.
"We got lucky."
"If we’d waited another day, Ryan probably would’ve locked us out."
She entered the familiar security code.
The keypad beeped.
Access granted.
"It hasn’t changed," she murmured.
"The same code..."
Samantha barely paid attention.
Her mind was still consumed by everything happening around Sky High.
"Hurry," she urged.
"Someone could come up here."
Daisy switched on the office computer.
She had worked here for months before.
She knew every system inside and out.
Years earlier, Logan had used unofficial channels for certain overseas transactions.
Those contacts had been stored through encrypted websites and private access codes.
Today Daisy had come for one reason.
She needed to know whether any records still existed.
She typed in the old address.
The encrypted portal loaded.
She searched every identifier she remembered.
Nothing.
No history.
No archived activity.
It looked exactly as though the account had never existed.
Someone had erased everything years ago.
Daisy finally relaxed.
She deleted the browser history anyway before shutting the computer down.
"Let’s go pick up Mike."
As they walked toward the elevator, Daisy lowered her voice.
"I’ve been putting money aside for years."
"Logan doesn’t know."
"It’s in an overseas account."
"If everything falls apart..."
She squeezed Samantha’s hand.
"We’ll still have something."
Warmth spread through Samantha’s chest.
For the first time all day, she felt a sliver of hope.
The investigation into the Hill family would almost certainly destroy everything they’d built.
If Logan had been willing to abandon them...
They had every right to protect themselves.
The elevator doors opened.
They stepped onto the main floor.
Just then...
They nearly collided with Alicia, who was carrying her coat over one arm.
She frowned.
"You two..."
Her eyes shifted toward the executive elevator.
"Weren’t you just upstairs?"
"That floor is restricted."
The question immediately put Samantha on edge.
The moment she saw another member of the Taylor family, resentment surged back.
She stopped walking.
"You’ve all been fooled."
Her voice echoed across the lobby.
"The DNA test was tampered with."
"The samples were switched."
"It was Victoria."
"You threw away your own daughter."
Alicia stared at her in disbelief.
"That’s impossible."
Then something occurred to her.
"Actually..."
She looked excited.
"Grandma and I found the real family pendant today."
"Right here."
She paused.
Thinking.
Then her eyes suddenly widened.
"Professor Bennett..."
"It had to be Professor Bennett."
Samantha’s face drained of color.
The real Taylor pendant?
Another one?
That couldn’t be possible.
She and Daisy had already taken the only authentic pendant years ago.
So where had this one come from?
Her thoughts raced.
And Rose...
Could she really be the missing Taylor daughter?