Chapter 190

Chapter 190
Morgan's POV

Alexander bid again, his voice echoing through the auction hall. I reclined in my seat with practiced indifference, watching the whole scene through half-lidded eyes. Cold disinterest was my mask of choice today—underneath it, my mind calculated each move like a chess player.

I hadn't expected Alexander to be here for the ring. I'd come for my mother's necklace. Finding Alexander bidding on his own creation was an unexpected bonus.

The ring. God, I remembered that ring so vividly.

During my early days of crushing on Alexander, I'd stumbled across his designs for it. I was just the poor adopted girl then, secretly in love with the golden boy who only had eyes for my sister. I'd snuck into his university one afternoon, planning to leave him a note—pathetic, I know. His notebook lay open on a desk, filled with sketches of what would become "Night of Frost."

He designed it for Olivia. His pure, innocent first love.

I remember tracing my fingers over the design, imagining what it would feel like to have someone create something so beautiful just for me. I stayed in that empty classroom all afternoon, unwilling to leave his notebook unattended. I got detention for being on campus without permission. Worth it, I'd thought then.

Now, watching Alexander bid against Olivia for that same ring—a ring that symbolized his pure love for her—I saw an opportunity. This was a game. Either Olivia would get the ring at the exorbitant price Alexander paid, or I'd buy it myself and revel in her anguish.

"Four hundred thousand dollars," I purred into the microphone, my voice deliberately seductive. The room fell silent.

Alexander glanced my way. I felt his gaze but didn't acknowledge it. He was already getting impatient. How delightful.

"Four hundred and ten thousand dollars," Alexander mimicked my use of the microphone. I rolled my eyes at him. He smirked in response.

His smirk infuriated me. I narrowed my eyes, a taunting smile playing on my lips. "Five. Hundred. Grand." I enunciated each word deliberately. Gasps rippled through the crowd.

"Five hundred and ten thousand," Alexander countered smoothly, tilting his head with that insufferable smile.

I frowned, noticing his Adam's apple bob slightly as he chuckled. I looked away in frustration, hating that I instinctively swallowed in response. He knew my weaknesses too well.

"Six hundred thousand dollars," I announced, keeping my expression blank.

"Six hundred and ten thousand dollars." His patience was infuriating.

"One million!" I raised my voice before I could stop myself. Jonathan looked over at me. I mentally cursed. Showing emotion during an auction was the cardinal mistake. But I wasn't worried. With nearly $10 billion from that old woman's assets, which Ethan's business acumen had increased by almost 50%, money was the least of my concerns. Ever since I'd realized almost anything could be bought with money—except Emma, of course—anxiety about finances had become foreign to me.

"Two million." Alexander's voice was calm. I raised an eyebrow.

I analyzed the situation. The ring itself wasn't particularly valuable—its worth came from the emotion Alexander had invested in it. I was irritated by his bidding strategy—raising by just $10,000 each time, then suddenly doubling the amount. I glared at him, then decided not to raise my paddle.

Alexander looked in my direction, seeming pleased with himself. I deliberately avoided his gaze, but then he cleared his throat into the microphone as if about to speak. I couldn't help looking over.

But he didn't have the chance to deliver his victory speech, because Olivia snatched Robert's paddle and made a bid.

Alexander simply raised his paddle after each of her bids, as casual as if he were passing time. Olivia squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, turning to look at Alexander each time he bid. Her chest heaved with each failed attempt, her desperation growing more evident as Alexander methodically crushed her hopes.

I watched the spectacle with a hint of satisfaction. If Alexander was bidding to give the ring to Olivia as a gift, she wouldn't be acting this way. Perhaps after I'd told Alexander about Olivia's most venomous lies, he was finally waking up from his love-induced stupor. Not that I cared anymore.

When the price rose another $200,000, Olivia broke down sobbing. Robert had to physically restrain her struggling form and drag her from the auction hall, leaving their paddle on the seat.

"How do you like the show, princess?" The question startled me as I coldly watched Olivia disappear.

"Three million," Ethan's voice interrupted the auctioneer. Both the auctioneer and I were momentarily stunned.

I turned to him with a questioning look.

"Canceled my meeting when I heard there was an interesting performance going on here." Ethan walked toward the window, removing his hat to playfully bow to the shocked faces on the first floor.

"Let me teach you a lesson, sweetheart," he said, taking my hand and leading me to a chair by the window.

"The first thing you need to learn, princess, is that you are always paying for what you buy, not what they are selling." He guided me to sit down while he positioned himself like a knight beside his queen, nodding toward the stage.

"Is a stone embedded on a piece of metal worth 3 million?" he asked.

"...no?" I replied, confused by his line of questioning.

Ethan smiled. "To a family struggling to make ends meet, no. But to someone like Olivia, who has both money and emotional attachment, she's not paying for metal and stone. She's paying for 'a ring from the man she loves.'"

I nodded, understanding his point.

"That's my girl," he said approvingly, patting my head.

His praise warmed something inside me—the exact kind of validation I'd once desperately wanted from Alexander.

Ethan pulled up a chair and sat slightly behind me, like a guardian knight. "Tell me about this ring, princess. What's the story?"

I began reluctantly, trying to keep it brief, but every detail seemed important.

Ethan accompanied me through the telling—laughing when I laughed, patting my head when I touched on darker memories, and casually raising his paddle to continue bidding against Alexander during the pauses in my story.

His company felt comfortable. I found myself sharing not just the ring's significance to my enemies, but my entire girlhood and crush on Alexander. These memories had been buried deep during my difficult years, especially after prison.

"You really loved him, huh?" Ethan asked. I lowered my eyes.

He gently lifted my chin. "Hey, love is never wrong. You gave him some of the most valuable things in the world, and that's never a fault. He didn't take good care of that valuable, then shame on HIM. Could you have handled things better? Probably. But that doesn't give anyone the right to hurt you, in any way."

I looked up at Ethan, fighting back tears. His eyes held nothing but care and understanding, pure and untainted. I felt closer to this man than anyone else in my life, despite his still-mysterious identity.

Lost in his gaze, I whispered, "Who are you...?"