Chapter 4

I put on my best sincere smile and said to Aria, “How about this? Our family will gift you a safe as a wedding present. That way, you don’t have to worry about the engagement gift being stolen, and you can always see Colin’s sincerity whenever you like.”

“Congratulations in advance, Aria and Colin! Wishing you a happy marriage that lasts forever.”

If buying a safe was all it took to get these two out of my life, I’d gladly pay for it.

Colin’s parents were now frantically signaling to him with their eyes, but Colin seemed momentarily at a loss for words.

Aria, on the other hand, beamed at me. “That’s such a thoughtful gift! Thank you!”

Colin hadn’t expected her to agree so quickly. He immediately tried to wave it off.

“That’s really unnecessary! These gold bars are worth over a hundred thousand dollars. Buying a safe would be expensive, and it’d take too much time. We have plans to meet friends later, so we’re in a bit of a rush.”

“Yes, exactly!” his mom added. “There’s just no time!”

I turned to Colin with a pointed look and threw his own words back at him. “But Colin, this is your way of showing Aria your sincerity. Isn’t it worth spending a little extra time and money?”

“Besides,” I said brightly, “I know a jeweler nearby who could come over in just a few minutes. They can even verify the gold bars’ authenticity for you while they’re here!”

The room fell silent.

I could see Colin’s panic setting in. His lips twitched as he stammered, “Th-there’s no need for that. It’d be such a hassle for you to call someone…”

“Not at all!” I said cheerfully. “In fact, here they are now.” I pointed to the jeweler walking into the room.

I grabbed the box of “gold bars” off the table and handed it to the jeweler.

Colin’s face turned pale as he lunged forward to stop me. “What are you doing? You can’t just make decisions without asking the adults first!”

Oh, he was panicking now.

I calmly pushed his hand away and passed the box to the jeweler, who opened it right there in front of everyone.

Inside the box, instead of gleaming gold bars, were cheap, fake gold decorations that couldn’t fool a child.