Chapter 320 No Longer for Sale

Chapter 320 No Longer for Sale



Victoria's lips curved into something between a smile and a smirk. "Have you been eating too much fish?"

Hazel froze. "What I eat is none of your damn business."

She didn't deny it—they spent so much time at sea, fish was practically all they ate.

Victoria: "No wonder you never learn."

Hazel's face darkened instantly. "What did you just say?"

"Smack!" Victoria's hand shot out and slapped her across the face.

Hazel clutched her cheek in disbelief, unable to process what had just happened.

Victoria: "Did you forget what happened to the last person who tried to take something from me?"

This woman was just like all the other birds who'd tried to flutter around Caspian.

At Victoria's reminder, Hazel recalled the fates of those other women.

She clenched her fists, not daring to curse aloud—only in her head, where she called Victoria every name in the book.

Hazel said through gritted teeth, "I paid for this. It's mine. You can't have it!"

The auctioneer received a phone call and hurried upstairs with the Royal Poinciana.

Hazel saw him and immediately said, "Give it to me. I bid higher."

She shot Victoria a smug look.

The auctioneer, slightly out of breath, walked toward Hazel. She reached out with a triumphant expression to take the wood—but the auctioneer did a one-eighty and dodged her hand entirely.

Hazel frowned in displeasure. "This is mine. I won the bid. Why aren't you giving it to me?"

The auctioneer: "I'm very sorry, Ms. Carter, but we're withdrawing this item. It's no longer for sale."

Hazel raised her voice indignantly. "You can't just say it's not for sale! On what grounds? I already bid, and no one went higher. It's mine!"

The crowd watching Hazel's tantrum exchanged knowing looks.

Did Ms. Carter not realize this auction house belonged to Caspian?

Causing a scene in Caspian's territory? Was she out of her mind?

The auctioneer's tone hardened in response to her pushiness. "This is our boss's decision, Ms. Carter. You only called out a bid—the gavel never fell. The sale was never finalized."

Hazel was furious. "Your boss is turning down money? Is he out of his mind?"

The auctioneer's eyes went cold.

"Ms. Carter, watch your tone. Our boss's decisions are not for you to question."

Hazel opened her mouth to argue, but the auctioneer had already turned away, dismissing her entirely.

He walked over to Victoria, and his demeanor shifted completely—gentle, respectful.

"Miss Windsor, this Royal Poinciana is yours."

"On what grounds?"

Hazel felt like she'd been slapped in the face—metaphorically, for now. She'd offered eleven million, and they refused to sell. But now they were giving it away to that bitch Victoria? She was furious enough to explode.

"Her bid wasn't even as high as mine! Why would you sell it to her? If you're going to sell, you should sell it to me!"

She demanded loudly.

The auctioneer replied, "It's not a sale—it's a gift."

"The owner said not only the Royal Poinciana, but everything in this venue that catches Miss Windsor's eye will be given to her."

Hazel was already in a foul mood, and now she was practically jumping with rage.

"Everything to that bitch?"

Her voice was loud enough that everyone present heard her clearly—including Caspian, who had just walked in.

Caspian's eyes darkened, a flicker of murderous intent crossing them.

His voice was low, commanding, and brooking no argument. "Who did you just call a bitch?"

Caspian's arrival immediately drew everyone's attention.

Hazel's face was twisted with fury. When she turned and saw it was Caspian, she had no time to adjust her expression. Her anger mixed with fear in a way that was almost comical.

Hazel had long since stopped pretending around Victoria—they were past that. But in front of Caspian, she still maintained her innocent persona.

Even though her attempts to seduce him had failed spectacularly.

Her shameless persistence was something even Victoria had to grudgingly admire.

Hazel forced out a smile uglier than crying and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Caspian, what are you doing here? You—you must have misheard. I'm just upset on your behalf. You care so much about Victoria, but she's been fooling around with another man."

Hazel pointed at the Royal Poinciana in the auctioneer's hand, wearing the expression of someone who'd caught Victoria red-handed.

"If you don't believe me, look! The auction house owner is giving this to Victoria. And not just this—he just said that anything Victoria wants will be given to her. If they didn't have something going on, why would he give her so much... Caspian, it looks like Victoria's betrayed you."

She got more worked up as she spoke, even reaching out to grab Caspian's sleeve, but quickly dropped her hand when she met his icy gaze.

A man of Caspian's status and standing would never tolerate a cheating woman!

She'd been struggling to find a way to get close to Caspian, and now Victoria had practically handed her the opportunity on a silver platter.

Having Caspian and still hooking up with other men—how utterly stupid.

Hazel stared at Caspian expectantly, trying to read anger or disgust on his face, hoping he'd dump that bitch Victoria.

The auctioneer was struggling so hard not to laugh that his face had turned red.

Had this woman suffered a high fever as a child?

Her brain didn't seem to be working quite right.