Volume 1 Chapter 5 — The Counterfeit Legacy (伪造的遗物)

The Royal Opera House of City A was an architectural marvel of gilded grand balconies, deep crimson velvet drapes, and three-story crystal chandeliers that cast a dazzling, golden glow across eight hundred of the nation’s premier elite. High-society figures, international art collectors, political titans, and billionaire investors filled the tiered balconies, their murmurs blending with the soft warm-up notes of a string quartet echoing from the orchestra pit below.

Tonight was the Royal Charity Gala, the most publicized and prestigious social event of the winter season. Live television broadcast trucks lined the perimeter outside, streaming the proceedings nationwide to millions of viewers.

At center stage, standing beneath a glaring, ice-white spotlight, was Victoria Sterling. She was draped in a lavish gold silk evening gown, her neck and wrists dripping with diamonds, radiating the polished, arrogant confidence of a matriarch who believed she was about to reclaim her undisputed economic reign.

Beside her, resting on a velvet pedestal under a bulletproof glass display dome, was “The Blood Rose”—a breathtaking fifteen-carat pigeon-blood ruby necklace framed by teardrop and pear-cut diamonds.

Victoria stepped to the gilded brass microphone, her voice echoing through the superb acoustics of the auditorium.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Victoria announced, her tone dripping with false reverence and corporate piety. “Tonight, to support our city’s healthcare foundations, Sterling Financial Group is proud to present our most cherished private treasure—The Blood Rose ruby necklace, originally owned by my late, dear sister-in-law, Eleanor Sterling. Though Eleanor has long passed, her spirit of elegance and generosity lives on through this magnificent piece.”

In the grand center VIP box on the second tier, Elena Vance sat gracefully beside Dominic Vance. She wore an exquisite floor-length black velvet gown that contoured perfectly to her figure, contrasting starkly with her alabaster skin. Her neck was adorned with a minimalist diamond collar, her glossy dark hair swept back in a regal, majestic style. Her hands rested calmly in her lap, her face an unreadable, serene mask of dark velvet elegance.

Beside her, Dominic leaned back in his leather chair, his broad-shouldered frame exuding quiet, formidable authority, his dark, intense eyes fixed onto the stage like a hawk locked onto its prey.

On the main floor, Chloe Sterling sat in the front row, wearing a new powder-blue designer gown, her eyes burning with desperate ambition. She held auction paddle number 12, determined to outbid every social rival in the room to erase the shameful memory of her wine-stained humiliation from two nights ago.

The main auctioneer lifted his wooden gavel against the polished oak podium. “We will now open bidding for Lot 44—The Blood Rose! Opening bid stands at ten million dollars! Do I hear ten million?”

“Ten million!” a shipping tycoon raised his paddle.

“Twelve million!” called out a private collector from London.

“Fifteen million!” Chloe Sterling shouted out, raising paddle 12 high into the air, turning to glare triumphantly at her society rivals across the auditorium.

“Eighteen million!”

“Twenty-five million!” Chloe shouted again, her voice shrill and urgent. She wanted the room to see that the Sterling family still possessed unlimited wealth, that she was still the undisputed princess of City A.

“Twenty-five million to Miss Sterling!” the auctioneer called out, his voice rising with excitement. “Going once… going twice—”

From the center VIP balcony, Elena Vance slowly lifted her black silk paddle. Her clear, cool voice cut through the cavernous auditorium like a silver blade through silk.

“Fifty million dollars.”

A stunned, suffocating silence instantly descended upon the entire Royal Opera House. Eight hundred heads turned as one, looking up toward the center VIP box in utter disbelief.

Chloe’s jaw dropped in absolute shock. Victoria froze on stage, her breath catching violently in her throat. Fifty million dollars! It was double the highest market appraisal of the ruby!

“Fifty… fifty million dollars!” the auctioneer stammered into his microphone, his hands trembling. “Bid stands at fifty million dollars to Partner Vance of Vance Global! Going once… going twice… Sold for fifty million dollars!”

*Thump!*

The heavy wooden gavel struck the sounding block. Thunderous applause erupted across the hall, reporters’ flashbulbs exploding in brilliant strobes toward Elena’s VIP box.

Victoria let out a massive, quiet sigh of relief on stage, her chest expanding with greedy triumph. Fifty million dollars of Vance Global’s liquid cash was officially locked in! The offshore debt collectors who had been threatening her life would be paid by midnight, and Sterling Group’s cash flow crisis would be temporarily resolved!

—

“And now,” the auctioneer declared, “we invite the distinguished buyer, Partner Elena Vance, to the stage to receive this historic treasure!”

Elena stood up smoothly. She adjusted her black velvet gloves, looking down at Dominic. Dominic offered a slow, cold smile, giving her an encouraging nod as he gestured for his security team to follow her.

Elena walked gracefully down the carpeted grand staircase, her black velvet dress trailing behind her like a royal shroud. As she stepped onto the main stage beneath the glaring floodlights, Victoria stepped forward with a wide, fake smile, holding the velvet box containing the ruby necklace.

“Partner Vance,” Victoria said warmly, reaching out to hand her the box. “On behalf of the Sterling family, we are honored that a woman of your stature will carry Eleanor’s legacy into the future.”

Elena did not reach for the velvet box.

Instead, she folded her gloved hands in front of her, looking at Victoria with a cold, terrifying detachment that made Victoria’s smile freeze on her face.

Elena turned away from Victoria, walking directly to the auctioneer’s podium. She picked up the heavy gold microphone, her calm, resonant voice echoing through every speaker in the building and across the national live television broadcast.

