Chapter 246 A Challenge
Although there was an auction going on right now and everyone could place their respective bids, Veronica couldn’t help but feel targeted.
In the end, she chose to remain silent.
However, the others continued to place their bids.
“One million and thirty thousand.”
“One million and fifty thousand.”
“One million and two hundred thousand.”
…
The price of the item went up significantly, and finally, it was auctioned off at a high price of seven million and five hundred thousand. It was way more than the original net worth of the necklace.
Although the necklace was quite exquisite, the quality of the stone was mediocre.
Ruka was the one who had bought the necklace for seven million and five hundred thousand.
After she had placed that bid, no one else continued to place a bid.
The host exclaimed, “Miss Dame has placed a bid of seven million and fifty thousand. Is there anyone else who’s interested? Alright! Seven million and fifty thousand once… Seven million and fifty thousand twice…”
The host purposely dragged his voice as he yelled out.
Meanwhile, Veronica couldn’t quite tell why, but she felt quite attracted to the necklace for some reason.
After some hesitation, Veronica, who hadn’t placed a bid for quite some time, lifted her card and said, “Seven…”
“Ten million!”
Before she could even place her bid, Matthew, who was next to her, instantly increased the price to ten million.
She frowned, and there was a displeased look on her exquisite milky-white face. “What do you want the necklace for?”
He glanced at her calmly from the side, and he was about to say ‘as a gift for you’, but he stifled the words that he intended to say.
Perhaps he was unhappy because she had persistently tried to push other women toward him, so he instantly changed his sentence and replied, “I like it.”
Meanwhile, Veronica was left speechless by his reply.
“Alright, Young Master Matthew from Spinfluence Group has placed a bid for ten million. Is there anyone else interested in placing a higher bid?” The host was very excited and the atmosphere of the auction event became increasingly livelier.
That was because Matthew hadn’t placed a bid for any of the other items that were being auctioned off. Once he placed a bid, though, he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
Veronica was evidently angered by his actions, and she inched closer to him. “It’s just a necklace. Why don’t you stop fighting me for it?”
“This is an auction.” He lifted his head slightly, and there was a slight smile on his handsome face.
“Gosh, I know that. But I don’t have that much money. If you continue placing bids on it, I won’t be able to afford it.” Veronica used her bid card and covered her face with it as she spoke in a low voice to Matthew.
“You could try and beg me. I might agree to your request.” His wicked words were full of dominance, and for a moment there, he seemed to resemble his previous coldly distant and elegant self, as she first met him.
“Beg… How should I beg?”
Veronica was slightly confused, and she looked at him solemnly before speaking up in a neutral voice, “Please then, could you stop bidding on the necklace?” There was a confused note in her voice, which somehow sounded quite adorable.
“Is that it?”
“What else do you want from me?”
She spoke as the host of the auction called out the bidding price onstage. “Ten million twice! Is there anyone else who wants to place a bid?”
She instantly lifted her card and said, “I would like to place a bid for one hundred on top of the current bidding price.”
“Pfft… Hahaha…”
“One hundred on top of the current bidding price? Is she challenging Young Master Matthew?”
“This woman’s just banking on Old Mrs. Kings’ affections for her, and she seems to be behaving quite insolently.”
“It’s not wrong of her to place a bid for one hundred on top of the current bidding price. There’s no minimum increment specified for this item.”
…
“Eleven million.”
After Veronica had placed her bid, Matthew instantly increased his bidding price by one million.
As soon as she heard him yell out, she angrily directed a kick at him and leaned over. “Do you have a death wish?! I don’t have that much money!”
He felt the pain, but he put on a calm front. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll get my accountant to transfer you the one hundred million I owe you for saving my life as soon as possible. That should be enough.”
“That’s precious money too.”
“This is for charity, so it’s good to be generous.” He revealed a half-smile while Veronica’s expression turned ashen from the anger.
