Zach didn't want to believe that Paige was a thief. Although the information he had gathered showed she had been accused of theft many times by her family, he knew how families like that worked, so he didn't want to hold on to that. However, the look on her face at this point left him unsure of what to believe.
It wasn't possible for her to be the one who stole from him because the CCTV footage of last night had been wiped off.The first thing he did was to check the CCTV room when he realized his jade necklace was missing. It was the only thing he had left of his mother, the only thing that reminded him of her. The fact that the footage had been wiped off showed that whoever stole from him was someone who knew his house perfectly.Paige had just turned eighteen and was the youngest person in his house. So how could she have stolen that bracelet when she didn't really know how everything worked in the house?Seeing that Paige was quiet, he became worried as he desperately hoped that she had nothing to do with the theft."Tell me, Paige" he demanded. "Did you go snooping around my room?""I didn't go snooping," Paige said. "I... I did go to your room but... I changed my mind and went back.""You came to my room but changed your mind and went back? What are you saying?" Zach asked.Paige explained, "When Miss Jessica took me shopping, I got a gift. It's a small box with a space inside to leave a note. It's for showing appreciation.Last night, when I came back, I felt very grateful because of what you did for me, and I wrote a few words in there. It was just to express my gratitude because I was very happy.It didn't occur to me that it was very late, and I went to your room to knock. But before I could, I noticed the wall clock and realized that it was late, and you probably were asleep. I didn't want to offend you, so I went back to my room. That is all. I never entered your room; I will never steal from you, Sir.""Okay, this gift you speak about, where is it?" Zach inquired."It's in my room," Paige replied."Where in your room is it?" he asked."The second drawer," Paige said."Susan, go with her and get it," Zach said pointing at his housekeeper.The housekeeper went with Paige and the latter quickly got into her room, opened a drawer, took out the small box and came out. It was a small glass box with a red ribbon tied around it. Paige handed it to Zach, and he took it from her. He opened it and saw a small note inside, and he recognized what he believed was her handwriting.The words read, "You became a light in my darkest hour, thank you very much, sir. May the odds always be in your favor."It was merely a simple gesture but those words made his heart feel warm and happy.However, he focused on the situation at hand."Alright, then, who stole my jade necklace? I believe it wasn't Paige," he said to everyone."The officers will be here anytime soon. I expect the culprit to tell me the truth. Once they arrive, I will show no mercy."Everyone kept quiet until the officers finally arrived. Zach instructed, "Search every single one of them: their bodies as well as their rooms"There were three male and two female officers, and they quickly began to work. Even the butler presented himself to be searched.Zach told the officers while pointing at Paige, "Do not search her; she's not the one."Paige stared at him in surprise and said, "Thank you, sir, for your trust in me.""It's nothing," he said. "I know that you won't steal from me."After searching everyone, the officers went into the rooms and searched them thoroughly, one after the other, but they still could not find the jade necklace.About thirty minutes later, the officers all came out, and the one taking the lead said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Zach, but we couldn't find it in any of the rooms. It's either whoever stole it has taken it away from the house or it was stolen by someone you do not expect."As the officer spoke, his eyes went to where Paige was standing, and it became very clear to Zach that the officer was suspecting her.The moment she understood what the officer was saying, the housekeeper said, "Yes, it has to be Paige, I mean they've searched everyone and if it's no one else, it has to be her.""No, don't say such things," Matilda said, countering Susan. "It can't be Paige; she's such a nice girl. Please stop accusing her. I believe that Paige will never do something so bad.""It's fine," Paige said. "I'll feel at ease if you all search my room. I have nothing to hide. You won't find the necklace there because I'm not a thief."Zach said, "Okay," giving the officers the go-ahead.They went into Paige's room and began to search for the jade necklace. About five minutes later, the officers came out, and they showed the necklace to Zach."Here it is, we found it in her room."Zach received the necklace from the officer, staring