Chapter 6
The auction officially begins.
Raine Nolan sits in the front row with her parents, her eyes frequently drawn to a seat in the middle of the first row.
She can barely contain her excitement, "Mom, that's Alexander Foster! He's here too!"
Rosalind Taylor glances in that direction and smiles, "After it's over, I'll take you to go chat with him."
Raine responds with a quick nod, the anticipation clearly evident on her face.
She had interacted with almost everyone from the Fosters, except for the elusive Second Young Master Foster, Alexander.
In everyone's impression, he is an extraordinarily competent, yet aloof and arrogant man who barely gives passersby a second glance.
She must seize this opportunity.
As she thinks about this, she casts a glance back, and upon seeing Chloe Collins seated in the back row, a strong sense of superiority overwhelms her.
She takes a long, hard look at the man next to Chloe, and a sense of disdain washes over her.
The first auction item soon comes up: a landscape piece from a well-known contemporary painter.
The first round of bidding is not too fierce, with only three participants.
After about seven or eight rounds, a pair of centuries-old Pearl Earrings come up for auction. These were used by the royal family in ancient times, exclusively by the queen or queen mother. They symbolize power and status, and are priceless.
Opening bid: three million.
As Raine hears the introduction, her interest is piqued, though the price is somewhat high for her.
After some consideration, she decides to take the bite and bid, hoping to gift them to the Collins' family matriarch and earn more affection from her stepfather's family.
So, once the auctioneer finishes introducing the item, she immediately raises her paddle, "Three million, one hundred thousand!"
Just as the auctioneer was about to speak, another voice rings out, "Five million."
As this calm and unhurried voice echoes, everyone involuntarily turns to look at the bidder.
This price jump is too abrupt, overwhelming the first bidder.
Raine also turned her head immediately and her eyes light up when she sees it's Alexander.
The fact that she and Alexander are interested in the same item implies they have similarly discerning tastes.
Of course, she knows better than to compete with Alexander, so she refrains from placing another bid.
Her eyes, full of adoration, look towards Alexander, hoping that he would glance at her.
But he doesn't turn. His indifferent gaze remaining fixed on the stage, showing no signs of wavering.
At this moment, another buyer places a bid, "Five million, five hundred thousand."
Soon after, another buyer shouts, "Six million!"
The next second, Raine sees Alexander raising his paddle, saying dismissively, "Ten million."
In an instant, Raine's heart skips a beat, followed by rapid palpitations.
He's so cool.
Although the price has been raised to this level, everyone present isn't short of money. Someone quickly raises the bid to twelve million.
Alexander raises the price directly to twenty million.
Then, the bidding goes silent all of a sudden.
Some people begin to hesitate.
It's not because they're out of money, but because in their view, the Pearl Earrings have a certain value range. Once it exceeds this range, competing for it makes no sense.
Seeing this, the auctioneer prepares to hammer down.
Just at this moment—
"Thirty million."
A faint female voice drifts from a corner, stirring up waves in the hearts of everyone present.
The first surprise is about the identity of this unfamiliar face, and the second surprise is that she dares to compete with Second Young Master Foster.
The previous bidders were all well-respected figures. Their competition with the Fosters were acceptable, but who is... this girl?
When Raine gets a clear view of the paddle-raising person and realizes it's Chloe Collins, her surprise quickly turns into amusement.
She's barely keeping her laughter in check.
She whispers to her mother, "Cousin must be clueless. Does she think the man she's with can easily cough up 30 million for her? I think she's playing house with this auction. She's making a fool of herself!"
Rosalind Taylor sniffs, "A child from the countryside — how much understanding could she have?"
"Second young master Foster has his heart set on this auction item. She must have noticed that by now. She's merely raising the bid for fun; there's no way she has that much money." Raine instantly turns her attention back to Alexander, expecting him to raise his paddle.
Just when everyone is anticipating his bid, his hand is still.
Not until the auctioneer strikes his gavel, do people finally snap out of it.
Raine is both shocked and puzzled. Did Chloe Collins really win it?
Why didn't Alexander compete with her?
As she puzzles over this, she suddenly feels a sense of schadenfreude. Now, let's see how Chloe Collins manages to pay!
She turns her head to stare at Chloe Collins, expecting to see her surprised and flustered expression.
But she sees nothing.
Chloe Collins still looks as calm as ever, as if she wasn't the one who just bid thirty million.
And the man beside her doesn't seem to be in a hurry, not showing any signs of blaming her.
What's going on?
On the other side.
The assistant glances at Alexander and can't help but ask, "Young Master, didn't you say that Madam likes these earrings very much and that you want to give them to her? Why did you suddenly give up?"
He could never guess why his boss suddenly decided to call it quits, seeing how determined he was to win the auction.
Alexander boss cooly glances at the assistant but doesn't respond.
The assistant silently closes his mouth.