As the two whispered to each other, Xavier and Tiffany—seated at the back—and Ruka, who was next to Matthew, were significantly jealous, and there were angry expressions on their faces.
“Thirteen million!” Ruka suddenly placed a bid.
At that point, Veronica sat up straight and looked at Ruka with a pout on her lips. Veronica realized then that it was pretty much impossible for her to win the bid for this necklace.
Even Yvonne, seated next to Veronica, tugged on Veronica’s wrist and said softly, “Stop bidding on this. The necklace isn’t made of a rare grade of sapphire and it’s incomparable to a blue diamond of great quality. This is just an ordinary sapphire. It’s not worth the price.”
“I realize that.” Veronica nodded. Although Yvonne was right, she somehow yearned to own that piece of sapphire.
“Fourteen million.” Tiffany, who hadn’t placed a bid for quite some time now, increased the bidding price as well.
At that moment, the atmosphere of the auction was significantly lively, and the crowd’s speculative voices grew louder.
“This is just an ordinary sapphire. It would be great enough if it was sold for more than a million. I can’t believe that it has now gone past the ten million mark!”
“Women generally love such trinkets.”
“If my wife wasted so much money bidding on this, I would definitely wring her neck!”
“She’s Tiffany’s younger sister, right? The sisters seem to be at odds with each other.”
“It’s quite obvious that they don’t get along. Otherwise, why would Veronica have agreed to become Old Mrs. Kings’ god-granddaughter and refused to go back to the Larson Family?”
“The Larsons are a well-known philanthropic corporation in Bloomstead. From the looks of things, Floch Larson must not be a decent guy.”
…
Each time Tiffany and Veronica appeared together, they would always become the hottest topic of speculation.
The reason for that was that there was a common thing linking them—Matthew.
Veronica lifted her bid card. “One hundred on top of the current bidding price.”
“Hahaha! She’s challenging them so brazenly.”
“She’s from the countryside, so obviously she lacks manners.”
“There’s nothing wrong with her doing that. How is that considered lacking manners? I find her quite an interesting person.”
“It’s a battle between the two sisters.”
…
The crowd continued to whisper amongst themselves, but Tiffany suddenly voiced out, “Veronica, stop placing a bid. I intended to bid on this necklace as a gift for you.”
She didn’t speak loudly, but her words were audible to most people around them.
The incident during the wedding dinner had been very damaging to Tiffany’s reputation, so right now, she had to resort to anything in order to salvage her image.
As soon as Veronica heard Tiffany’s pretentious words, the former vowed, Even if she ends up giving me the necklace, I won’t take it!
“Thanks for the kind thoughts, Miss Larson. This is for charity, so I reckon I should put in an effort too.”
Veronica’s superficial words were on point, but she also managed to be brash toward Tiffany.
Although Tiffany was significantly displeased with Veronica’s rejection of her gift, the former smiled demurely. “Veronica, you’re quite right. Since that’s the case, I’ll bid on the next item then.”
Veronica merely smiled without saying a word, but in her mind, she thought, What a pretentious b*tch!
Tiffany’s words sounded very eloquent, and the crowd seemed to have a much better impression of her than before.
“Miss Larson has such a demure personality. She’s definitely the epitome of a lady.”
“Other than love, she’s happy to give up everything else to others, so she’s quite a character.”
“She’s just putting on an act.”
“She’s a pretentious b*tch! Haven’t you realized that Veronica dislikes her too?”
…
“Fourteen million and five hundred thousand.” Ruka continued to place a bid.
Ruka was the eldest daughter of the Dame Family, so she had both power and great looks. She had joined the family business quite a while ago and worked hard along with her father. Thus, she had plenty of money. If it was something that she was after, she would definitely be able to get it. Of course, though, Matthew was the exception.
Veronica clearly knew that Ruka was trying to show her up, but she continued to lift her card and spoke up, “Twenty million!”
Her sudden increase in the bidding price caused everyone in the hall to turn and look in her direction.