at it in surprise. He turned to stare at Paige, who had a shocked expression on her face and tears in her eyes. She could not believe what was happening."You're under arrest," the officer said, taking out his handcuffs."No, hold on," Zach stopped him.The housekeeper at this point said, "Oh no, how are we going to feel at ease if we're living with a thief in the house? This is really scary; it has never happened. No one has ever stolen here.""Silence," Zack ordered, shutting her up.He stared at Paige and said, "I'm going to ask you, Paige, do not lie to me. Did you take this necklace?""No, I did not take it," Paige replied as tears fell from her eyes. "What reason could I possibly have to steal from you, Mr. Zach? What would I want to do with this necklace? Sell it for money? That is not what I want. Nothing else matters more to me than achieving my dreams, thanks to you, someday my dreams will get fulfilled, so why would I ruin that by going to steal from you?"After hearing Paige's words, Zach stared at everyone and said, "You can all leave, go back to your work."Turning to the officers, he said, "Let her be; you can all go for now."The officers all left, and Zach took one last look at Paige before walking out angrily.After he left, the chef, Matilda came over and hugged Paige, tapping her back comfortingly, she said, "Come on, don't cry anymore. I trust you; I know that you don't have a reason to steal. No matter what anyone says, you can be sure that there's someone who trusts you, and that's me. You're not a thief, Paige, and from today, you can consider me your friend."Paige looked at her and said, "Thank you so much."Afterward, she turned and ran into her room. She threw herself on the bed and curled her body into a ball, crying hysterically.One hour later, Paige stopped crying and thought about what the future held for her. No matter how she thought about it, someone must have set her up.The jade necklace could not have miraculously ended up in her room since she knew that she never took it. It had to be one of the maids.Who else could it be? The one person she held as a suspect was the housekeeper. She was the only one who hated her enough to plot something so big.However, she couldn't point her finger at her because she had no evidence. It would seem as though she was trying to push the blame for her crime onto someone innocent.What hurt her the most was the way Zachary had stared at her as though she was a thief. He had shown trust in her just a few minutes ago, but now everything was ruined.She tried to focus her mind on other things because she didn't want to keep crying. She suddenly remembered that the judges of the event she performed at the previous night had said they'd send a reply to her the next day.Sh
After Paige left, Candy went back into the house with her parents. Her mom said, "Just imagine, this Paige. She's so fearless. How dare she come here and try to speak at the top of her voice? This is what I've been going through in her hands."Anthony shook his head, "I can't believe how insolent she is. It's a good thing I threw her out. If I hadn't stopped by to pick up something, I wouldn't have known that she could speak so disrespectfully.""That's how she is, Dad," Candy replied. "But, um, Dad, did you see that Paige also performed at the Spark girls' show? I mean, for some reason, she was suddenly among the Spark Girls. Normally, spark girls are only four, and one is picked out as the best at the end. But she came out of nowhere, and for the first time, the Spark Girls were five. Dad, I don't want Paige to beat me."Her mom scoffed, "How will she beat you? You're more beautiful and more talented. You'll surely win over her.""I know that when it comes to talent, I'm much better
After leaving the police station, Paige went back to Zach's home. She remained in the room, thinking about everything Matilda had told her. In the end, she told herself not to pay attention to such nonsense. It was probably an excuse to justify her wrongs.When Zach got back home, he went straight to his room without stopping to ask Paige about her meeting with Matilda.When it was morning, Paige woke up and checked her mail. She knew that the information from Spark Entertainment Agency would arrive on that day, but she didn't know the time. However, she decided to still check her mail, and when she did, she saw that a mail had been sent, citing her as one of the candidates who had been selected.She got up and screamed, jumping for joy. "I can't believe it, I can't believe this," she exclaimed.She wanted to hurry to Zach to tell him the good news she had received, but she realized that she hadn't taken her bath. So she rushed to the bathroom, took her bath, brushed her teeth, and p
