Cupid’s Arrow Hit On Me by Mr. Adeel

The Imitation “We are talking about Vincent Geoffrey, the renowned jade carving master. You must be

thinking of someone else,” Bill butted in and glared at Maria. He didn‘t want to believe that someone

like Maria would actually know such a famous figure. In his opinion, Maria was just bluffing. Before

teaching her a lesson, he did find it necessary to introduce the background of the master whose

masterpiece she stole. “Vincent Geoffrey is a famous artist worldwide. When it comes to the jade

carving, he is second to none. Six months ago, he donated four small jade carvings of identical design

at a charity auction. And yes, Vivian‘s Jadee is one of them.” Then, Bill picked up a magnifying glass on

the tea table and continued, “If you look closely at its bottom side, there should be a micro–carved

serial number ‘Y0088‘… What?” Bill almost jumped in surprise when he saw what was carved on it.

The four jade carvings that Vincent himself donated for the auction had the following serial numbers

engraved in them: Y0006, Y0008, Y0066, and Y0088. In order not to damage the overall beauty of the

sophisticated jade carvings, these numbers were carefully engraved at the bottom using a piece of

high–end micro–carving equipment. It was so small that it could only be seen with the use of a

magnifying glass. However, the moment Bill subjected Maria‘s jade piece under the magnifying glass,

the serial number that appeared was different from what Jadee originally had. In fact, it was different

from every jade piece that Vincent had donated in the auction. This jade pendant was labeled Y0001.

After seeing this, the entire Jenkins family was extremely dumbfounded. If the serial number was

wrong, it only meant one thing. “What the hell… Y0001? What‘s going on?” Vivian blurted out. This turn

of events wasn‘t funny at all. “Is there such a number? Is this even Vincent‘s work?” Y0001. It meant

that this was the first work of the master carver in a series of similarly designed outputs. Moreover, it

also meant that this was the most valuable among the others. Once the serial number was carved on

its surface, it could no longer be changed.

Therefore, this simply meant that Maria‘s pendant was not the one that Vivian had lost. “Are you

finished checking it? If yes, then please give it back to me,” Maria said the moment she noticed that

they had already realized their blunder. Bill was a reasonable adult who could think more clearly than

Vivian.

Although this was not Jadee they were looking for, it was probably something much more precious. He

couldn‘t help but ask, “Then… Where did you get this?” The jade pendant Maria had was of the same

design as Vincent’s work. Furthermore, it was numbered “1”. Because of this information, Bill found it

more confusing. Maria was a mere ordinary girl from a small, poor town. How could she get her hands

on such a precious thing? “Back when I was working at the digital store, I was able to save some

money from my salary, especially when the business was doing good.” Then, she paused for a bit to

prepare them for something they might not believe. “I bought it with my own money.” To be precise, she

only bought the materials. But the entire craftsmanship was hers. Of course, Maria didn‘t find it wise to

talk to Bill about it in detail. After all, she couldn‘t trust them “You bought it? How could you have

afforded it?” It was obvious that Bill was in utter disbelief. This girl had just graduated from high school.

There was no way she could have made enough money from part–time jobs to afford such a precious

jade pendant All of a sudden, Bill thought of something. He wasn‘t sure if his idea would lead to

somewhere, but there was only one way to find out. He held up the jade pendant in his hand and tried

scrutinizing it. As he looked closely, the only thought that kept running in his mind was the possibility

that this pendant was just an imitation made out of cheap materials. The more he pondered this theory,

the more he believed it. If Maria could afford a piece of jewelry, it would most likely be just an imitation

of the original work. It wasn‘t an outrageous idea. After all, many had already tried to copy Vincent‘s

pieces. On that note, Bill supposed that this pendant was just one of those cheap replicas that could be

bought at a roadside stall. The truth was, he was no jade expert. His knowledge of jades was actually

so insufficient that he wouldn‘t even be able to tell a broken jade from a broken glass.

“Fine. It seems that this was all a misunderstanding.” Bill then wryly returned the pendant to Maria.

The sudden change in her husband‘s attitude put a frown on Julie‘s face. She wanted to say something

more but ended up keeping it to herself. She might not be too familiar with Vincent‘s works, but she

knew her husband well. Julie reckoned that Bill must have hastily concluded that Maria’s pendant was

just a piece of counterfeit jewelry that she got from a small workshop in the village. Or perhaps, he

thought that it was probably made of inferior raw materials.

However, compared to Bill, Julie could at least tell that it really was made of fine jade. “Dad! Are you

really just gonna let this slide?!” They had wasted so much time all morning, yet they still couldn‘t find

Jadee. Of course, Vivian still wasn‘t appeased. Even if the pendant was a fake, she couldn‘t let Maria

off the hook so easily and be cleared of suspicion. Trying to think of another way to pin the blame on

Maria, Vivian thought of suggesting that they search the new girl‘s room this time.