Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 81: Fake

Seeing the footage glitch and completely disappear, a trace of panic flashed into Anne’s eyes.

Was something wrong with the chip?

What she’d displayed so far in terms of affixing the chip was all she could do after seeing Kristen work with prototype models of similar chips into his laptop.

She knew what it was from her brother, and she learned how to install it from repetitively witnessing him work with it, but she had no idea what to do if it encountered any problem.

Hurrying towards the laptop, she tapped several times, but nothing worked.

Could she have ruined it?

Sasha decided to act quickly before Anne could be able to figure something out again and manage to retrieve that clip.

"Master, the thief who stole your ring is acting so freely. Won’t you do something to teach her a lesson?" Sasha reminded righteously.

This girl should be taken care of quickly before she could regain her streak of luck once again, because Sasha believed that only luck allowed Anne to have been able to find that clip.

Andrew pulled out his phone from his pocket, his hands moved with a deep, seethed elegance.

He made a call with a cold look on his face, uttering just a few words.

"Come to the Sterling estate, now."

Hearing those words, Sasha’s face lit up joyfully.

Whoever he’d just called was undoubtedly someone who would deal a heavy punishment to this girl.

Her mission had succeeded.

Donald, noticing that Anne was struggling with the laptop, rushed to her side.

When she’d showed that footage, his face had lightened up. She’d finally found something to prove herself innocent. However, it suddenly stopped working halfway, completely shattering the little hope he’d seen.

Hearing his brother make a call further frightened him.

He decided to quickly help Anne out before the person his brother called would arrive.

"What’s wrong? Why did it suddenly disappear?" Donald asked.

"I don’t know..." Anne panickedly pressed several keys on the laptop, but it continued to show an error sign on the screen.

’Think, Anne, think. Has something like this ever happened with Kristen before?’

She thought deeply, but nothing came to mind.

For some reason, her gaze raised up towards Andrew, who was now sitting. He was facing her directly, his face still expressionless.

’...If you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will.’

Still holding her gaze, he held his hand up, all five fingers spread apart. Suddenly, he folded two, and there were three fingers left.

What was he doing? Was he making a gesture to her?

Three?

What did that mean?

The three fingers became two, and afterward, one.

Three, two, and one?

Anne’s eyes suddenly widened.

She got it!

The problem with the chip was a minor one, she had not lost the footage, she merely needed to troubleshoot and restart. His gesture might have been subtle, but she was quick enough to catch on.

She began to rapidly type on the laptop.

Donald noticed the silent interaction that had gone on between Anne and his brother and how Anne immediately began to work on the laptop again.

Was that just a silent conversation between them?

What was that gesture his brother just made to her?

Seeing Anne return to working on the laptop, a trace of satisfaction showed in Andrew’s cold eyes.

Sometimes, the best way to protect someone wasn’t to fight for them—it was to teach them how to fight for themselves, because no matter what, a day would come when they would have to face the world themselves. At that time, if their protector wasn’t by their side, they would be lost and alone.

For some reason, this woman—this little rebel in front of him—he didn’t want her to encounter a losing battle.

He knew how cruel the world could be. He knew how cold and heartless it could be to a lone fighter. He wanted her to know that she wouldn’t be able to escape the cruelty of others, and inevitably she would be targeted by others. And he wanted her to know that she could fight her own battles and win.

This was the first time he’d wanted to truly protect someone. This was the first time he’d wanted to see someone win.

And seeing her immediately understand his gesture had pleased him deeply. He truly did underestimate her—she was more intelligent than he thought.

Sasha noticed the gesture Andrew seemed to have made. She narrowed her eyes at that, but soon, someone arrived at the estate.

A broad-shouldered guy with light grey hair strode in, and Sasha’s eyes lit up.

The master called one of his people. This girl won’t be spared at all.

Just when a celebratory smile was beginning to make its way to Sasha’s face, a robotic-sounding voice suddenly entered her ears.

"Identity detected, Sterling estate hired staff, Sasha Roberts."

This robotic voice had come from the laptop that was in Anne’s hands a while ago.

Sasha’s head quickly whirled to the laptop upon hearing her own full name, and she saw the clip that had been playing earlier before it had suddenly disappeared playing all over again—this time, her every movement narrated by a robotic-sounding voice.

Sasha went stiff.

"Turn it off! That thing is fake, turn it off right now!" she couldn’t help but yell out once it began to play the part of her opening Master Andrew’s special display section and taking the ring out of its box.

"Stealthy movement detected. Staff has stolen a precious item," the robotic voice went on to narrate further.

"She’s faking it! She’s using some AI app to make this. It’s all to push the blame from herself and frame me. Master, please don’t believe what you’re seeing. This lowly thief—" Sasha was going on frantically when the man’s cold voice rang out.

"One more word from you..." His eyes flashed darkly. It stiffened Sasha to the spot—she couldn’t move.

Her legs shook under his icy gaze, and every word on her tongue remained unuttered.

The clip continued to play until the part Anne came to the room and Sasha pretended to bump into her, then secretly put the ring in her bag. Sasha’s movements were so stealthy that it wasn’t visible exactly when she put the ring in Anne’s bag, but the robotic narration exposed every movement and her every action.

When Andrew’s cold gaze settled on her again, hopelessness dawned into Sasha as her knees went weak, and under his gaze, she lowered herself to her knees to plead for mercy.