As Zach drove back to the office, he recalled how Paige had said she couldn't call him "sir" because it was disrespectful.He smiled, "Foolish girl, can't you tell that I don't want you to get so formal around me? So you can call Williams by his name but not me?""What is going on here?" The director who caught Candy before she could fall and pushed her forward asked.Candy pointed accusing fingers at Paige as she sounded aggrieved, "I don't know what I did to her. Perhaps she's jealous of me. I just came in here and saw her sitting down. I asked her if you were not in your office, and then she got up and slapped me. How can someone be so uncouth? Why would she do that? I am not going to spare her; this is unacceptable. No one has ever hit me before."As the director listened to Candy's accusation, the man stared at Paige, who was silent. She had an air of composure about her and did not show any signs of anger. He recalled what the top judge had said when he gave him Paige's name.H
The crowd was bustling with excitement as it was the fifteenth edition of the Spark Girls, and everyone was eager for the different performances. As usual, Zach wore a cap and a T-shirt to conceal his appearance, and sat at the back of the audience, waiting for Paige's performance.As both Paige and Candy listened to the director's new arrangements, Paige accepted them, saying, "Okay sir, it's fine by me."However, Candy refused, "No, I will not share a stage with her. Let each of us perform separately; I do not agree to this."The director scoffed, "Stop being so picky. It's not up to you. As I told you before, you can leave if you're not comfortable with the arrangements we have made. That way, Paige can become the automatic winner."The director was already fed up with Candy's attitude, considering that the Spark girls were just newbies, and the Spark agency was a platform to help them begin their careers. Candy was just starting but was already full of herself, which annoyed him.
Anthony watched in surprise as the young man who had flung his hand led Paige out of the hall.Once they were outside, Paige said, "Thank you very much."At this time, though, Candy was inside her car crying her heart out. It finally dawned on her that everyone had deliberately plotted to humiliate her, and she was convinced that Paige was in on the plan."Hi," the young man who had saved Paige said. "Do you need a ride home?""Oh no," Paige replied. "I already got one.""Do you know me?" He asked."Yes, who doesn't know you," Paige said. "It's such an honor to meet you."He chuckled, "Come on, don't be so serious, um.... Now that you're a Spark girl, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other frequently.""Really?""Yes, I have a deal with the Spark agency going on. I can collaborate with any good musician here in this agency.""That's nice," Paige said, smiling at him.While they were speaking, Zach, who was in his car waiting for Paige, noticed the way they were talking and smilin
Paige sat on her bed trying to understand what must have gone wrong.Recalling that Zach said he was disappointed in her, she decided to go online to see what was happening. She was shocked to see that, under her profile, she was tagged to an interview that had been done by Sunny, and he said they were dating."What? How can he do this?" She wondered. "This must be why Mr. Zach is so disappointed. He probably thinks I'm an easy girl who would sleep with a celebrity just for fame. How could Sunny do this?"She picked up her phone, and quickly called him, when he answered the call she said, "I just saw an interview of you saying we're dating. I don't understand, when did we start dating?""Calm down," Sunny said. "Don't you understand how these things work? It is just for clout. We are going to be performing so, everyone will start talking about us, thinking we're dating, looking forward to our music, and then once we release it, boom, your fame will skyrocket and our song will be on e
Zach kept staring at Paige's head while her arms circled his back. Having her so close made him happy and more than anything, he wanted to hug her back but he feared that she would think he wanted to take advantage of her.Unknown to both Paige and Zach, someone secretly took a photograph of them and quickly left the scene.Paige finally pulled away from Zach. She had an embarrassed look on her face as she feared that she may have crossed the line and ruined Zach's mood."I'm sorry sir," she promptly apologized.Zach smiled, "It's okay, Paige. You were excited and with good reason.""Thank you so much, Mr. Zach," Paige beamed. "I promise not to let you down.""I believe you," Zach replied. "Now let's go inside and get you admitted.Paige was all smiles as they made their way into the school. She recalled how her dad had promised to send her to a music academy if she served the guests at his marriage anniversary.She has been so happy to get the opportunity, and although it wasn't a pr