?Chapter 936:


    Even a quick nce was enough for anyone to see both photos featured the same piece of jewelry.


    Haven stared at the pictures, her face draining of color as her lips began to tremble.


    Back then, determined to make Linsey believe she truly intended to marry Collin, Haven had slipped into his ce and quietly taken the Star of the Desert while his attention was elsewhere.


    Back then, Haven truly believed that Collin had bought the ne as a birthday gift for her.


    That belief made it easier for her to take the ne without asking, thinking it was harmless.


    In her mind, the ne already belonged to her, so wearing it a little early didn’t seem wrong.


    Still, she didn’t have the courage to wear the Star of the Desert openly in front of Collin.


    After convincing Linsey that the piece belonged to her, she left Gorman’s residence without a second thought.


    What she didn’t expect was to bump into several high-society girls from Grester along the way.


    The moment they noticed the Star of the Desert around her neck, they gushed over it, pouring outpliments that fed her pride.


    But she had no clue that someone had secretly taken pictures of her at the time.


    Now that Collin had shown her those very photos and started questioning her, she had no idea how to exin herself.


    Worse still, she had unted the ne in front of Linsey on purpose. What truly blindsided her, though, was that Linsey hadn’t died at Kylee’s hands and had somehow patched things up with Collin. A single misjudgment had snowballed into a mess she couldn’t untangle.


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    A hollowugh threatened to escape Haven’s lips. She realized she had trapped herself without even knowing it.


    Kase, who sat beside her, also saw the pictures clearly.


    Though shocked at first, he forced out a tight smile. “This is all just a mix-up. Haven will return the ne right away.”


    Haven sat frozen in ce, unable to respond or even lift a hand.


    With a subtle smirk, Collin turned his gaze toward Kase. “A moment ago, you were ready to get the police involved, and now you’re calling it a misunderstanding?”


    His fingertipnded squarely on the auction image and continued, “This ne was purchased for 2.7 billion dors. You really think something like that can be dismissed so casually?”


    Though his tone carried a calm edge, the quiet threat in his voice was impossible to miss.


    Tension hit Haven like a wave. Her shoulders trembled, and fear showed inly across her face.


    All this time, she had leaned on Ivy’s goodwill, forgetting entirely that Collin—who built CR Corporation from the ground up—wasn’t the kind of man to be taken lightly.


    With her nerves barely holding, Haven forced herself to say, “I… didn’t do it on purpose…”


    She bit down on her lower lip and softened her posture, adopting a helpless look. “I was seated next to you at the auction. I mentioned my birthday wasing soon. Then you ced a bid. When people started saying you bought the Star of the Desert for me, you didn’t correct them. You didn’t say it was for anyone else either. So, of course, I believed it was meant for me.”


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