Chapter 48 - Chapter 48. Jewelry Shopping

Jewelry ShoppingKevin and Lily walked into a chic jewelry store and Lily's eyes lit up when she saw a beautiful necklace in the display case."Do you want to try it on?" Kevin said with a smile."Do you think you might want to buy it for me?"Lily turned her head and said as she batted her eyelashes playfully, "The price tag says it costs twenty thousand dollars. Do you think you could afford it?"Kevin didn't answer Lily's question. Instead, he turned around and said to the sales associate, "Hi,could you please take this necklace out so my wife can try it on."The associate walked over reluctantly. She took one look at Kevin and assumed he couldn't afford the necklace."I'm sorry, but that's not permitted. All jewelry must be purchased before it can be removed from the case," she said in a condescending tone.Based on Kevin's clothing, she decided that he was just trying to impress the beautiful woman who was accompanying him."I'm sorry, did you say that you have to buy it before you can try it on?" Kevin was amused. "If my wife hasn't tried it on, how will she know if she likes it?"The associate didn't want to waste any more time with Kevin, so she replied curtly," Don't worry about that. Our jewelers can make the appropriate adjustments so that the item will fit her correctly." Lily was starting to get self-conscious. She knew that Kevin couldn't be making an enormous salary, even though his employer seemed to be pretty generous.She figured that twenty thousand dollars would be way out of Kevin's price range. And even though Lily was now in control of over half of her family's shares, along with the profits from the import-export company, the money wasn't really hers to spend on things like this."Kevin, why don't we leave?" Lily said as she tugged on Kevin's sleeve.Kevin was disappointed to hear her say this. He wanted to give her the finest things money could buy. Just then, everyone heard a shrill voice order the associate, "Take this necklace out so I can try it on."They looked over and saw an elegantly dressed woman holding an older man's arm as she walked over to the display case. She was pointing at the necklace Lily wanted."Okay, just a moment, Ma'am!" the associate said as she unlocked the case to remove the necklace for the woman.Kevin was irritated by this."Didn't you just say that you don't allow anyone to try anything on if they haven't already paid for it?" Kevin asked indignantly."But can you afford it?" she replied disdainfully, "I've seen a lot of people like you try this kind of stunt. You just want to take a photo when you try it on and then post it online to impress your friends."What are you talking about?" Kevin asked sharply."If you really can afford it, why didn't you just buy it?" the sales associate said impatiently, "How much money can someone like you earn in a year? And what if you get the necklace dirty? It costs us money to clean fine jewelry like this."This store only sells high-end jewelry. We have items that some people couldn't afford if they saved for their entire lives," she added.Now Lily felt really awkward. She really didn't have the spare money to buy this necklace now."Kevin, let's hurry up and leave," Lily said timidly.He patted her on the hand and smiled. Then he took out his black card and tossed it on the counter. "You know, I don't really have the time for this. Wrap up every piece of jewelry in the store. I'm buying it all for my wife."She didn't even look at the black card and said snobbishly, "Yeah, right. We checked our inventory just an hour ago and the current stock in the display cases is valued at over one point four million dollars. If your card is rejected, I'm calling the police."Then she entered some numbers on the computer and swiped the card. And the sale went through!.She looked at Kevin, then at his card, and then back at the screen. Her legs started to feel weak and she sat down on her stool.The manager saw that something wasn't right and rushed out of the back office. When he looked at the screen and saw the numbers, he almost lost his balance and had to sit down too.They had never seen anything like this. As the manager handed Kevin back his card, he asked hesitantly, "Sir, is this your card?"Yes, I used it to buy these clothes too. What do you think of my outfit?" Kevin said sarcastically."I'm sorry, sir. That was a silly question. Thank you very much for your patronage!" The manager was so freaked out that he couldn't even speak clearly."My pleasure," Kevin said as he took back his card. "Wrap everything up and send it to the penthouse at Corwin Tower."Kevin didn't forget to sneer at the rude man and his charming companion. The two of them were so embarrassed that they practically ran out of the store without saying another word. "Come on, Honey. Let's go!" Kevin said affectionately to Lily."I just wanted to try on the necklace. Why did you buy the entire store?" Lily was very confused and asked him, "Where did you get so much money from?"I've never bought you anything nice, so I figured I had a lot of catching up to do," Kevin said as he shrugged his shoulders."Don't try to avoid my question. Tell me honestly, where did you get all this money?" Lily asked again. She wasn't so easy to fool."Well, as you know, I've been helping my boss for the past couple of weeks. My latest project just earned him about a hundred and forty million dollars, so he gave me a bonus of one percent of the sale. It was just enough to cover this purchase." Kevin was lying, but technically he was his own boss, so he figured he was just bending the truth a little.Lily was even more confused now. How could Kevin's boss be so generous?Just then, Kevin's phone rang.When he saw that it was Phoebe Anderson calling, he immediately answered."Hello, Kevin, are you free right now?" She sounded a little anxious."Yes, I'm free. What's wrong?" Kevin asked. He was puzzled by her tone of voice."Please come to the store. There's something I need you to settle right away," Phoebe said quickly. Then she hung up the phone before Kevin could say anything.Kevin shook his head helplessly. He could tell that Phoebe needed help right away, so he decided to bring Lily and Rachel along to Anderson's Antiques.