“What? 210 million dollars? Forget it, I don’t have that much money. I give up.” … The entire auction hall was dead silent.The people who had been waiting for a good show to play out exchanged glances with each other. They thought they might have misheard North.Had North really… given up?They recalled the intense bidding battle between North and Sharon before. No one expected that North would simply give up after Sharon’s bid of 210 million dollars.Nathan hesitated for a moment. It seemed that North really wanted that violin but did not have the money to keep the bidding going. Why did Gerald not give her some more money?Nathan could not believe it. Was Gerald really that cheap?! Could he not transfer the money to North?Meanwhile, Veronica was terrified that North was tricking them. Her eyes were wide as she said, “What do you mean by that? You’re giving up on the violin?!”North was unperturbed. She feigned resignation and said, “Well, it’s not that I don’t want it. I
Ivan smiled and feigned confusion. “You’re giving it to me? Ms. Sharon, there is no reason for this gift. I simply cannot accept it.”Sharon smiled warmly. Generously, she said, “Don’t think too much about it, Mr. Ivory. This violin will only be valuable when you play it.”Everyone watched as Ivan considered it for a beat. He seemed to really want it. After hesitating for a long while, he nodded gratefully in the end.“Thank you, Ms. Sharon. You’re welcome in the Ivory family at any time. From now on, any of the Ivory family’s properties will have its doors open to you.”Everyone exclaimed. They looked at Sharon in admiration.Goodness, what an honor it was to have the Ivory family offer Sharon such an invitation! With one violin, she had gotten a great reputation and the Ivory family’s support. That was 210 million dollars well spent!Veronica was haughty. She bumped North hard. “Some people are short-sighted. Are you jealous now that Sharon is getting the spotlight?”North nod
Meanwhile, Ivan coolly finished his sentence onstage, blocking out what Georgia said. “...North. Come up here, North.”Ivan’s gaze swept lightly past Georgia as he said meaningfully, “Don’t you really love this violin? Hurry and thank Ms. Sharon for it.”…The entire hall grew quiet. Georgia’s mouth was still open. She swallowed the rest of her words. What…? Who was Ivan calling onstage? North? How could it be North?!Everyone was stunned. Their mocking gazes abruptly turned disbelieving.Ivan had said that North liked this violin and told her to thank Sharon for the gift. Ivan was going to give the violin to North!In that case, the Lane family had made a mistake.North slowly looked up. She propped her chin up and said in fascination, “Mrs. Lane, I was only telling the truth. I would never hold a grudge against Ivan.“Because… Ivan only ever wanted this violin to be given to me. Tell me, why would I hold a grudge against him for that?”Georgia abruptly came back to herse
“Ms. Sharon was the one who said that this violin belongs to me. Thus, I can naturally do with it as I see fit.”Ivan feigned confusion. “However, when I said that I was giving it to North, the Lane family wouldn’t allow it anymore. If that’s the case, let’s pay for it ourselves, North. It’s 210 million dollars, right? I’ll transfer it to the Lane family.”North shrugged helplessly. “Alright. I knew that the Lane family wouldn’t keep their word. But that’s alright. In any case, I had planned to buy this violin today. It’s okay to spend a little more money.”Ivan’s assistant came forward. “Don’t worry, sir. I’ve contacted the bank. They will complete the transfer within half an hour. Please wait, Ms. Sharon.”Nathan scratched his head and mumbled softly, “Can you take back something you’ve given to someone? Then who was the one who made the donation? Ivan or Sharon?”The person in charge of the auction was also getting anxious. Sharon’s name had already been written down as the per
Sharon’s eye twitched violently. The terror she felt nearly overwhelmed her.Siblings? They were siblings? How was that possible?! Hadn’t Ivan said that they were siblings only to help get North out of trouble at Giselle’s birthday banquet? How could it be real…?Sharon had offended the heiress of the Ivory family… She had spent 210 million dollars and also offended the Ivory family!Why? Why?!But now, there was nothing else she could say. She was the one who had wanted to give the violin to Ivan. She was the one who had wanted to suck up to the Ivory family. For her reputation, she had no choice but to swallow down her indignation.Sharon was ready to explode. Her vision was blurry, and she only managed to speak with great difficulty. “I didn’t mean that… North, since I gave it to you, it’s yours. I hope you…”“Sharon!”“Sharon, are you okay?!”Sharon’s face was deathly pale. She fell to the ground weakly. Georgia rushed over to catch her. She was crying as she said, “Just yo
Gerald was elegant and charismatic. His attractive eyes were warm and gentle.North felt a little bad. She had stolen Sharon’s violin, but now Gerald was actually congratulating her on her “comeback”.She forcefully changed the subject. “The next auction lot is that plot of land in Southvale. Are you going to bid for it?”Gerald suddenly smirked.Seeing that smile on his face, North knew that someone was going to be in trouble.“I wonder how much money you’ve prepared?” came Mike’s haughty voice suddenly. At some point, he had come to stand next to them. He scoffed disdainfully and condescendingly.“Gerald, both the Howard and Bracken families support me in developing that land. I wonder if your funds can compete with that of both those families?”North’s eyes narrowed. Was Mike here for a fight?She feigned curiosity and asked, “Both the Howard and Bracken families support you?”Mike was even more delighted. “Of course! I’m sure Gerald understands that he has no clout at home
