Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 66: "This is counterfeit."

The man blinked, startled, finally noticing the youthful woman beside him. She couldn't have been past her early twenties.

The shop assistant snapped irritably, "Mind your tongue, miss! We sell only authentic goods!"

Maia's calm gaze slid toward the bottle. "Is that so? But I am certain this bottle of tequila you're selling is fake." "Ridiculous!" the shop assistant blurted, his face hardening. "This is the finest vintage tequila, with a bottle crafted by a renowned crystal brand known for its exquisite craftsmanship. How could you tell otherwise? You look just a little over twenty, and I doubt you know anything about liquor!"

Maia lazily gestured to the silverwork along the bottle, featuring numerous tiny human forms.

"The true worth of an Annie Tequila lies not in its contents, but in the artistry of its relief," she remarked lightly. "Each figure wears a unique emotion - grief, elation, even traces of compassion. But look at this one - the faces blur together, expressionless and identical. It's an obvious forgery."

Her tone was almost offhand, but the man next to her stared in disbelief, utterly floored by her observation.

The man clutching the forged tequila believed that Maia had a sharp instinct for excellence.

The shop assistant raised the tequila under the lamp, squinted suspiciously, and then barked, "What could you possibly detect in this way? You're clearly here to stir trouble!"

Maia rested her chin against her palm, paying him no mind, and said to the customer, "If you doubt me, feel free to take it to a licensed wine expert for validation. Although, even seasoned experts might miss such a masterful imitation. I'd recommend Annie Crystal's private facility - they engineered this model themselves."

Annie Crystal, launched by the elusive artisan Anti two years prior, expanded swiftly from ornate glasswork into accessories, homeware, and elite scents. Anti's revolutionary craftsmanship shook the high-end market, propelling Annie Crystal into the same stratosphere as Radiant Jewels almost instantly. Anti's landmark piece? This tequila flask, named The Multitude, was created exclusively for a prestigious tequila distillery.

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A dozen silver statuettes, each distinct in expression and form, hoisted the vessel aloft, a design hailed as transformative in product artistry. Once unveiled, the globe's richest elites scrambled for ownership. In fact, one unit fetched seventeen million at auction.

Today? It was deemed irreplaceable.

Maia's assertion struck like lightning. The shop assistant blanched. For years, the establishment had pushed this brand without suspicion - not for lack of scrutiny, but because the forgery was expertly crafted. Among insiders, it was common knowledge: over 60% of Annie Tequila circulating was bogus.

But now the shop assistant couldn't fathom who this mysterious young woman was - or how she spotted deceit with a glance.

"Miss, if you're aiming to wreck our livelihood, don't expect kindness," he snarled, his voice low and dangerous. Exposing this could obliterate their reputation. No one would dare buy from them again.

"I'm simply stating facts. No need for hostility," Maia shrugged, shifting her gaze back to the buyer. "Your decision."

The man wrestled with uncertainty. Maia appeared astonishingly youthful. Her words shouldn't have mattered much… Yet the poised conviction in her tone, as though she had mastered the situation, made him falter.

"I'll contact my boss," the buyer eventually muttered.

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