Chapter 260

At this moment, Una wanted nothing more than to strangle Phoebe. This woman was definitely doing it on purpose—always bringing up the worst possible topics at the worst possible times.

Narrowing her eyes, Una glared at Phoebe. “You did this to me, didn’t you?”

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. “You’re blaming me for your bad luck! What does this have to do with me? Your ability to pass the blame is truly top-notch. When all your open-auction stones turned out to be worthless, you blamed your company’s stone gamblers for being useless. And now that you didn’t take care of your bid properly, you’re blaming me!”

She sneered, “Why not just say that I pulled your bid out of the box and threw it in the trash!”

Maddox chuckled from the side. “If it weren’t for the surveillance footage, she probably would have tried to blame you for that too.”

Phoebe immediately took a few steps back and said playfully, “I should probably keep my distance from Miss Woodward.”

Una was speechless. This vile woman was too cunning. She refused to believe that Phoebe wasn’t involved in some way. Phoebe had been brought here by Emmett to target her, and she was playing way too dirty.

Suddenly, Una asked, “Where’s Claire!”

Phoebe gave her a puzzled look. “Why are you asking me?”

Una pressed, “Yes, I’m asking you. Where are you hiding Claire?” She was suspecting Phoebe. Earlier, Stanley had called her, saying they couldn’t find Claire anywhere. Even after checking the surveillance footage, they had only seen Claire leaving the auction hall—everything else was completely missing. That meant the footage had been tampered with. Stanley had taken people to search the surrounding area, but Una suspected that Phoebe had hidden Claire away.

Right now, Una was on the verge of a breakdown. She felt that the only way to fix this mess was to find Claire. She was certain that her loss of luck and this backlash were directly tied to Claire. Once she got Claire back, she would make her pay. She was going to break Claire’s legs so she’d never run away again. As for Phoebe, the real culprit behind this, she wouldn’t let her off the hook either.

Moche looked at Una as if she were insane. “I don’t even know Claire. How would I be hiding her?” she said. “Miss Woodward, making false accusations is a crime, you know—I could sue you for that.”

Ciselle scoffed. “Una, if you’re trying to distract everyone and shift the focus, at least come up with something smarter. Blaming Phoebe out of nowhere? That’s just…dull. From the moment she entered this auction, she’s been with us the entire time. She never even interacted with Claire, let alone left the room.”

She smirked. “You’re not the Queen of Stone Gambling—you’re the Queen of Scapegoating.”

Emmett added, “Everyone here heard you loud and clear when you made all those bold claims earlier. But now, you keep dragging Phoebe into it. Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

By now, Finment had also noticed that something wasn’t right. Una didn’t just seem like she was trying to make excuses—she was genuinely panicking over Claire’s disappearance. His assistant had already informed him that Stanley had taken a whole group of people to search for Claire. Una didn’t have any real emotional ties to Claire, yet now she was so desperate to find her. If this situation didn’t have some deeper secret behind it, he wouldn’t believe it.

12:10 AM

Chapter 260

Thinking back, he realized that Una always brought Claire along whenever she gambled on stones—whether in public or private auctions. At first, he had assumed it was just for show, a way for Una to pretend to be close to her sister. Now, he had a new theory. Could it be that Una’s stone-gambling abilities were actually connected to Claire’s presence! Now this was interesting.

Una was starting to regret everything. If she had known the backlash would be this severe, she never would have taunted Emmett and Phoebe earlier. She began to suspect that Phoebe had set her up.

“You know exactly what’s going on here,” she said, giving Phoebe a meaningful look. “If Claire doesn’t show up…I’ll call the police and have them investigate.”

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. “Then go ahead and report it. Why are you looking at me!”

If Una actually called the police, Phoebe would simply have Claire explain everything herself. Claire could say that she chose to leave—that she wasn’t in danger. Phoebe had no obligation to report her whereabouts to Una.

Claire was watching all of this unfold. Phoebe had promised to manage the situation for Claire, but she hadn’t done it herself—instead, she had asked Maddox’s assistant to hold the phone and stream it through Wendy’s device. Claire was watching from the side, but her face wasn’t visible on camera. Phoebe wasn’t going to leave any loose ends that Una could use against her.

Claire, watching the live feed, could clearly see Una’s furious expression. She knew that Una wanted nothing more than to rip her apart. If Una really did report her missing, she would clarify everything herself—without involving Phoebe.

Watching Una spiral into desperation, no longer calm, composed, or confident, filled Claire with immense satisfaction.

Back at the auction, Emmett had no intention of letting Una continue to stall. “None of that matters right now,” he said firmly. “Your priority should be filling out your bid and submitting it to the staff. They already wasted time searching for your bid. They’re not Woodward Group employees—it’s not their responsibility to clean up after you.”

Then, he looked at Una with a knowing smirk and added, “Or are you planning to let your so-called ‘useless’ stone gamblers handle it again? If so, I suppose the Woodward Group will walk away from this auction without a single emerald this year.” He was pushing Una to the edge—forcing her to prove herself. Without Claire by her side, was Una still as good as she claimed to be?

Una’s expression darkened even more. She was just about to speak, but before she could, one of the Woodward Group’s stone gamblers sneered, “I’m just a useless nobody—so I won’t be participating in the sealed bid.”

The other stone gamblers immediately chimed in, “That’s right. We’re just ‘trash,’ remember? No need for us to be involved.” “Since Mr. Woodward is so amazing, let him handle it. We don’t want to practice anymore.” Una had called them incompetent earlier, so they were throwing it right back at her.

The crowd watching found Una’s behavior completely absurd. Blaming Phoebe for everything? Ridiculous. By now, many in the audience recognized Phoebe. Even those who didn’t follow entertainment news took note of her striking presence.

12:13 AM

Chapter 260

Since Phoebe had never left the auction hall, Una’s accusations were obviously nonsense. Many spectators even started heckling her. “You’re wasting everyone’s time, Miss Woodward. Shouldn’t you focus on the auction instead?” “The Woodward Group is counting on you. We’re all rooting for you—hurry up and place your bid!”

With no way out, Una was forced to grit her teeth and play along. “I’ll go confirm the numbers again,” she said stiffly.