The Howard family had broadcast that they were determined to get that plot of land. Since everyone knew about the grudge between Gerald and the Howard family, no one dared to bid for it.The bid opened at three billion dollars. Gerald casually raised his paddle, and Mike joined in callously.The price climbed to five billion dollars, and someone said softly, “I heard that the Howard and Bracken families are supporting Mike with their funds. I really wonder if Mr. Gerald will be able to beat him.”“If Mr. Gerald really loses, it will be quite embarrassing…”When Mike heard all this, he was even more determined to defeat Gerald!If Gerald really lost to him, Mike wanted to find out what those in the know would say. Would they say that Gerald was short-sighted to skimp out on paying the extra hundreds of millions and give up on the land? Would they say that the Howard and Bracken families’ preference for Mike was not misguided and was because Gerald did not have any clout?Mike gr
North really understood him. She even knew what his purpose was here today.Seeing that no one was speaking, North feigned ignorance of the situation and said absentmindedly, “Since this is the Howard family we’re talking about, those shares would mean a huge sum. If you can bid using those shares… Ah, but forget it. I think Mr. Mike doesn’t have that kind of clout. Congratulations, Gerald.”Gerald looked coolly at the auctioneer and asked, “Can we end the bidding already?”The auctioneer came back to himself. “Yes. I would like to announce that this bidding is done and the price is set at eleven billion—”The resentment in Mike’s heart rushed up.He had lost? He had lost to Gerald again!He had said so confidently that he would obtain the land in Southvale and even mentioned that he had the Howard and Bracken families at his back. If he lost to Gerald now, his reputation would be done for!He could not give up this plot of land… If Gerald was so invested in it, then it meant th
He moved his wrists and frowned.Did North sleep for the entire day? Was she disoriented?North sat by the bed with nothing to do. She watched as time passed. Strange, why wasn’t she awake yet? Was she that sleepy? Could it be that the advanced exam questions were too difficult and she did not want to wake up?North could not help but think about the questions. Hmm… they did not seem very difficult. She had thought of a solution!Indeed, people had endless potential when they were dreaming. They could even come up with answers to such difficult questions!North was afraid that she would forget and wanted to wake up quickly, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not wake up. She closed her eyes and opened them again, but she was still in the room.North frowned and muttered to herself, “What’s going on…?”Gerald looked at her silently.He also wanted to ask what was going on.“North, do you need my help?”North hesitated. Even though it was a dream, she was still a littl
North exclaimed in surprise.It turned out that Gerald could be sarcastic too!Gerald did not give Patricia any time to react. He was just short of chasing the entire Bracken family out.While the Bracken family was leaving, Gerald heard Mike grumble, “Mom… If you knew this was going to happen, why didn’t you adjust your act earlier!”Patricia was furious. “I did all of this for you. How could you fall for Gerald’s tricks?!”“But Gerald was right. They suspect that I’m not Paige’s son because of you!”…Giselle’s smile became more and more sarcastic. When the Bracken family disappeared, he said, “Accompany me pay respects to Paige. Also, get someone to clean Glass Manor inside and out.”He wanted to get rid of the bad vibes the Bracken family had brought in.…A few days later, when they returned to Royal Sights Residences, the Bracken family actually stopped causing trouble.North was about to graduate, and she had one final exam. She saw the class group chat exchanging adva
“Why? Do you think that I’ve forgotten how Paige died?”Giselle never expected that this shameless family would have the audacity to make an issue out of Paige’s death.“You make it sound so simple. Even if Patricia dies today, you would never disregard her last wishes. Is everything you do for the good of the Bracken family?“Still, the only person the Bracken family has ever had to sacrifice was Paige!”Virgil snapped, “Nonsense! I’m Paige’s biological father, how could I…”Giselle sneered. “Stop putting on an act. You didn’t look for your daughter when she was missing. You didn’t feel sorry for your daughter when she returned. You kept asking her to tolerate the adopted daughter. When she was sick, you even stopped her treatment so that she would die and let your adopted daughter marry her husband.“Virgil, I’m sick. I’m not dead yet, and I haven’t lost my memory. If this happens again, I’ll destroy the entire Bracken family!”Giselle looked at the bodyguards she had brought
