The manager almost fainted with fright. His knees buckled, and he leaned in close to Jayden and said, "Mr. Stallone, you can't ask about that woman and her background! Even our boss treats her as an esteemed guest. I'm just a worker here. I don't have the courage to ask about her."Jayden couldn't help frowning. He looked up at the VIP area on the second floor.He saw Cecilia sitting opposite a middle-aged man in his 40s. They were sipping tea. The middle-aged man was Colin Holmes, the owner of the auction hall.Jayden stuck out his tongue when he saw how polite Colin was being to Cecilia. He immediately gave up on his plan. People of that kind of status and influence were out of his league. If he wasn't careful, he could get the Stallones in trouble."Get lost!" Jayden waved a hand at the manager impatiently.The manager hastily stood up and left the auction.When he got to the door, he turned and glared at Jayden. He said icily, "What the heck! Damn, a coward like you should
Lucian hastily said, "Jayden, how could that be? If you can tell that it's a full emerald at once, would there be any need to auction it? They might as well give it a clear price tag. It would fetch more money!"Even a layman could tell that the geode's size and the green flecks on its surface would make it worth at least 1.5 billion!However, the starting price was only 80 million. Even if someone had a good feeling about it, they would only spend two or three hundred million at most. Was the seller an idiot?"Mr. Stallone, Mr. Wolsey is right. This geode can't be a full emerald. It's very likely to be defective!" Joshua agreed with everyone else. There might not be any emeralds inside it at all."Raise your sign! This is a full emerald, and it's an AAA quality emerald!" Sebastian said in Zane's ear.The moment he had seen the geode, Sebastian's eyes lit up. It would be possible to lay the spiritual energy circle at the sanatorium!Zane's eyes bulged. If the geode really was a
Jayden glared at Joshua. Had he been kicked by a donkey? Why had he jumped into such an obvious trap?"Hmph! I'm not going to waste time talking to you!" Joshua was red with anger."Do you want to raise the stakes of our bet, then?" Sebastian said in a challenging manner.Before Joshua could answer, the audience began clamoring, "Mr. Sadler, take the bet!""That's right! Are you afraid of a young man who's still wet behind the ears?""Show him what you've got!""What do you want to bet on? Tell me! I'll play along," Joshua said arrogantly. Sebastian smiled playfully and said, "Why don't we bet on something interesting? If it opens and it's a full emerald, you'll have to kneel at the center of the stage and grovel to all of us. If it isn't, then I'll do the same. What do you think?"Grovel?The crowd grinned. Whoever lost would have to grovel to them."Mr. Sadler, you're going to win for sure.""Mr. Sadler, I think you should give in to him. Let him grovel to us.""Mr. Sadl
Joshua walked onto the stage, trembling. He fell to his knees with a thump, and the moment his knees touched the floor, he felt utter despair.He could never show his face in the industry again. No one in Sartvale, at least, would think of him as an expert or treat him with respect any longer.Joshua's whole body shook as he groveled to the crowd, and sweat trickled down his forehead. Tears brimmed in his eyes. Once he had finished groveling, he fainted.Sebastian's gaze swept coldly over him. He knew that Joshua was fine and that he had only fainted from anger."Mr. Sadler might be a little tired. He needs to rest for a while. Let's invite our kind staff members to carry Mr. Sadler outside where it's a little cooler so that we can continue," Celeste said very politely, However, the reality was that she had called up a few security guards who dragged Joshua outside the hall as if he were a dead dog. They tossed him onto the cold cement floor and waited for him to wake up on his o
Jayden slumped down in his chair like a wilted flower. He shook his head, looking mournful. He could not have the geode opened. Even if Zane had tricked him, he couldn't humiliate himself in public."Mr. Stallone is very generous. This is such a defective product, but you were willing to spend over 500 million to buy it! Are you planning to use it as a paperweight?" Zane asked, laughing heartily."Oh my, a paperweight worth over 500 million! The Stallones are truly wealthy.""Mr. Stallone, why don't you open it up to see? Perhaps there'll be a grain of emerald in it, and you can make a ring.""If that's too hard, you might still be able to make a pair of studs."Jayden's temper flared at once at the mocking voices around him. He shot to his feet and yelled at Celeste, "Open it up for me right now!"As a white cloud of dust began spreading through the hall, the crowd could already guess what the result would be. There was no emerald in it at all!Jayden forcefully demanded them t
There was the sound of two crisp slaps, and the entire hall fell silent at once.Slapping the employees of the Holmes family was tantamount to slapping the Holmeses themselves!People like Colin always placed more importance on their pride than anything else. He wouldn't let it go easily.The manager, who had been behaving so obsequiously to Jayden, immediately ran up to the VIP area on the second floor. He told Colin about what had happened.There was a crash as the sound of a teacup smashing came from the second floor."I'm sorry, Ms. Lucox. This is an embarrassment. I'll go and settle a few things, and I'll be right back," Colin said, standing up."Please go ahead, Mr. Holmes," Cecilia said, smiling.With Cecilia's permission, Colin pushed the door open and went out, his expression extremely icy.Troops of security guards in black uniforms rushed into the hall, holding rubber truncheons. They surrounded the entire hall.Jayden finally realized that he had made a grave mista
After Jayden left, Zane felt much better. He was also delighted to hear Colin remind Jayden about the bet.Zane hadn't expected to have gained so many things that day. Not only had he won the bet, but he had also cracked open an AAA quality emerald and gotten two antiques. His luck really seemed to have improved, and it was all thanks to Sebastian.For the remainder of the auction, Zane listened to Sebastian's advice and did not raise his sign again. He had already gotten the biggest AAA quality emerald that day, and he was content with what he had gained.Sebastian knew very well that being greedy could result in a rebound of their luck.When he and Zane got into their car, a pair of frosty eyes stared intently at them, but they didn't notice."Mr. Ballard, let me take you home," Zane offered respectfully.Sebastian shook his head slightly and pointed to the painting of "The King's Son". "No, you can't keep that painting overnight. Do you think you'd be able to keep it safe?"Z
"So what if you saw through me? Do you have any other choice?" The driver finally removed his broad-brimmed hat, revealing a ferocious, terrifying face.There was a long knife scar on his face that cut across from his left eyebrow to his right ear, and there was no light in his ice-cold eyes, making him look sinister and frightening."Who are you? Where's Bill?" Zane panicked at once. He wanted to escape, but he could not. Seven or eight burly men had come up to surround the car. Even if Zane jumped out of it, he would be caught by the men."My name is Dustin Moore!" Dustin said calmly."Let's negotiate, shall we, Mr. Moore?" Sebastian said impassively."Negotiate?" Dustin scoffed and shook his head slightly. He said, "You aren't worthy of negotiating with me!""How can you be so sure?" Sebastian's smile disappeared gradually."What do you think?" Dustin smirked and pulled out a gun. He twisted the silencer very calmly.Sebastian sighed wryly and said, "There are always peopl