Chapter 2
"Alright," Shirley tilted her chin up arrogantly and commanded the security guard, "Search her. It's in her right pocket."
The guard strode over with a rough attitude and shoved his hand straight into my right pocket.
A smug smile spread across Shirley's face.
But in the very next second, her smug grin stiffened.
The guard withdrew his hand.
It was completely empty.
Three seconds passed in total silence.
Still unconvinced, the guard rummaged through my left pocket and the inside of my coat, searching every nook and cranny.
But all he found was my phone and some tissues.
The whole place went dead silent.
I straightened my messed-up collar and gave Shirley a cold stare. Her face was as pale as a sheet.
"Miss Lane, where's the ring?"
Shirley's face went blank for a split second.
Over her head, a virtual system alert flashed urgent red exclamation marks. [Warning! Task item lost. Immediate action required.]
Her eyes flickered with calculation, and tears instantly welled up. She turned to Fred. "May-Maybe I remembered wrong. Did it fall out when I got bumped earlier?"
Fred jumped in right away, shooting me a vicious glare. "It's normal for Shirley to be upset when she loses something. Natalie, with your shabby vibe, you totally had it coming. What's with that look?"
I closed in on Fred, step by step.
"So just because I'm poor, I had it coming?
"Mr. Dunn, your logic is really impressive."
I pointed at all those phones still filming. "Everyone watching the livestream, did you catch that? This is the game the rich play. Just a few words from them, and they can stomp all over an ordinary person's dignity like it's nothing."
Fred was forced to take a step back, his face flushing red.
Shirley clenched her teeth, hiding her hand in her sleeve as she quickly swiped at her invisible system screen.
I caught a glimpse of her system panel. [Redeem Item: Make-a-Lie-True Card. Cost: 1,000 Luck Points. Effect: Instantly place any item wherever you want.]
She was about to use it to put the ring in my bag.
A jolt shot through my mind.
No way I was letting her pull this off.
My system rank was way too low to delete her item outright, so I had to glitch the system somehow.
I took a deep breath and whispered the command in my head: [Rewind, five seconds back.]
A fierce headache hit me, like someone was drilling right into my skull.
My vision blurred for a moment.
Then everything reset.
Shirley's finger was just about to tap the Confirm button on her invisible system panel.
I sprang into action at the same moment.
I spun around and slammed my elbow into the tray a passing waiter was carrying, making it look accidental.
A loud crash was heard.
A dozen champagne glasses hit the floor, the sharp, piercing sound of shattering glass slicing through the air.
Startled by the sudden crash, Shirley's finger jerked and tapped Cancel by mistake.
[Item use failed. Cooldown: 24 hours.]
Trying to ignore the pounding in my head, I pointed at the vase. "Since everyone's searching for the ring, how about checking that vase?
"Miss Lane had her hand right on it when she faked that fall earlier."
Fred scoffed, "Quit acting all mysterious."
The waiter followed my suggestion and pulled aside the soil around the plant.
And right there, in plain sight, a sparkling diamond ring was lying in the soil for everyone to see.
The whole place erupted in an uproar.
That spot was right next to where we'd been standing, and the ring was buried so deep that it couldn't possibly have fallen in by accident.
Someone definitely put it there on purpose.
I stood face-to-face with Shirley.
She was shaking. Whether it was from rage or fear, I couldn't tell.
"Remember what you just promised," I said, staring straight into her eyes.
I spelled it out, word by word, "Since you didn't find it on me, apologize now."
Fred looked like he was about to hit me. "Natalie, don't go overboard."
I pulled out my phone and opened the recording app. "Everyone heard the bet loud and clear. So what now, Miss Lane? Or is the Lane family's heiress's promise just hot air?"
Shirley clenched her lip so hard that blood oozed out.
Above her head, a line of blood-red text was forming on her system panel.
[Forced plot correction triggered: Make the heroine get hit by a car. Countdown: 3 seconds.]
Suddenly, the roar of an engine blared from just outside the banquet hall doors.
A catering cart, completely out of control, crashed through the doors and sped straight at me.
It was like a runaway iron bull, smashing through the registration desk and thundering toward me with a rush of wind.
My knees buckled.
It was just my body reacting.
I was just an ordinary office worker. Facing a death trap like this, there was no way I could pull off some slick move like in the movies.
The cart was about to slam right into me.
Rewind! I screamed in my head.
Blood gushed from my nose. The pain was blinding, making my vision go black.
Suddenly, I was back ten seconds earlier.
The catering cart was still revving outside the doors.
I knew exactly which angle it would burst in from, and my reflexes just weren't fast enough.
But then I spotted Fred.
He was standing in what he thought was a safe spot, smirking, ready to watch me crash and burn.
But that spot was right in the path of the oncoming cart.
I pretended to be scared out of my wits by the argument just now, stumbling as I ducked behind Fred.
"What are you doing? Get out of my way," Fred snapped.
He shoved me away, clearly disgusted.