*As soon as he entered the store, he saw a large group of people standing around a table and whispering to each other.Several of them were antique shop owners from the neighborhood. They were convinced that they were looking at a replica because the object was in such good condition. Kevin finally managed to squeeze through the crowd along with Lily and Rachel.Phoebe was staring at an antique marble bust and frowning as she tried to make a decision. She was deep in thought."How much do you plan to sell this for?" Phoebe asked the seller."Ma'am, this bust has been in my family for generations. If I didn't need money for an emergency, I'd never have brought it in." The young man scratched his chin and said, "It should be worth about sixty thousand dollars, don't you agree?"The antique shop owners in the crowd started whispering to each other. Some thought it might be worth it. Others wouldn't give him fifty dollars for it.Kevin squinted and took a close look at the marble bust. It looked like an authentic Roman bust, probably from the second century. As he walked around it, he could see that someone had tried to repair it, probably in the 1600s.Kevin asked the young man right away, "How much do you want?"Didn't I just tell you? Sixty thousand!" he said impatiently."Alright, I'll take it!" Kevin said directly.As soon as he said this, the onlookers immediately started to quiet down.They couldn't believe that he was willing to spend so much on an obvious fake. But some of the antique shop owners remembered what happened the last time Kevin was there and they were curious to see what he would do.But Phoebe was still staring at the bust with a thoughtful frown on her face. She felt that something was wrong, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.Suddenly, Lily tugged on Kevin's sleeve and asked him, "Do you know anything about antiques? Be careful!"Even though Lily didn't know anything about antique appraisal, she could hear what everyone in the room was saying and it made her very nervous, especially after watching Kevin buy the entire contents of a Michigan Avenue jewelry store."Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Kevin whispered to her."But these people said it was fake. Take a good look at it. Sixty thousand dollars is a lot of money. Don't be cocky! "Lily warned him."Trust me, Lily!" Kevin said confidently.Hearing this, the young man got excited and said to Kevin, "I can tell you have good taste!"President Anderson, please allow me to cover this man's sale," Kevin said as he handed his black card to Phoebe."Are you sure you don't want to take a closer look? Be careful!" Phoebe said worriedly.It wasn't that she didn't trust Kevin's judgment. On the contrary, Phoebe knew that Kevin was an expert who had already helped her save the company a fortune. But she still had her doubts about this item."Don't you trust me yet?" Kevin laughed softly.The young man said, "You rock!" He gave Kevin a thumbs up, then took a bracelet out of his backpack.Phoebe's eyes lit up when she saw it. "Do you want to sell this too?" she asked delicately.As soon as she said this, everyone stared at the bracelet in the man's hand."I found this bracelet by accident. If you're interested in it, I'll sell it to you for twenty-five thousand dollars!" The man carefully placed the bracelet on the table.Phoebe's expression immediately turned serious.Once again, the antique dealers who were watching this spectacle started chattering to each other. They thought it looked interesting and they were impressed with its color. They couldn't tell if the stone was an emerald or tourmaline. But it was in such good condition, they didn't believe it was an antique. If it was a reproduction, there was no way it was worth twenty-five thousand.The young man heard the discussion and pressed Phoebe to pay the full amount. "I can't take any less than twenty-five thousand. If you don't want it, I'm sure I can find another buyer."After Phoebe carefully examined it, she let out a sigh. She could tell that this bracelet wasn't bad, but it couldn't possibly be worth twenty-five thousand.Kevin, who had just taken back his black card, asked her, "May I take a look?"If you want to buy it, you can have it for twenty thousand!" The man said happily. After all, he had already made sixty thousand dollars from Kevin.Kevin picked up the bracelet and looked at it from all angles. Then he raised it over his head and looked at how the stone looked in the light. Then he put it next to his ear and flicked it a few times with his finger.Finally, he turned to Phoebe and informed her, "You can buy it. Twenty-five thousand sounds reasonable."Some of the antique dealers started to criticize him for his decision. They thought that he was giving Phoebe bad advice.But the ones who had seen Kevin at work before knew better and smiled as they waited to see what would happen next.