Chapter 312
Hannah’s heart skipped a beat, but she kept her face calm. “Mom, you don’t have to splurge on me.”
Belinda took her hand and said softly, “It’s okay. Just go home and talk your dad into dropping the divorce, and it’ll be worth how much
love you.”
Hannah nodded. “Okay, Mom.”
Inside the government hall, when Eliana spotted Hudson, Belinda, and Hannah walking in, she couldn’t help sitting up straight and murmuring, “Dad? Mom?”
Because of the sudden car accident, she’d handed off the arrangements there to other people at the company, so she had no idea who was on the guest list.
But they only got seats in the back row.
Noticing her looking, Hudson waved a hand to tell her she didn’t need to come over and say hello.
Hannah stared at the glowing Eliana, bitterness rising in her. “Mom, didn’t you say she was in the hospital after the crash?”
“Shh, quiet. Your dad doesn’t know about that yet,” Belinda whispered.
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After a pause, Belinda’s face turned stern. “If she’s out of the hospital, her injuries can’t have been that bad. Who does that random woman think she is, scolding me on the phone? I’d better never find out who she is, or I’ll make her pay!”
Hannah, though, was already scanning for “prospects.” Lots of rich young men were there tonight. ‘If I could get close to one of them, that’d bé perfect,‘ she thought.
When the time came, a middle–aged man with a mustache stepped onto the stage and introduced himself. “Welcome to tonight’s charity auction. I’m Lester, the auctioneer.”
The crowd barely reacted. After all, they’d come to see antiques, not the auctioneer.
Seeing that, Lester Irwin didn’t drag it out. He brought out the first item up for bid.
Two staff members wheeled over a glass case. When the cloth was pulled off, there was a beautiful vase inside.
Lester said, “Item No.1 is an 18th–century Sèvres vase. The starting bid is a million dollars. Each bid after that has to be at least 30 thousand dollars more. Let’s go.”
That was a big one right out of the gate, and it got the room going.
Lots of people started raising their paddles. Theodore turned to ask, “Eliana, like it?”
Eliana shook her head, so Theodore didn’t push it.
As fewer and fewer people raised paddles, down to just one, Lester called out loud, “1.5 million dollars, first call. 1.5 million dollars, second call. 1.5 million dollars, third call. Congratulations to Mr. Laurier for winning item No.1!”
The room burst into applause. Carl Laurier/stood up and nodded around, then sat back down and said pointedly to Theodore, “Mr. Russell,! figured with your money, you’d be first to bid.”
After all, it was a charity event. The one who got the first big item would definitely get the most news coverage tomorrow. For folks who’d already built up so much wealth, it was all about grabbing a good name.
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Chapter 312
Theodore smiled, “If my wife isn’t interested, it doesn’t mean a thing to me
Hearing that, Carl’s wife couldn’t help sounding snappy. “Look at Mr. Russell, then look at you. Wasting money on stuff I’ll never
Carl rushed to smooth things over. “How do you know you won’t? It’ll look nice holding flowers at home.
But Carl’s wife wasn’t having it. “Hold your foot! This cost 1.5 million dollars. What if water ruins it?”
Eliana had to hide a smile. Carl had meant to show off his wealth, but one casual comment from Theodore, and he was bickering with his
wife.
Just then, Lester spoke up again. “Our second item’s from a new jewelry designer. All you pretty ladies here won’t want to skip this.
At that, one rich lady pulled out a small magnifying glass and looked at the item in the glass case. It was a peacock brooch, its long green tait curled up, with a little red diamond for the eye. It surely was eye–catching.
The rich lady couldn’t help asking, “What’s the starting price?”
Lester answered right away, “300 dollars. Each bid has to be at least 300 dollars more.”
The minute the crowd heard the price, their interest fizzled.
To them, this charity auction was all for show. The more they spent, the better their reputation would be. Splashing out on something that started at just 300 dollars would be way too tacky. People would laugh their heads off.
Besides, they wondered what kind of collectible value a 300–dollar item could have.
Theodore noticed Eliana kept staring at the brooch. “Eliana, you into it?” he asked.
Eliana felt a little tug of interest. “Yeah, it’s pretty.”
Young girls, after all, could hardly resist little pieces of jewelry.
Theodore lifted his paddle right away and said in a clear voice, “I’ll bid 3,000 dollars.”
Everyone’s jaws nearly dropped when they saw it was Theodore bidding.
Seeing that, Delilah quickly said to Marcus, “Marc, hurry and bid higher.”
Marcus thought of her closet stuffed with luxury goods and asked, “Uh, you actually like this one?”
Delilah knew Theodore must be buying it for Eliana. ‘I’m not gonna let Eliana get her way!‘ Delilah thought.
“Hurry, Marc. Didn’t you say you’d bid on whatever I wanted and give it to me?” Delilah said.
Marcus thought, ‘It’s fair competition. Theodore probably wouldn’t mind.‘ So he raised his paddle, too. “I’ll bid 6,000 dollars.”
The crowd was confused to see Marcus joining in. ‘Could this little brooch have some hidden trick?‘ they wondered.
Theodore’s cold eyes flashed. “I’ll bid 30,000 dollars.”
With Delilah pushing him, Marcus had to say, “I’ll bid 60,000 dollars.”
Eliana saw things getting out of hand and quickly said, “I don’t want it now, Theodore.”
“It’s okay. All the money from this auction goes to poor areas. No loss.” Theodore spoke calmly, then upped the bid to 100 thousand dollars.
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Chapter 312
Backstage, a young woman with a beauty mark by her eye was looping her arm through Beverly’s, smiling lightly, “Mom, who’d have thought Ellie would click with our family so well? She picked out the brooch I designed right away.”
Beverly frowned. “Yeah, but Harriet, the Wren family keeps upping the price. When will the brooch get to Ellie?”
Harriet Jean told a staff member nearby a few things, then waved him to go do it.
Beverly asked, “Harriet, what did you tell him?”
Harriet smiled, “Mom, you’ll see soon enough.”
The staff member hurried onstage and passed Harriet’s message to Lester.
Lester spoke right up. “Mr. Russell, Mr. Wren, no need to keep bidding. The designer of this brooch has just decided. She’s letting Mr. Russell have it.”
At that, before Marcus could even speak, Delilah shot to her feet, her pretty face turning livid with anger. “That’s not fair!”
20:44 Mon, 11 Augu
