The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella)

Chapter 2072

Jack had been piecing together the puzzle of Arabella's aunt and uncle's business troubles. It seemed their subsidiary companies

had run into a mysterious sabotage, likely the work of an enigmatic figure known as Stinger. The only details Jack had unearthed

about Stinger were frustratingly vague: a man with a youthful voice, on the lean side, and taller than average. His facial features

remained a complete mystery.

"The auctioneer mentioned that Stinger has shown up a few times, bidding on sjewelry. I'll send you photos of the pieces,"

Jack said without ending the call, swiftly sharing a dozen images with Arabella via WhatsApp.

As Arabella flicked through the photos, a knot formed in her stomach. Each piece was unmistakably linked to the Collins family,

exuding opulence and history.

If her eyes weren't deceiving her, these were the very jewels that Serena, when she was still the golden girl of the Collins family,

had received as gifts from her family.

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Arabella spoke in a measured tone, "Back when Erik and Martha were still with us, they had a side business selling off Serena's

jewelry, designer clothes, and luxury bags in exchange for cash. Looking at this, it's almost certain that Stinger is one of Erik's

guys."

Jack continued, "The auction house doesn't have any surveillance since the clientele prefer their privacy, and auctioneer didn't

want to risk scaring them off with cameras. There's no footage of Stinger. But the owner did say that he always shows up wearing a

black balaclava and a black baseball cap, with just his eyes showing - sharp and full of malice, almost devoid of human emotion,

cold. The night he cto the auction, he didn't bid on anything. He just showed up for a bit and left."

"That means he wasn't there for the auction items," Arabella deduced. "He was probably meeting someone, using the crowd and

the lack of surveillance to his advantage. Now we can be sure that Stinger is connected to Erik, and he might know who's pulling

the strings behind the scenes."

Since Erik had been coerced into taking his own life with poison on the orders of this shadowy puppeteer, capturing Stinger

beccrucial. He might be willing to avenge Erik by spilling what he knew about the mastermind.

Yet there was also the chance that Stinger was now answering to Serena, viewing the Collins family as a thorn.

"Keep tracking Stinger's whereabouts," Arabella instructed. "See if there's any trail leading to or from the auction that could be

linked to him."

"Will do."

No sooner had Arabella hung up than another call cthrough.

"Ms. Bella, it's me," the voice on the other end belonged to the precinct, "Protocol dictates we inform the next of kin when we take

someone into custody, but... you better cdown here."

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It was at the precinct that Arabella learned Yolanda's foster mother, Yvonne, had been dead for several days. She examined the

body, shared her findings with the officer in charge, and then accompanied another officer to see Yolanda.

"The girl's tight-lipped, won't say a word, just keeps cursing you out, making a fuss about wanting to see you."

The interrogation room had one wall made of one-way glass; the inside couldn't see out, but the outside could look in.

Standing before this wall, Arabella observed Yolanda's lack of cooperation, her shouts to see Arabella piercing the air.

"I'll go in," Arabella said, pushing open the door to the interrogation room. Upon seeing Arabella, Yolanda lunged forward, nearly

breaking free from the officer's grasp in her frenzy to reach Arabella.

"You're still alive! Why is fate so cruel? Why could you survive that deadly poison, and my parents had to die? Letgo, I'll kill

her!"

"Yolanda, this isn't the place to throw a tantrum!" the officer barked.