The surroundings suddenly fell silent.Virgil found it hard to breathe. “Let go! Are you crazy?!”“I’m asking you a question. Where is Paige buried? Tell me!”Virgil’s brain was deprived of oxygen. Without thinking, he roared, “How would I know? Let go, you crazy woman!”Patricia screamed, “Madam Giselle, what are you doing? Let go of him. Do you want Dad to die?”Gerald’s second uncle also shouted, “Madam Giselle, why are you doing this to us? Don’t treat your husband like this!”“You don’t know? You don’t know at all, do you?” Giselle ignored everyone. She looked unremorseful. She scoffed.“You claim to be severely depressed about your daughter’s death,” Giselle retorted. “Despite that, you actually don’t know where your daughter’s grave is!”As soon as she finished speaking, the entire place fell silent.When Virgil realized what he had just said, his face turned pale and he stopped screaming. He trembled as he spoke to Giselle hatefully. “You did this on purpose…”That wa
Mike said weakly, “North, we paid our respects to my mother before we went out today. We didn’t say anything because we were afraid that Grandpa wouldn’t be able to accept it.”As expected, Virgil clutched his chest and looked like he was about to faint.Patricia cried out, “Gerald, are you satisfied now that your grandfather is trembling in anger? We’ve kept it a secret for so many years. Despite that…”Everyone sighed. So, that was how it was.It was indeed Ms. Paige’s death anniversary today. However, the old man had fallen into a state of depression from the intense guilt. He then mistakenly thought that his daughter had passed away in May.As his family, Patricia and Mike could not bear to make the old man feel more guilty. Thus, they maintained the facade.In fact, they would pay their respects to Paige every year.This made sense. After all, Virgil was old and could not stand such harsh emotions.The people from the Bracken family jumped on this chance to scold Gerald. “
Everyone was dumbfounded. North was really bold!North blinked. “What’s wrong, Mr. Virgil? Why are you so angry? Did I say something wrong?”“What nonsense! Paige is my daughter! How could I intentionally let her die?!”North widened her eyes. “I didn’t say that you intentionally let her die! It’s just that the Bracken family didn’t like her and looked down on her. The medical staff didn’t care about her either. In the end, they didn’t even treat her and let her die.“I know. It’s not your fault. After all, you were so busy. How could you have the time to take care of a daughter you don’t love?”Virgil clutched his chest. “What nonsense…! Shut up!”“North!” Patricia screamed. “Gerald, are you just going to watch her anger your grandfather? Your grandfather’s health isn’t good…”“What did I say wrong?”North sighed. “Look at what Mr. Virgil said. Ms. Paige passed away at the end of May, so why didn’t he treat her for two whole months from the end of March to the end of May?“Th
Mike knew that he had fallen into North’s trap and was speechless!He was so anxious that his expression changed. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and huge beads of sweat dripped down. “Um… I…”“Mike!” Patricia saw that the situation was not good, so she hurriedly interrupted Mike and pulled him behind her.Then, she took a deep breath and pretended to be helpless and upset.“Gerald, what nonsense are you talking about?! We’re family. If you have anything you’re upset about, just tell me. There’s no need to cause trouble at the banquet and make an issue out of Paige’s death anniversary!“We’re all Paige’s family, and Dad is also Paige’s biological father. How can we not know when her death anniversary is?“Paige’s death anniversary is at the end of May. It’s not today at all. You… You’re too much!”Virgil looked aggrieved. He nodded and said, “That’s right. Paige’s death anniversary is in May. Gerald, I know you don’t want to give up her inheritance. Moreover, I didn’t fo
Everyone’s eyes fell on Gerald.Gerald looked up slowly and said calmly, “Ms. Patricia, why did you choose today to hold a banquet for Mike?”“It doesn’t matter what day I chose!” Patricia roared.“So, you did choose the date.”Gerald looked down at Patricia from above. His cold gaze made Patricia suddenly feel suffocated.Her “son” had a murderous look in his eyes. “Any other day would have been fine, but not today.”Patricia hated the look in Gerald’s eyes the most. Why was he so arrogant? Why was he looking down on her? Why was he like that b*tch?She screamed, “Gerald, I’m your mother! Mike is your brother! It’s fine if you don’t love me, but you keep finding fault with me. What right do you have—”“Today is the anniversary of Paige’s death.”Gerald interrupted her.Patricia’s face turned pale, and the words that she wanted to say were stuck in her throat. The scene instantly fell silent.What did Gerald say? What day was it today?Today was the anniversary of Paige’s d
Patricia felt a lump in her throat. “You…”“Connor, come out.” North interrupted her.Then, a group of people dressed in black walked out of nowhere and played mournful music. Connor walked in the middle and placed a memorial tablet on the table.Everyone looked at the memorial tablet curiously, wanting to know whose memorial tablet it was. When everyone saw the name “Paige”, they instantly fell silent.North and Gerald paid their respects. Then, they placed the bouquets beside the memorial tablet.Their actions stunned everyone.Had they come to pay respects to Paige?Patricia was trembling. She stared fixedly at Paige’s name on the memorial tablet. She clenched her fists.Paige!Gerald had paid his respects to Paige at a banquet for Mike. Was he crazy?! She was so unlucky! Paige was already dead, but she was still the center of attention at Mike’s banquet!After paying her respects, North turned around. “What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to pay your respects?”