Chapter 25: Robbing the Auction House

"Ten million dollars, do we have any bids?"

The auctioneer's voice echoed through the hall.

After a brief silence.

"Fifteen million dollars." A middle-aged man raised his paddle.

"Twenty million dollars." Another businessman immediately followed.

"Twenty-five million dollars!"

The price shot up to thirty million dollars in just a few minutes.

Sophia still hadn't made a bid, just calmly observing the situation in the room.

She knew that the people bidding now were just here for the show. The real competition hadn't started yet.

"Thirty million dollars once..."

"Fifty million dollars."

Sophia finally raised her paddle, directly pushing the price to fifty million dollars.

The whole room erupted.

"The Vanderbilt family is making their move!"

"Fifty million dollars... at that price, ordinary people can't even compete..."

The auctioneer's eyes lit up. "Fifty million dollars! Ms. Vanderbilt bids fifty million dollars! Any other bids?"

"Fifty million dollars once..."

"Fifty million dollars twice..."

Just as the auctioneer was about to bring down the gavel.

"One hundred million dollars."

Leo raised his paddle, his expression calm.

As if he wasn't talking about a hundred million dollars, but a hundred dollars.

The whole room exploded.

"Is he crazy? A hundred million?"

"Who is this guy? How can he be so rich?"

"That's a hundred million dollars! Not one million!"

Sophia whipped her head around, looking at Leo in disbelief.

This man... was he serious?

"One hundred million dollars!" The auctioneer was also shocked by this price, his voice trembling slightly. "This gentleman bids one hundred million dollars! Any other bids?"

Sophia bit her lip.

Her original limit was fifty million dollars. If the other party bid up to sixty million, she could barely follow.

But one hundred million...

This was way beyond her budget.

"One hundred million dollars once..."

Sophia took a deep breath. "One hundred and five million dollars!"

No matter what, this was her chance to turn things around, so she wasn't going to give up!

The room erupted again.

Leo turned to look at Sophia, a smile playing at his lips. "Looks like you came prepared!"

"None of your business," Sophia said coldly.

"One hundred and ten million dollars." Leo raised the bid again.

"One hundred and twenty million dollars!" Sophia gritted her teeth and followed.

"One hundred and fifty million dollars." Leo remained unfazed.

"Two hundred million dollars!" Sophia shouted this figure through clenched teeth.

The whole room completely boiled over.

Two hundred million dollars!

This wasn't an auction anymore; this was two crazy people burning money!

Even the auctioneer was dumbfounded. He'd never seen anything like this in his life.

"Two... two hundred million dollars! Ms. Vanderbilt bids two hundred million dollars!... Any other bids?"

Everyone's eyes focused on Leo.

Victoria also turned to look at Leo, a trace of concern flashing in her eyes.

Two hundred million dollars was no small amount.

Even for Leo, he couldn't burn money indefinitely.

However.

Leo just smiled faintly and put down his paddle.

"Not bidding anymore?" Sophia frowned, a trace of confusion in her eyes.

This man... was giving up just like that?

Something was wrong.

Given his momentum earlier, he couldn't possibly give up so easily.

He must have another plan!

Just then.

The auction hall doors were suddenly kicked open.

More than a dozen men in black suits rushed in, holding submachine guns.

"Nobody move!"

The leader was a bald man with a vicious scar on his face.

"A robbery?"

"This is Starlight Auction House! Someone actually dares to rob this place?"

The auction hall descended into chaos.

Sophia's face changed drastically, instinctively looking at Leo.

But she found Leo still sitting calmly in his seat, even lighting a cigar.

"Was it you... Who leaked the information to bring them here?" Sophia instantly understood, asking in a low voice.

Leo exhaled a puff of smoke, a playful smile on his lips. "I did think that if I couldn't buy it, I'd just take it, but that's not my style."

"The Drake family's lackeys found out about this document and definitely wanted to score points with their master. I just... gave them an opportunity."

"You..." Sophia gritted her teeth. "This is illegal!"

"Illegal?" Leo laughed. "Ms. Vanderbilt, this is an underground auction. Everyone here is doing illegal things. Do you think anyone cares about one more illegal act?"

The bald man walked to the auction stage and snatched the document.

"Got it! Let's go!"

Just as they were about to leave.

"Wait."

Leo suddenly stood up and slowly walked toward the bald man.

"Give me that."

The bald man froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Buddy, are you crazy? We're the ones robbing this place! And you dare ask me for something?"

His answer was a heavy punch from Leo.

The bald man was sent flying, crashing through the display case behind him.

"Shoot! Kill him!"

The other dozen gunmen immediately raised their weapons.

However.

Before they could pull their triggers.

Olivia and the Shadow team members had already emerged from various corners of the auction hall.

More than a dozen gunshots rang out almost simultaneously.

All the gunmen were shot in the head, killed instantly.

The whole process took less than three seconds.

The entire room fell deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.

Leo walked up to the bald man, took the document from his hand, and casually flipped through it.

"Sure enough, it's authentic."

He turned around, looked at the auctioneer, and said flatly, "Your auction house had a serious security breach that caused me distress. And I also solved a huge problem for you, preventing this item worth two hundred million dollars from being stolen."

With that, he pulled out a check from inside his suit and tossed it on the auction stage.

"This is ten million dollars to compensate for your losses. As for this document, consider it a thank-you gift from you to me. Any objections?"

The auctioneer tremblingly took the check, shaking his head rapidly.

"No... no objections..."

He had just been shouting a price of one hundred and fifty million dollars without blinking.

Now settling a robbery for just ten million dollars was already merciful.

"Ms. Vanderbilt, thanks for playing along with me tonight."

Leo tucked the document under his arm, turned to look at Sophia. "If you hadn't shouted out that sky-high price of two hundred million dollars, those idiots might not have had the guts to try and steal it."

Sophia was completely stunned.

From beginning to end...

She had been played by this man!

"You... you bastard!" Sophia trembled with anger.

"Don't be mad." Leo walked up to her and gently patted her shoulder. "As compensation, I can buy you a drink."

"And we can... talk about why you wanted this document so badly."

Sophia's head shot up, eyes wide as she stared at Leo. "You... how do you know..."

Leo released his hand and turned toward the exit.

"Ten minutes. Meet me at the coffee shop downstairs."

With that, Leo strode out of the auction hall.

Sophia stood there, biting her lip, complex emotions flashing in her eyes.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and, in her high heels, also walked toward the exit.