Betty gritted her teeth at Emma's disregard for her age and superiority.
Emma was addressing her casually while she was twice her age.
"Did your parents not teach you how to speak to elders?"
Betty was now sure that Emma was an uneducated commoner who did not know the ways high society worked.
People in the upper class seldom made enemies with others if it is not absolutely necessary.
Mutual benefit is much more important to them than individual grudges which is why many high-class families strengthen their ties through marriage.
Betty felt that she had lost her eye for discerning people in recent years.
She used to be an expert in evaluating an individual's worth by exchanging a few sentences.
But she had failed to analyze Emma's worth and placed her in a much higher class than she actually was.
Looking closely at Emma once again, she believed that Emma was an ordinary girl who luckily got the tickets and followed others into the auction.
If she had known that Emma was not a veteran who could bring her profits but a chick who was fortunate enough to be granted access to some limited resources, she would not have gone out of her way to start a conversation with her.
Betty regretted associating herself with Emma.
She did not want to get caught chatting with an uncouth girl who did not know how to curry favor properly.
"Judging from your tone, I guess you have re-evaluated me and placed me in the category of unimportant to useless people."
Emma slowly spoke about Betty's inner musings which was not difficult at all as Betty carried her thoughts out on her forehead.
Although they were undetectable by most, due to Emma's special conditions she could read them at a glance.
The small frown that graced Betty's face was enough to prove that Emma had hit the nail on the head.
Betty was astonished by Emma's words.
How could Emma know what she was thinking in her mind?
She did not doubt for a single second that Emma could have guessed her thoughts from her face as Betty had practiced for years to conceal her thoughts.
Right now, she could not ignore Emma even though she desperately wanted to.
Betty folded her arms over her chest and leaned forward. She lowered her voice and asked,
"What is it that you want?"
From the way Emma talked to the confidence she displayed while standing, Betty concluded that she was not an ordinary character.
She had a lot of secrets that intrigued Betty. She was not sure what Emma could want from her.
She was the wife of an ordinary Businessman but due to her maternal family, she was hailed as the leader of the social circle.
But Emma did not look like an entrepreneur looking for an investment for her business.
The air she exuded was much more complex than a simple office worker.
All the people who wished to have tied with Betty were businessmen and their wives who were looking for a pillar on which they could rely.
However, Emma did not look like a struggling working woman who was unaware of the ways of life.
This was the reason why Betty was paying attention to Emma. She wanted to feel elated by owing a favor to Emma.
How she was going to get Emma to repay her favor would be entirely up to her then!
Emma smirked as she saw various emotions flash across Betty's eyes in a matter of seconds and Emma recognized all of them.
Emma went forward wanting to put her lips next to Betty's ears but Betty backed away as soon as she saw Emma crouching towards her.
Emma laughed at her antics and held her hand.
Outwardly, it looked like they were discussing something. But only Betty knew how much she struggled to keep a smiling face.
Betty was scared silly by Emma's eyes which lacked any light.
The light suddenly vanished from her eyes as soon as she grabbed her hand.
Emma enjoyed her frightened expression and leaned closer to Betty's ear before whispering, "What I want is something you have hidden from the entire world."
Betty's body shook and her face went pale after hearing Emma.
There was only one thing she had which she hid as if her life depended on it.
How did Emma know about this when even her husband did not know about it?
Betty's mind was unable to cope and her legs almost gave up.
Emma smiled and held Betty's waist with her left hand.
The few people who had been looking at them became bored and left.
Emma took advantage of this and took Betty to a fairly empty corner where they could talk without any worry.
Betty had controlled her limbs in the meantime and looked a lot better as compared to before.
Emma was almost impressed by how fast Betty gained her consciousness back.
The old eggs were more passionate than the young chicks.
"Who are you?" Betty hurriedly asked.
Since Emma knew about that, she couldn't be an innocent person.
Emma saw through Betty's pondering and smirked. She had gotten the right person.
Emma felt gratified. It would have been an annoyance if she had gotten the wrong person.
Just now, Emma said those words to make sure that she had not made any mistake.
And judging from Betty's reaction, she was assured that she was right.
"What matters is not who I am but what I want."
Emma lowered her voice and glanced around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation.
Seeing how everyone was busy appraising the auctioned goods, Emma was unnerved.
Betty also did the same.
She had never thought even in her wildest nightmares that the wounds she had been hiding from the world would reemerge on the surface like this.
Seeing how Betty did not reply, Emma was not concerned.
Instead, she leaned against the wall and looked at the people enthusiastically discussing which item to bid on.
"I'm sure you know but my name is Emma Adrian Woods. I'm the second child of the main branch of the Woods family in the North."
Emma felt that it was necessary to reintroduce herself as there were many Woods family members scattered all over the world.
Betty's breath hitched as she heard Emma speak.
She found herself back in the desolate basement and the shadows of the past took over her.
She closed her eyes and bit her cheek until blood oozed out to calm down.
The blood left a metallic taste in her mouth and was nauseating.
Emma did not pay any attention to her and basked in the silence with the occasional chatter of the attendees.
"I think you are a clever person and have caught on already."
Emma began.
She did not want to waste time exchanging pleasantries. Not that she could after what had happened.
"I heard from someone that your family home used to be next to us before it was demolished for being built on government land," Emma said without giving Betty any chance to speak.
That was what she had learned in the report sent to her by the investigator.
Before Emma could elaborate, Betty's icy voice interrupted her.
"It was a false accusation. That land was left to my grandfather by his ancestors and we never sold the land."
It was a momentary comment but it revealed a lot of things.
From Betty's wronged tone, it seemed like the case was not as simple as it appeared.
Emma gave a sly smirk as she found the button by this retort which she could push to get Betty to reveal all the information she had concealed for the past 20 years.
"Oh? Tell me about it." Emma was ninety percent sure that Betty would not reveal any more information like this but she still gave it a chance.
Emma observed Betty's fluctuating emotions but failed to find any valuable details.
As she had expected, Betty was a tough nut to crack.
Before Betty could ask Emma what she wanted to get by bringing out old corpses, they were startled by a hushed voice.
It was not exactly hushed as they still heard it but they could tell that the whisperer was trying his best to conceal his voice.
Emma instantly looked where the voice had come from.
It came from the second exit door which Emma had seen when she came inside.
Since Betty and she were standing close to the exit, they heard the voice.
Emma waited for a moment before going toward the exit.
Since the decorations on the door matched with the rest of the room's walls, it looked like an ordinary wall at first glance.
Even though Betty wanted to stop Emma from going but she followed her after thinking it was normal for people to explore the auction hall and would not raise suspicion in any way.
As soon as Emma reached the door, she heard a loud crash which sounded like glass shattering.
Soon after an irked male voice followed. It was loud and laced with anger.
"What do you think you are doing? And what makes you think that I would tolerate such rude behavior?"