Chapter 213

"Stop."

Olivia cried out as she jumped to her feet.

Before Cruz could react, she had already stepped beside him and snatched the remote control from his hand.

After clicking it a few times, Olivia realized this was an online meeting mode—there was no pause, no rewind, and naturally no way to see the previous footage.

Her brow furrowed slightly, her gaze darkening. When she turned to return the remote to Cruz, she suddenly realized that in her rush to replay the TV screen, she had swung one leg over Cruz's legs. Just a little further back and she would have been straddling him.

Under the flickering lights, the position was extremely suggestive.

Thunder rumbled outside the window, accompanied by a flash of lightning so bright it was blinding.

The lightning came so fiercely that it masked the white camera flash that arrived with it.

Cruz leaned back against the sofa, hands raised in surrender, eyes full of shock and surprise, lips trembling as he asked, "What's wrong?"

Olivia shook her head, hastily pulled her leg back, and placed the remote on the side table. "I was mistaken."

She retreated to sit by the window, her expression grave, her heart pounding wildly.

Good thing she had been cautious enough before coming in—they were both fully dressed. Otherwise, if someone had photographed that position just now, people would think they had some kind of illicit relationship.

While she was flustered, the guests at the auction had all taken their seats.

A steady, mature female voice came through Cruz's phone, "Mr. Johnson, is this angle okay? Do you need any adjustments?"

Cruz turned to look at Olivia. Seeing her nod, he responded to the caller, "This is fine."

The woman acknowledged and then began introducing today's auction items to Cruz.

Although Cruz seemed like an underachiever in front of Michael and had no real power in the Johnson Group, he was still the second heir of the Johnson family and spent quite generously when abroad.

When the woman introduced items to him, she only mentioned auction pieces valued at over one million US dollars, and also mentioned which items the various attendees were interested in.

When she got to the pink diamond, the woman paused. "Before the auction started, only three buyers were interested in this pink diamond, but just before bidding began, another buyer was added."

Cruz couldn't help being curious. "Who?"

People who could spend over seventy million dollars on a diamond could be counted on one hand globally.

The sound of pages turning came through the phone.

After a few seconds, the woman chuckled softly. "Mr. Johnson, you might actually know this buyer—he's also from Emerald City."

At these words, Olivia's heart leaped, and her hands resting on her lap unconsciously clenched, her nails digging painfully into her palms.

Cruz raised an eyebrow and glanced at her, asking in a low voice, "Is his last name also Johnson?"

Olivia's hands clenched even tighter, so nervous her heart felt like it would jump out of her throat.

"No."

Hearing the woman's gentle response, she let out a long breath.

"His name is Mr. Brown. He just entered a few minutes ago."

This distinctive surname made Olivia's heart, which had just settled, leap up again.

It's him?

Could the figure she just saw actually be William?

But she clearly felt that person looked very much like Michael.

Olivia had met William in person and felt he didn't resemble Michael at all.

Why did she think it was Michael just now?

Could it be that the projection on the TV screen distorted the image, causing her to misjudge?

"Don't know him." After Cruz answered the woman, he also frowned and muttered to himself, "You could count on two hands the people from Emerald City qualified to attend this kind of auction. How come I don't know there's someone named Brown?"

These words were like a revelation to Olivia. A chill spread up her spine, making her body tremble.

Yes.

Although there were plenty of wealthy people in Emerald City, someone like William who was qualified to cooperate with South Astoria and could make someone as proud as Samuel bow respectfully should be from a very established family with substantial power.

There probably weren't many such people in all of Emerald City.

Could it be...

"Distinguished guests," the host's gentle voice came through, "welcome to tonight's auction."

Olivia glanced at her phone screen—still no call from Michael.

She had to temporarily collect herself and focus her attention on the auction.

The first half featured items under one million dollars—nothing particularly special. Not only was Cruz watching with little interest, but Olivia couldn't muster any enthusiasm either.

It wasn't until an hour later that the truly significant collectibles were brought out for display.

Among them was a green agate gemstone, entirely emerald green with a spot of azure blue spreading from the center, as if it had merged the colors of sea and land into a single jewel.

Cruz was clearly tempted, several times wanting to bid but each time frowning and forcing himself to hold back.

He held back so much that even the woman representing him in bidding became curious. "Mr. Johnson, don't you love this kind of thing? How can you resist not bidding?"

Cruz glanced sideways at Olivia, silently lamenting his situation.

It wasn't that he didn't want to bid—the problem was that not only had Michael seized his shares, but all his accounts had been temporarily frozen by Michael's request. He simply couldn't come up with that much money.

He coughed twice, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, putting on a composed expression. "The quality isn't very good. I don't like it."

The woman responded helplessly, then exclaimed, "That Mr. Brown has placed a bid."

Hearing this title, Olivia's nerves unconsciously tensed. She tilted her head to look carefully at the screen.

But due to the angle, she could only see that the lights had come on in William's box, but couldn't see the specific situation there.

Olivia gave Cruz a look, raising her chin to indicate the angle issue.

Cruz's brow furrowed slightly. Though he found it strange that she wasn't watching the jewelry but insisted on watching a buyer instead, he didn't ask questions. He just asked the woman to change the angle—he wanted to see what this legendary William looked like.

The screen shook twice, and during that time a finger blocked the lens.

A moment later, the woman placed the phone back in the holder and considerately asked, "Is this okay?"

"Yes."

Cruz responded, and only then did the woman slowly move her finger away.

The image she had been blocking gradually became clear, and William's box was now clearly displayed on the screen.

Behind a 9-foot-wide floor-to-ceiling window, the man wore thin-soled pointed leather shoes. The elegant lines characteristic of crocodile leather made his legs appear even more straight, slender, and alluring.

The camera slowly adjusted upward. Next to come into view was his gray custom-tailored suit.

Moving up further, his true appearance was about to be revealed.