Sophia placed the crowns on their heads.
She took two steps back to admire them, waved her hand in satisfaction, and said, "So pretty. They're yours now."
Iris raised a hand to touch the cold little thing on her head and turned to look at Shen Yi, trying to exchange a glance with her.
Just how much did this thing cost?
Giving it away just like that.
Shen Yi was looking down, her fingertips gently tracing the edge of the tiara. "Thank you."
She had no resistance to these little crowns, but Shen Wenta had given her quite a few. She examined it closely and said, "My brother has given me similar ones before."
"...Hmph, mine is super expensive," Sophia said. In her eyes, there had to be an insurmountable industrial gap between what this girl's brother gave her and her own private collection.
Shen Yi's competitive spirit silently flared up. She blinked and said, "Mine wasn't cheap either."
"Oh really?" She pointed at the crown on Shen Yi's head. "The main diamond on mine is D-color and flawless, with a top-tier cut. The base is platinum inlaid with pink diamonds. It was the finale item at an auction."
Shen Yi turned the crown over to take a look. Long ago, she had been forced to take some jewelry appraisal classes. During that time, she was so miserable that she constantly questioned the meaning of life.
Because of that, she could actually hold her own in this conversation with Sophia. "My main stone was from the old Golconda mines, and the accent stones were from the last batch of pink diamonds before the Argyle mine closed. It was made by Cartier's antique workshop, and it has a serial number engraved on the inside of the base."
"Mine is not for sale, and things not for sale are more expensive than finale items."
"Things not for sale can't be priced..." Sophia choked for a moment. "I also have a Chaumet one. It uses a mystery setting, and the enamel base took eight months to make."
"Mystery settings are most vulnerable to temperature differences. Over time, they develop fine cracks," Shen Yi immediately countered.
"Wait, wait, wait," Iris interrupted the two of them. "Can you guys switch to the ordinary people channel for a second?"
What on earth were these two talking about?
Wasn't Shen Yi an ordinary person just like her?
How did she know so much?
Sophia stopped chatting, blinked, made a funny face, and got into the car first to wait for the two of them.
Shen Yi and Iris went off to do who-knows-what.
They dawdled for quite a while before finally coming out of the villa.
By the time they finally rushed to the car door, Sophia had been grumbling for two whole minutes, complaining that they were wasting time.
The car finally started.
This trip was to attend a banquet hosted by the Shen family, and the journey was not short.
This mafia princess truly had no shortage of enemies and assassins after her.
Shen Yi had noticed not long ago that the manpower deployed to hunt down this young lady was even more luxurious than the security for some mid-level missions in the Archive Organization.
Even the short trip to school before hadn't been peaceful. For this long journey, both Iris and Shen Yi were mentally prepared.
The two of them continuously observed the situation along the road.
As it turned out, halfway through the trip, something did happen.
First, a car that shouldn't have been there appeared in the rearview mirror.
Shen Yi was keeping an eye on the vehicle tailing them closely from behind, failing to notice a black sedan suddenly cutting in from the corner.
It was moving extremely fast, crashing directly into the side of their car.
Fortunately, the young lady's car was a custom bulletproof model. The thickness of its steel plates was in a completely different dimension from ordinary civilian vehicles.
The car was knocked sideways into a drift. The driver reacted quickly, gripping the steering wheel tightly and forcefully pulling the car back from the brink of rolling over.
Sophia was thrown so hard that she crashed into Shen Yi's shoulder, her hair plastered all over her face.
After the car came to a stop.
Shen Yi and Iris sat up straight almost simultaneously, exceptionally alert.
There were other vehicles driving along this road as well.
But people in their world were long used to dangerous incidents happening at any moment.
There wasn't even anyone watching the spectacle on the side of the road. Everyone immediately avoided them, clearing a wide path for them.
Iris remained perfectly calm the whole time, telling her partner beside her, "They didn't bring guns."
The bodyguards in the trailing cars all got out en masse, attempting to protect Sophia's safety.
But this group of bodyguards was practically just there for show.
Against professional mercenaries, they were completely outmatched.
The driver was still trying to restart the car, turning the key several times, but the engine just wouldn't catch.
No matter how naive Sophia was, even she realized that the current situation was wrong.
She had experienced countless kidnappings and threats growing up, having long since developed a unique sense of composure.
The young girl blinked her misty blue eyes, her eyelashes trembling. "What do we do?"
As soon as she spoke.
She saw the bodyguards outside who were supposed to protect her falling powerlessly to the ground.
Sophia blinked, a little panicked.
However, she firmly believed that her father would arrange everything for her.
She had never suffered any accidents growing up.
This time would be no exception.
The young lady spoke with certainty, not forgetting to comfort the two people in the car. "Let's just stay in the car. My dad definitely has a way to save us."
Iris: "...Wow. You sure are confident."
Shen Yi gave her a thumbs up. "You are the true powerhouse here."
Not even panicking in a situation like this.
However, Sophia was right not to panic.
Because her dad really had arranged a backup plan for her.
And the two of them were that backup plan.
So they had no time to sit in the car with her waiting to die.
Iris lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand—she had almost tripped while walking just now—and pulled out her prepared knife, unable to help complaining, "I told you this skirt was a nuisance."
The skirt would only affect their killing speed.
"It's all your fault, you idiot, for making us wear skirts. Now look what happened," Iris didn't forget to scold her.
"Right," Shen Yi immediately followed up. "It's all your fault, you useless idiot."
Sophia: "Things are already like this, how can you two still scold me!! Boohoo, I'm going to fire you!"
The two of them: "..."
Shen Yi changed the subject: "However, I wore pants."
Iris blinked and smiled. "What a coincidence, I wore them too."
To them, they could accept wearing skirts, but pants were an absolute must.
The two turned around, preparing to get out of the car at the same time.
Sophia froze for a moment, then grabbed the two servants who were trying to get out from the left and right, speaking urgently: "Wait a minute, where are you two going? Aren't you my servants? Come back."
"Let those bodyguards die, it's fine as long as they delay for a bit. We'll stay in the car. My dad said they are all here to serve me."
"The three of us can just stay in the car and wait for rescue."
Sophia didn't want them to go to their deaths.
If worst came to worst, she could only wait to be ransomed.
She had plenty of experience with being blackmailed and kidnapped!
Sophia could recite every step from negotiation to paying the ransom, and could even offer improvement suggestions to the kidnappers.
"..." What the heck is "the three of us"?
"No," Shen Yi refused. If her super-rich dad found out they took the money but didn't do the work, they would easily get reprimanded when they went back.
Neither of them wanted to get scolded.
"Let go, you idiot," Iris yelled anxiously. "Also, what servants? We are your bosses!"
Sophia felt wronged: "...How, how can you insult people!"
No one wanted to waste time talking nonsense with this young lady.
Shen Yi looked down at the hem of her Lolita dress that was being tugged. She pried Sofia's fingers away, gathered up her skirt, and kicked the car door open. Raising her voice at the bodyguards blocking her way, she snapped:
"Move."
