CHAPTER 291 SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON

Chapter 291 Something Else Going On

But as bad as she got, she couldn't be this untrustworthy.

The old lady had given her this set of jewelry before, saying that it was saved up for her as a dowry.

Since she wasn't getting married, she just gave it to her outright.

The sentimental value of these jewels was apparent.

Louis looked at him and moved his lips slightly, as if to say something.

Still, he held it in.

Faye was Archie's aunt by blood, after all. And because Archie's parents had passed early on, she'd

taken great care of him from childhood. So even if they realized something was wrong with her, it

wouldn't do to say it too directly.

Natalia understood how Louis was thinking.

The only difference was, she suddenly remembered a few days ago, when Faye had suddenly come to

Pinewood Manor and brought up the matter of the antiques.

"Archie, do you remember how, four days ago, Aunt Faye came to the mansion and threw a tantrum

that I shouldn't have switched out her antiques?"

Archie nodded. "I remember. Why?"

"I always felt it was a bit strange. Aunt Faye never used to care about this sort of thing, so why did she

suddenly run over and ask about those antiques? Do you think she'd wanted to take those antiques

back in the first place and didn't want to ask, so she threw a tantrum to provoke me into returning them

and only held off when you came back…"

Archie frowned.

Louis didn't know what had gone down that day, but he was a smart person. Just from Natalia's few

words, he'd gotten a basic grasp of the situation.

He shot Archie a meaningful look.

Archie fell silent for a while and muttered, "I've already sent Brian to investigate. He should turn up

some results in a couple days. No matter what it is, this set of jewelry shouldn't have ended up in a

place like this. When we're done investigating, I'll ask Aunt Faye about it directly."

Natalia nodded.

Seeing that, Louis patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't overthink it, either. The McCarthy family is in a spot right now where it's easy to get things blown

out of proportion, but you're not at the point where everyone's a potential enemy. Investigate it first,

then we'll see."

Archie nodded.

The group left with their worries gnawing at them.

Archie took Louis back to his research facility first before driving back with Natalia.

However, the moment they arrived home, he received a call from Brian.

"I've turned up something in the investigation you tasked me with, Mr. McCarthy."

Archie paused, his expression darkening.

"Speak."

Brian told him his findings. : owner of this content.

Seeing Archie's face sink lower and lower, Natalia walked over, worried, and grasped his hand.

After a while, he said, "I've got it. Send people to keep an eye on things and don't move without my

order."

Brian complied on the other end, and Archie hung up.

Natalia hurriedly asked, "Have you found anything? What's happened?"

Archie scoffed.

He didn't say it directly, instead simply looking at her.

"Come with me somewhere tomorrow, and you'll find out."

"…"

…

The next day, Natalia took a holiday from shooting and went out with Archie.

The two sat in the car with Brian driving. Nancy was on there too as they walked towards the rock

prospecting center.

Before they left, when Archie told her the address, Natalia had already guessed the gist of it.

She was still somewhat surprised.

The McCarthy family had a strict upbringing. To have been able to develop so far, other than the

abilities and talents of the family members themselves, self-discipline was also very important.

Every generation of McCarthy was forbidden from getting involved in sex, gambling, and drugs.

Especially gambling, which was explicitly forbidden.

Rock prospecting couldn't really count as gambling, but there was that same element of luck there.

If Faye really had taken that set of jewelry to auction, that proved that she was at her wits end.

Having gotten herself to this stage over prospecting, then it was basically gambling.

The group drove for half an hour or so and arrived at the scene.

There was a big gathering of prospectors here today. They stopped the car and headed to the door,

already finding plenty of people had arrived.

There was a sea of heads inside, and shoulders brushed against shoulders. Everyone wore heavy, or

curious, or excited expressions.

The group strolled inwards.

Inside was the lobby for prospectors, where all sorts of freshly mined stones were on display. With luck,

if there was good ore inside one of them, an investment here could catapult someone straight into a

fortune.

With bad luck, though, some people lost everything here in one night.

Because of that, rock prospecting was even more exciting than cards.

"Here to pick rocks? Haven't seen you here before. First time?"

The moment they went in, someone came up to them.

Natalia was wearing a low-rim baseball cap, so she wasn't afraid of getting recognized.

She looked at the person who'd approached them. He was bald, with a big belly, his face flashing with

enthused excitement, like a wolf eyeing a fat chunk of meat. It was inexplicably discomfiting to look at

him.

Brian blocked off in front of them and said, "Just looking around."

The newcomer rubbed his hands and smiled, "Of course. Then feel free to look around. If you don't

understand anything, feel free to ask at the counter."

He said, and pointed to a counter not far away.

Natalia looked at it, chuckling.

Didn't think they'd have such well-developed service.

She nodded and murmured, "Thank you."

The man left and didn't pay them any more mind.

The group of four toured the place. There were rocks of differing size on display, all tagged with

numbers.

There were sizable crowds in front of each rock, pointing and commenting on the rocks over their

potential value.

If they saw ones that they liked, they could buy it up right there.

There were options to cut the rock here or to take it away and have your own people cut into the ore.

Natalia murmured, voice low, "Do you think we can find Aunt Faye here?"

Archie's voice was low and cold.

"This is a large-scale prospecting operation. I hear a batch of ore's been freshly mined a while ago. If

she's really gotten deep into prospecting like we think, she'll definitely come."

Natalia nodded.

Faye looked ill-mannered, but since she was from the McCarthy family, she wasn't easy to deal with.

Even though Natalia and Archie had found something wrong with her, if they didn't catch her in the act,

she might not admit it.

So the two could only come here directly today.

They walked around the place and didn't see Faye yet. They did come across a few people who

dragged them over to look at ores, though.

Some were workers, others were passionate customers.

A few of them were dressed well and behaved even better. Obviously, they weren't regular people.

They started chatting.