Part 2The Million-Dollar Fake

My assistant whispered, "That looks like a fake certificate from a knock-off shop."

I sighed. She was right.

Antiques can be forged, and so can certificates. She probably got scammed at a flea market.

"Ma'am, this certificate... it's fake."

"I'm not saying the vase is fake, of course, but this certificate greatly overestimates its value!"

"The normal price is around a few thousand. But since your daughter needs the money, I'll add another $7,000. How about $22,000?"

The woman suddenly burst into tears.

"I knew it! You big influencers with millions of fans, you just suck the blood of poor people like us to get where you are!"

"You make so much money, you don't need this little bit. You don't scam the rich, why do you have to scam us?"

"I'm telling you, I won't agree. If you don't give me $150,000, I'll report you to the platform! I'll report you to the Better Business Bureau!"

The comments started to turn against me.

[Honestly, the rich get richer by exploiting the poor. Big influencers are just capitalists. You can't expect them to do good.]

[No, streamer! I've followed you for so long. Don't do something shady!]

[Can you be honest? You forgot how sincere you were when you were a small streamer? Now that you have capital, you're floating away?]

The comment section was spiraling out of control. I frowned.

"Ma'am, I've been appraising treasures for five or six years. I know better than anyone how much things are worth. I haven't scammed a single person in all these years!"

"Your vase is worth $15,000 tops! The extra $7,000 is because I pity your daughter!"

"I'm not going to ruin the reputation I've built over years just for this. I'll add another $3,000. I'll take the vase for $25,000. Deal?"

The woman cried harder.

"You buy it for $25,000 and turn around to sell it for over $150,000. How can you be so black-hearted?"

"What did my family ever do to you? Why do you have to cheat us? My baby is counting on this to save her life! How can you steal life-saving money?"

I was getting angry. "I'm not stealing from you! I don't need to steal from you! I..."

"Then send the money!"

Amidst the woman's heart-wrenching sobs, the chat went crazy.

[Does your conscience not hurt doing this?]

[Unsubscribing and reporting. This kind of person doesn't deserve to make money.]

[Refund all the gifts I sent you!]

My DMs instantly hit 99+ with insults. The platform sent a warning notification—people were reporting the stream.

The woman cried even louder. "Everyone, judge for yourselves! We can't let this streamer keep harming people!"

"Enough!" I roared.

"I'm not doing this deal! Okay?!"