Chapter 52 The Winner Lost, The Loser Won, But Enough Love
The lights dimmed, and the spotlight swiftly moved through the venue, weaving between the first and second floor seats, circling the ceiling, before finally landing on William and that deep blue tanzanite.
At the same time, the drone lantern above the villa began releasing fireworks, with long streams of sparks flowing quietly through the silent night sky.
Beautiful, stunning, dazzling.
Until they disappeared.
The lights in the venue came back on.
Only then did the previously silent venue erupt with enormous noise.
The applause and discussion were several times louder than before.
Even outside the well-soundproofed villa, you could hear the tremendous commotion.
"Something must have happened!"
"Find out what! It's been so long, why haven't we gotten even a hint of information?"
"No idea! Everyone who knows is being all mysterious, and they're all people with money to burn - even offering big money won't get you anything!"
"What the hell is going on? I can't take this anymore!" "We need to notify everyone else, get them over here fast. As soon as the second half ends, we block them with numbers!"
"Got it!"
"Call for backup, call everyone!"
"Not just the cleaning staff from the company, bring them all!"
"Not just cleaning staff - bring the dogs too!"
The reporters outside the villa were frantically contacting their people, with countless people and cars rushing over to block the exits!
Inside, the noise was even more intense.
"That was incredible! I'll be talking about this for ages - I'll still be telling my grandkids when I'm 80!"
"Me too, me too! So exciting. Lika really has guts - even as a guy, I think she's amazing."
"Mr. Brown was pretty cool too, right? He won the item in the end. They were evenly matched!"
"I admire Lika more. Without any other advantages, she kept dancing on William's psychological line and then withdrew gracefully at the limit. She's a role model for us women!"
"Who would have thought? I thought it was just an unremarkable tanzanite worth a million dollars, but it turned into such an exciting auction! And Oliver personally came out to host it - we really witnessed history!"
...
Countless people cheered and discussed, while Isabella's eyes sparkled brightly.
"William, you actually did this for me..." Her eyes moistened slightly. "Thank you, Brother Yanzhi. I... can die without regrets."
As she said these words, Isabella's heart was incredibly excited.
Bidding to the end for her, raising the price 25 times for her - once this charity auction dinner ended and they went outside, she would become the happiest woman in Shadow City.
From this moment on, Amelia would no longer pose any threat.
So what if Amelia was once William's wife?
So what if Amelia spent seven years with William?
So what if Amelia was once pregnant with William's child!
None of it compared to her, Isabella!
The wife of William, CEO of the Brown Group, the top of Shadow City's three giants, would definitely be her!
But hearing Isabella's words, William only glanced at her without saying much.
That tanzanite.
At first, he had only asked Isabella if she liked it, but after the intermission, he understood that he wasn't bidding for that tanzanite for Isabella.
William looked up at Lika, who was slowly sitting back in the shadows of her seat, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
This Lika could always easily influence his judgment and emotions.
Those few words on the rooftop made him realize he wanted that tanzanite not because of Isabella.
And her bidding tactics, the psychological warfare.
She was always so inscrutable, while he was completely transparent before her.
A flash of coldness crossed William's eyes.
On the rooftop, he had already told her not to keep bidding. Had she calculated everything that would follow from that moment?
After he decided to bid to the end, her bids were 5 million dollars, 10 million dollars - 5 times, 10 times respectively. Everything was just right.
When Oliver appeared and they bid against each other in person, her bids were 15 million dollars, 20 million dollars. Bidding, observing his psychological changes, then withdrawing at the right time.
She had him perfectly figured out.
Even William had to admit that although she made him spend more money to win that tanzanite, although he was humiliated by the public bidding.
Yet, at this moment, his feeling toward her wasn't disgust.
It was admiration.
Whether it was courage, tactics, or her control and understanding of his psychology, she was top-tier.
He had won, but he had also lost.
She had lost, yet she had also won.
Who exactly was she?
At the same time, on the second-floor platform, as the lights slowly dimmed, Oliver watched the woman below walking into the shadows.
"Worthy of being his daughter. If he were still alive..."
Then, as the lights completely darkened, Oliver let out a long sigh and shook his head.
There were no ifs.
Just like his once-proud son who was buried at the bottom of the sea, that Jasper in his prime had also fallen from a high building and died before his most beloved daughter.
"Let's go back. I'm feeling a bit tired." Oliver's voice aged considerably in that instant.
He was, after all, just an 80-year-old man in his twilight years.
"Yes."
...
Second floor, seat 823. Amelia sat quietly in her seat.
Suddenly feeling a bit tired, she leaned back on the sofa.
She had only recently been in a car accident, miscarried, and fallen down stairs - her body still couldn't quite handle it.
Jeffrey had been watching all this, practically jumping with excitement.
"Lika, I'm so proud of you!"
Jeffrey said in an excited low voice: "You solved my grandfather's problem, and under the circumstances where William bid to the end, you still managed to achieve this much in a desperate situation."
"Problems I thought had absolutely no chance of being resolved, issues I found incredibly difficult - you solved them all."
"How did you do it!"
Amelia looked at the scented candle burning on the table, its flame flickering bright yellow.
How did she do it?
Jasper's gentle smiling face appeared in her mind once again.
It was simply that she had lost so much.
And so gradually came to understand.
It was that she had once loved deeply enough to understand enough.
She had already understood on the rooftop when she heard William's warning to her.
It couldn't be done.
But she insisted on doing it anyway.
The Martinez family's training, her years of struggle and understanding - none of it was child's play.
She was Amelia.
Not William's wife, but the Martinez family's daughter, Amelia.
"But what about that tanzanite?" Jeffrey finally asked worriedly. "Are we just going to let William give the tanzanite to Isabella?"
He knew - this was something she had prepared for the child.
Taking it out this time was also for charity for sick children.
If it really ended up going to Isabella...
Amelia didn't answer immediately. Instead, she looked up toward William.