After Samuel Richardson had sex with a sweaty old man who paid him $15,000, he bumped into Hugo Newell. Samuel's body froze the moment he realized that it was Hugo whom he had bumped into. The only thing the escort could do was turn his head away in hopes that his bully wouldn't recognize him. He hoped so.
Jeffrey then ordered, "X. Go backstage now. Get ready for the auction."
It felt like a saving moment for Samuel. The man quickly nodded as he ran as fast as he could to the backstage. Other escorts were already there, chatting with each other.
"Hey, X. How is that old Scotty?" Y, another VVIP escort, greeted Samuel coquettishly.
"He's so sweaty! I've been with him," Z, another escort, responded.
Yet, Samuel didn't feel like responding. The man just nodded absent-mindedly before he sat weakly. Y and Z noticed that there was something different with Samuel. Immediately, they gave him a glass of champagne to calm X down.
But Jeffrey's tenor voice was already heard from the stage.
"And now! Here are our most popular escorts! You'd better throw in a good amount of money for them! It's hard to maintain the shit out of them, gentlemen! Now, I present you, X, Y, and Z!"
It was Jeffrey's sign to call them onstage. Both Z and Y had gone onstage, leaving him alone backstage. Samuel hadn't calmed down, but he had no other choice. For Michael's sake, he had to go onstage. Thus, he went onstage with a heavy heart.
The moment Samuel stepped on stage, people cheered loudly. The man tried to put on his usual smile for them as he looked for someone as he scanned through the audience. It was a huge mistake on his part.
On the VVIP seats was Hugo. He was eyeing Samuel like a carnivore was eyeing its prey. The only thing Samuel could do was hope that Hugo wouldn't try to bid for him.
The escort wished for it sincerely. But his gut reacted differently. That wasn't a good sign.
"Fuck," the escort muttered quietly.
***
Hugo smirked. X stood on the stage, emanating such an alluring aura. People cheered like crazy. A testament to how wanted X was. It made the blonde man want X to spend a night with him even more.
"Okay! Anyone, we'll start with $15,000!" Jeffrey shouted.
People immediately started to raise their boards. Hugo calmly sipped his champagne. The man wasn't worried about the price at all. So, the blonde man spent his time looking at X. X would have realized that Hugo was staring at him. Yet, the escort looked at none of them. His indifference made Hugo even more fired up. He got more determined to get X at all costs.
As soon as the price hiked up to $100,000, that was when Hugo started to raise his board. At this point, fewer people started to raise their boards. Not everyone was able to afford such an amount for pleasure. The realization made Hugo hornier.
"$150,000!" Hugo shouted.
Jeffrey nodded as he talked, "Okay, number 3 has bid $150,000. Anyone else wants to bid higher?"
Someone was raising their board as they said, "$250,000!"
"Alright, number 12 has bid $250,000! Anyone else wants to bid higher?"
Hugo quickly turned his head to the person who raised the price, Number 12. Number 12 sat 2 seats next to Hugo's left. A VVIP client just like him.
It sparked a huge sense of rivalry for Hugo. He had found a rival to get X. Number 12 seemed to be a middle-aged man, but the blonde man wasn't so sure. After all, the place was dimly lit with disco lights. Frankly, it wasn't the best light for him to recognize his rival.
Nevertheless, the blonde man focused on raising the price.
Again, he shouted, "$400,000!"
People started to whisper. That amount of money for an escort was extravagant. But Hugo didn't give a shit. Even if he had to spend a million dollars for X, he wouldn't bat an eye. X had to be his tonight.
It was in Hugo's nature to be this persistent. When the blonde man had decided something, he was the kind of person who would never let it go until he accomplished it. That principle applied both in business and his personal life. Otherwise, how could the Newell Co. prosper if he was never that persistent?
While the company was passed ever since his great-grandfather, a company as big as Newell Co. would never be able to stand the test of time if the leader was weak. Hugo knew that very well. Every step of his life was planned for him to be a strong leader.
His family didn't need a weak leader. They only needed a strong one. The blonde man had to learn it the hard way because of it. Hence, Hugo was sure that he would get X.
To Hugo's surprise, Number 12 still raised his board.
"$500,000!" Number 12 shouted with his gravelly voice.
People were gasping. Hugo was still undeterred, though. Still, the young man made a mental note to check on Jeffrey to find out who Number 12 was.
Being able to bid this high had shown that Number 12 was very rich. Number 12 could be in Hugo's social circle. So, who was Number 12?
"$750,000!" he shouted as he looked at Number 12.
Jeffrey looked very pleased as he kept talking, "Damn, gentlemen! It seemed that this was the highest bid ever in Rings' history so far. Does anyone want to go higher?"
Everyone seemed to focus their attention on Number 12. Yet, Number 12 hadn't made a move. Did he give up?
"Okay. We'll count to 3. If no one raises the board on the count of 3, X will be given to Number 3!" Jeffrey announced.
Everyone kept waiting for Number 12 to raise his board. But he kept his board low. When Hugo saw this, his smirk grew wider.
Victory was his.