Claimed by the Crown Heir novel Chapter 147

She called Giselle, but no one answered.

A second later, she received a text from her.

[Mom, I won't be coming home for a few days. We can talk when I get back.]

...

After several grueling days of work, Vanessa finally managed to get both her online and physical stores fully prepared.

She leveraged her established clientele to push a massive promotional campaign for the grand opening.

On the day of the launch, the boutique was absolutely packed.

Customers poured in endlessly. Vanessa was so busy she didn't even have a moment to grab a sip of water.

By evening, when finance tallied the numbers, the results were stellar.

Opening day was an overwhelming success!

Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief, stretching her sore arms as she collapsed onto a sofa.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Alistair Howard.

[Did the grand opening go smoothly, girlfriend?]

A smile tugged at Vanessa's lips. She took a slow sip of tea before taking her time to reply.

[Not bad. Profits are looking great. Just finally catching my breath now.]

She hadn't pushed herself this hard in a long time.

The last time she worked like this was when Velvet Needle first opened its doors.

[Want to come over for a drink to celebrate?]

The offer intrigued her.

[Sure. Where to?]

Alistair sent her a location pin.

A bar.

Vanessa found Alistair in a private booth on the second floor.

He wasn't alone. Benedict Howard and Nolan Nash were there as well.

"Benedict. Nolan."

They drank together, casually chatting about interesting things that had happened at work recently.

Nolan lit a cigarette and brought up a rumor he had just heard.

"Victor Vance went completely bust on a few massive raw stones recently. His cash flow is entirely drained, and the banks are breathing down his neck every single day!"

"He used to be so damn arrogant, strutting around with everyone kissing his ass. Ace, didn't you buy a piece off him a couple years ago that ended up being a goldmine?"

That stone had only cost a few million, but it revealed flawless purple jade, multiplying its value over tenfold.

Alistair's dark eyes shifted, his tone languid. "Pride comes before a fall. Let me guess, he got set up?"

"Got played by an acquaintance who brought in a master counterfeiter. Apparently, the exterior, the color bands, the texture—all artificially manufactured. They looked more real than actual gems, designed specifically to fool a seasoned veteran like him. He bought several massive pieces in a row, sinking all his liquidity into them. When they were cut open, it was nothing but useless gravel. A few bad deals completely wiped him out."

"High risk, high reward in this game. If you walk along the river long enough, your shoes are bound to get wet." Benedict chuckled lightly. "If he wasn't so greedy, nobody could have exploited him."

Vanessa thought back to the brilliantly green exposed stone she had seen at Victor's villa. That must have been a fake too.

No wonder a clueless fool like Giselle had been completely deceived.

Speaking of which, Giselle hadn't been home since that day.

She figured Giselle had burned through the millions and was too terrified of the fallout to face them.