“Before I finalize the fifty-million-dollar wire transfer,” Elena stated smoothly, “I hereby exercise my legal right under Article 4 of the International Antique & Fine Jewelry Protocol for mandatory on-site authenticity verification.”

Victoria’s face paled instantly. “What?! Partner Vance, this is preposterous! The Blood Rose has been in the Sterling vault for twenty years! Demanding an appraisal on stage is an insult to our family honor!”

“If the piece is genuine, Madam Sterling, an appraisal takes three minutes and honors your family,” Elena replied with icy calm. “If you have nothing to hide, why are you trembling?”

Elena gestured toward the stage wings.

The side curtain parted. Three elderly gentlemen dressed in formal dark suits stepped out, carrying heavy metallic cases containing high-magnification microscopic imaging equipment and laser refraction tools. They were accompanied by a live news camera crew carrying HD broadcast lenses.

“Allow me to introduce Dr. Heinrich Weber and senior fellows from the Swiss Gemological Institute of Geneva,” Elena announced into the microphone. “They are the world’s foremost authorities on certified ruby verification.”

Victoria took a frantic step forward, trying to block the experts. “Stop this! I forbid this! Security, remove these men from the stage!”

Before Victoria’s security guards could move, four tall, imposing Vance Global security operatives in black suits stepped onto the stage, establishing an impenetrable wall between Victoria and the auction table.

Dr. Weber opened his metallic case, setting up a high-powered digital microscopic lens linked directly to the Opera House’s giant fifty-foot main projection screen—the massive screen usually reserved for opera backdrops.

“We will begin non-destructive optical spectroscopy and refractive index testing,” Dr. Weber announced, using velvet forceps to lift “The Blood Rose” onto the microscopic platform under a glaring white appraisal light.

—

The live video feed flickered to life across the giant fifty-foot screen.

The center ruby was magnified one thousand times. Instead of the natural rutile silk inclusions, rich color zoning, and deep crystalline structure of an authentic fifteen-carat Burmese pigeon-blood ruby, the screen displayed something horrifyingly obvious.

Floating inside the stone were thousands of tiny, spherical gas bubbles, accompanied by obvious curved synthetic growth lines and a thick layer of glass composite bonding material.

A collective gasp of horror rippled through the eight hundred guests in the auditorium.

Dr. Weber stepped to the microphone, his voice echoing with absolute scientific finality.

“The results are conclusive,” Dr. Weber declared. “This stone is not a natural Burmese ruby. It is a synthetic flame-fusion glass composite replica worth less than five hundred dollars. The original natural ruby has been deliberately removed from the setting, and replaced with cheap industrial glass.”

“Fake! It’s a fake!” a reporter shouted from the front row.

“The Sterling family is auctioning counterfeit jewelry!”

“Live on national television!”

Victoria felt the world spin wildly around her. Blood roared in her ears, her knees shaking violently as the cameras zoomed in on her pale, horrified face. “No! No! It’s a mistake! Someone tampered with it! I didn’t know!”

“You didn’t know, Madam Victoria?” Elena’s voice cut through the chaos like a hammer stroke.

Elena tapped the touchscreen of her encrypted tablet.

Immediately, the giant fifty-foot screen switched from the microscopic camera feed to a series of certified financial documents, bank receipts, wire transfer confirmations, and high-definition security camera stills stamped with the official seal of the Zurich Private Depository Bank.

“Six months ago,” Elena stated, her voice projecting across the nation, “Madam Victoria Sterling secretly transported the authentic Blood Rose ruby necklace to Zurich, Switzerland. She pawned the genuine stone for thirty million dollars to cover illegal offshore gambling debts and unrecorded losses incurred by her private shell companies.”

The screen displayed clear, high-definition photographs of Victoria Sterling sitting in a private vault in Zurich, signing the pawn transfer agreement, handing the real ruby to a Swiss broker, and receiving the replica glass setting in return!

The auditorium erupted into absolute bedlam!

Reporters stormed the stage barricades, flashbulbs exploding in a blinding, continuous storm. Society women screamed in disgust, while prominent board members of Sterling Financial Group stood up in their VIP boxes, shouting in rage at Victoria.

“Fraud! Criminal fraud!”

“She pawned Eleanor’s legacy for gambling debts!”

“Arrest her!”

Victoria hyperventilated violently. She clutched her chest, her eyes bulging with sheer terror as she looked at Elena Vance.

Elena walked slowly toward her, stopping just inches from Victoria’s trembling frame. She leaned down, her voice a chilling whisper meant for Victoria alone.

“My mother’s legacy was never yours to sell, Victoria,” Elena murmured, her eyes burning with cold, divine fury. “And it was certainly not yours to fake.”

Victoria let out a choked scream, her legs giving out completely as she collapsed onto her knees on the wooden stage floor, surrounded by broken glass display domes, blinding camera flashes, and the roaring condemnation of high society. Chloe sat paralyzed in the front row, sobbing hysterically as her mother’s ruin was broadcast to millions of viewers.

On the front-tier financial monitors, the after-hours trading ticker for Sterling Financial Group (SFG) began to flash violently red.

**[STERLING FINANCIAL GROUP (SFG): DOWN 20.4% IN AFTER-HOURS TRADING. SECURITIES COMMISSION LAUNCHES FRAUD INVESTIGATION.]**

Elena turned her back on the kneeling, broken woman. She walked off the stage with flawless, regal composure, stepping into the waiting arms of Dominic Vance as they exited into the night under the protection of their guards.

The counterfeit legacy had been destroyed. And Victoria’s empire was now burning to the ground.