In the bedroom, Margot, who had changed into a silk nightgown, was leaning against the headboard reading a book.
Margot was not a literary type, so she wasn't reading anything deep like essays or poetry, but rather an ordinary popular novel.
She was so absorbed in the book that she didn't notice that Josh had been in the study for a little longer than usual.
It wasn't until Josh opened the door that he caught her attention.
She lifted her head, only to see Josh carefully closing and locking the door before mysteriously heading towards the window.
"What's going on, darling?" Margot asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Nothing! I just want to give you a gift!" Josh said, pretending to be mysterious.
"What gift? Let me guess... jewelry?" Margot asked, a bit surprised but then delighting at the thought.
"Oh, dear, you're too accurate in your guess!" Now it was Josh's turn to be surprised. How did this woman guess so precisely?
"Is it really jewelry? That would be wonderful, show it to me!" Margot said, eagerly excited.
However, Josh could tell that while Margot was indeed delighted, her level of anticipation wasn't as high as one might think.
This was perfectly normal. As a wealthy woman whose father had once been a major jeweler, Margot had seen and handled countless high-end jewelry.
Not counting the large diamond ring she had already put away, Josh had seen her other jewelry, which were all collection-level pieces.
So, it wasn't realistic to expect an ordinary piece of jewelry to excite her much.
That's why, even though Josh had known Margot for so long and their relationship was very close, he hadn't given her many gifts – he simply didn't have anything that could measure up.
On the other hand, Margot had been gifting Josh everything from cars to houses, from clothes to accessories. She even seemed eager to give him everything she had, including herself and her enormous fortune.
It couldn't be helped. The initial disparity in their power and status naturally existed.
So, the reason Margot was excited was not because she expected this gift to be particularly valuable, but because it was the first gift Josh had given her.
Thinking this way, Josh felt a bit guilty toward her and couldn't help but feel more tenderness toward her.
However, in this case, Margot was actually wrong in her expectations.
Because the jewelry Josh was about to give her was indeed far more precious than she could imagine. No, it wasn't just precious—it was absolutely unparalleled in the world.
Therefore, Josh didn't try to overly tease her curiosity. He was afraid that doing so might stir her emotions too much and overwhelm her, so he simply took the gift out of his pocket.
When Margot saw the gift Josh brought out, she froze for a moment before her eyes widened, and then she covered her mouth tightly with both hands. Her eyes were full of the dazzling brilliance of the crystal glowing under the dim light of the table lamp.
The gift Josh was giving her was both normal and extraordinary.
It was normal because it was a diamond.
Although Margot was not skilled at managing businesses and had to sell off her family's jewelry empire, Margot had grown up in a jewelry business environment and was quite skilled in appraising jewelry. She immediately recognized that the crystal in front of her was a genuine diamond, and more than that, it was an extremely rare pink diamond.
But an ordinary pink diamond wouldn't have caused Margot to lose control.
What really caused her to lose composure was the abnormality of the gift.
That was the size of the diamond.
Everyone talks about pigeon egg-sized diamonds, but have you ever seen a diamond as big as a chicken egg? And it's a pink diamond!
Before today, the largest diamond Margot knew of was the famous Cullinan Diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905 and donated to the British royal family. The Rolls-Royce SUV with the same name was inspired by this diamond.
How big was it?
It was about the size of a grown woman's palm, measuring 10 cm in length, 6.5 cm in width, and 5 cm in height, weighing 3106 carats with a faint bluish tint.
However, this diamond had been cut into 9 large stones and 96 smaller stones back in 1908.
And the one Margot was looking at now? Although it wasn't as large as the Cullinan, it could still be called a peerless gem, surpassing even the second-largest diamond, the "Mountain of Light," with clarity that was also impeccable. Its weight was estimated to be over a thousand carats.
And it was a pink diamond! Pink diamond! Pink diamond! (Said three times for emphasis.)
Let's not talk about diamonds being a scam.
In the 21st century, diamonds have become a scam for two reasons: massive reserves and the emergence of synthetic diamonds.
However, the first reason applies to regular diamonds, those small bits of diamonds.
According to research conducted in later years, the Earth's diamond reserves total hundreds of trillions of tons.
Looking at this number, diamonds shouldn't be so valuable.
However, in reality, most of these diamonds are buried very deep underground and are difficult to mine.
Based on the available and easily extractable reserves in 1943, there were only a few hundred million tons.
Still, even with this number, diamonds weren't enough to justify their value on the market.
These few hundred million tons of diamonds are also not of uniform quality. Only about 50% can be classified as gem-quality diamonds.
Of these, when considering the 4Cs standard (weight, clarity, color, and cut), less than 1% of diamonds can be considered top-tier.
These diamonds do match the market value assigned to them.
As for the remaining 99% of diamonds, they aren't worth much, but that doesn't stop jewelers from packaging them as high-end items and selling them at top-tier prices.
From this perspective, the statement made by a certain celebrity from China holds some truth. Diamonds below one carat may not be worthless, but they certainly don't have significant collectible value.
So, the true reason diamonds have become a scam is the advent of synthetic diamonds.
With the right production techniques, synthetic diamonds can be made in any color, size, and with the best clarity.
But when did synthetic diamonds appear? After the 1970s…
And initially, only non-gem-quality diamonds could be manufactured.
It wasn't until around 2000 that the technology caught up enough to create gem-quality diamonds.
Therefore, the diamond Josh held in his hand was a real, one-of-a-kind treasure for this era.
"Is this really for me? Where did you get it? No one knows about it, right?" Faced with such a treasure, Margot was able to forcibly suppress her emotions and not shout out, which could be considered quite composed.
After holding it in for a long time, tears started to fall, and Margot's emotions finally calmed down. She then whispered a series of questions.
It was really hard to hold it in.
Margot wasn't foolish. She knew what such a treasure meant.
Its value was a small matter.
The real issue was that if the existence of this gem were to be revealed, Margot really feared that she and Josh might end up dead in the streets.
This kind of treasure could make the whole world go mad, and unless one had the imperial scale of the "Empire on which the sun never sets," it would be impossible to keep it safe!
And why did the British royal family choose to cut the Cullinan diamond? Didn't they know that bigger is more valuable? They were also afraid of it being coveted...
So, receiving such a gift from Josh left Margot uncertain whether Josh truly loved her or if he was trying to harm her.
Fortunately, this worry was not hard to resolve.
Just like what the British royal family did back then, cutting the diamond would make it safer.
And the reason Josh gave such a diamond to Margot was precisely because of this idea. With her father being a jeweler, Margot had indeed learned about diamond cutting for a period of time.
Of course, in the past, Margot had only cut smaller diamonds. This large a piece? She hadn't even seen one before.
As for certificates and the like...come on, back in the 1940s, there was no such thing as a certification body.
The world's most authoritative diamond institution, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), was only established in 1931 but didn't become a major, trustworthy institution until the 1950s, and the 4C standard was only introduced around that time.
So, there was no certification to worry about at this point in 1943.