His Choice (The Selection)

Chapter Eighteen

Bexley looks up at the door, her face full of innocent confusion. Oh, but wait, it is fake innocent confusion. She puts the book she had on her bed, gets up, and walks over to the door. "Is everything okay, Ember?" she asks. I look to the side and shake my head.

"You are so full of it," I say, a small smile on my face. I honestly don't even know why it's there. I guess it is one of those smiles you get when you are so shocked by something it humors you. She turns her head to the side.

"I don't understand. Is there something wrong?" she asks. I raise my eyebrows and glance over at her maid who is standing a few feet away, staring at us with a nervous expression. Bexley seems to notice me looking at her. She looks at the maid and says, "Can you excuse us for a few minutes?" The maid nods and runs out the door.

"Where is it?" I ask. Bexley glances out into the hallway as if to make sure no one is watching. I can almost guarantee that it what she is doing. Who would want to know she is a thief?

"Where is what?" she asks in a voice so innocent it hurts to hear. I walk into her room and close the door behind me. The innocent look goes away a little but still does not completely disappear. I honestly cannot believe she chose to be a model. She would be a great actress.

"You know perfectly well what I am talking about," I growl. Her eyebrows join to make a very well waxed unibrow. She stares right into my eyes.

"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about," she says. I shake my head.

"Of course you don't," I say.

"Well, if you aren't going to do anything that could somewhat help whatever is wrong, could you leave?" she asks, slowly moving over to the door. I shake my head, but she still opens the door.

"I am not leaving until I find my ring," I say. She twists her head to the side.

"What ring?" she asks. I sigh and through my arms out to the side, hoping to look as dramatic as it feels.

"You know what ring I am talking about! You heard me and Giselle talking about it in the women's room!" I say a little louder than I meant to. I notice a few guards out in the hallway twists their heads to look at us. They stay silent, though.

"Ember, how could I have heard you talking about the ring? It would have been rude to eavesdrop," she says. I shake my head.

"And what about spying on me while I was at the gym?" I ask. "Or how about barging into my room and threatening me?" A confused look coats her face.

"I would never threaten you, Ember, and what reason would I have to do so?" she asks. I open my mouth to respond, but she stops me. "Or to steal your ring?" she quickly adds. 

"So you could get ahead. I know you can't stand the fact that I have gotten to spend at least an hour a day with Prince Charles since we got here!" I say, not caring if anyone else heard me.

"I don't understand how stealing a ring what help me get ahead in the selection," she says. I walk up to her and shove a finger in her face. I open my mouth to talk, but someone at the door beats me to it.

"What's going on?" he says. We both look over at the speaker. Prince Charles stands here watching us. He no longer has on basket ball shorts and a tee shirt like earlier. Instead, he has on a suit and a concerned face. I move my hands to the side and turn to look at Prince Charles.

"Someone stole my ring and I think it's Bexley," I tell him. He looks to Bexley then back at me.

"Why are you so sure that it's Bexley?" Charles asks. I cross my arms.

"Well, she saw us at the gym earlier," I tell him. He seems to bite the inside of his cheek as his cheeks slightly flush. "And when I came back upstairs she attacked me about it and when I confronted her about watching us she ran out fuming," I explain.

"I don't exactly understand," Charles says. Bexley nods.

"Neither do I. Plus, why would I confront you about you two going to the gym together? What good would it do?" she asks. It takes all that is in me to not confront her and point out how fake she sounds. Charles looks away from her, focusing his attention on me.

"Ember, I'm afraid she does have a point, and it's just a ring, right? We can order you another one," he says. I shake my head.

"It isn't just a ring!" I defend. "It was my grandmother's ring and Bexley knows that. She overheard me telling Giselle how important it is to me." Charles looks out into the hallway towards where Giselle's room is.

"Well, have you talked to Giselle about it? How do you know that she isn't the one who stole it?" Charles asks. Bexley nods.

"Yeah. You know, a little bit earlier I saw her pacing outside your room. She seemed to be waiting for something," Bexley says. I cock my head to the side.

"And when was it that you saw her out there?" I question. She shrugs.

"I'm not really sure. Probably about 1:30ish," she answers. Charles looks over at me.

"Were you in your room at that time?" he asks. I shake my head.

"No. I was at the dance studio at that point in time," I answer. He nods.

"Then I would say it was very likely that she took your ring," Charles says. Bexley nods.

"Or maybe one of your maids. I heard my maids say that one of yours can't do anything right," Bexley says in a boastful way. I roll my eyes.

"They both know that stealing is a crime," I say. Charles gives an aggravated sigh.

"Fine, here's what we'll do. First, you two will stop fighting. Second, we'll politely ask Giselle to check in her room for the ring," he says. I shake my head.

"No. I want to at least check Bexley's jewelry box," I protest, thinking it would be such an obvious place she would think no one would look there so she would hide it there. Charles sighs and looks at Bexley.

"Bexley, can we please take a look inside your jewelry box?" Charles asks. Bexley seems to tense up a little but she nods her head slowly.

"I don't have anything to hide. Go away," she says. Prince Charles leads the way over to the large, white jewelry box. He opens the door and looks up at the rings. He studies them for a few seconds before looking back down at me.

"Do any of those look familiar?" Prince Charles asks. I look over them carefully. They are all too big and extravagant to be my ring. I shake my head.

"No. None of them look familiar," I say. Charles nods and looks back at the door.

"Okay, well, let's go ahead and ask Giselle," he says. I nod and we all walk to the door. Bexley gets there before us and puts her hand on the handle of the door. As we walk past, a glint of light on her finger catches my eye. I stop to look at it. Charles looks back at me. "Is everything okay?" he asks. I shake my head.

"That's my ring."

So, I am really sorry that it took me so long to update this. By the time I got home from school and finished my homework my brain was broke and I couldn't write. Sorry. Updating will probably become a less frequent thing if you can't tell. But, please tell me what you think about this chapter. I love feed back!

Disclaimer: Even though I have been lazy all day I am too tired to come up with a good disclaimer to tell you that Kiera Cass owns The Selection.