Chapter 118 Bidding
As the auctioneer entered, the auction officially began.
The first item was a pair of ten-carat diamond earrings with a starting bid of two hundred thousand.
Felix leaned back in his chair, twirling his bidding paddle while glancing at Vincent. Seeing Vincent wasn't moving, he tapped the paddle against his palm and said to Daisy, "The first item is just to warm up the crowd, nothing interesting. Let's check out what comes later."
Daisy didn't notice his little moves and just nodded. "I also think these earrings have a pretty ordinary design."
Several buyers took turns bidding, and it finally sold for three hundred fifty thousand.
The second item was a ruby bracelet with a starting price of three hundred thousand, which a wealthy lady took home for five hundred thousand.
Then came the third and fourth items. Felix kept sneaking glances at Vincent, and seeing him remain still, he held back his impatience.
The fourth item was a colorful gemstone necklace with bold contrasting colors. Rubies, yellow sapphires, and blue sapphires of various sizes interlaced beautifully, really catching everyone's eye.
The price quickly shot up to five hundred thousand.
"I think this one's nice," Daisy leaned close to Felix and whispered.
Felix glanced at Vincent again, but this time Daisy caught him red-handed.
"What are you looking at?"
Felix cleared his throat. "Nothing, this... you like it?"
Daisy laughed. "Didn't you say you wanted to buy your mom a jewelry set and asked me to help you pick? I think this one's nice, it really suits your mom's style."
Felix nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, I think she'd like it too."
He immediately raised his paddle.
But as soon as he did, Vincent's side followed suit, also raising his paddle.
Felix raised his eyebrows and then smiled.
"Playing that game with me."
"What did you say?" Daisy looked at him.
"Nothing, nothing. I just remembered my mom has something similar, so never mind this one." Felix smiled and made a gentlemanly gesture of yielding.
The gemstone necklace eventually went to Vincent.
Felix narrowed his eyes and smiled at Daisy. "Want to see a good show?"
"What?" Daisy didn't understand but didn't ask further.
The next item was a sapphire jewelry set—necklace, earrings, and ring, a complete set with a very classic design. The starting price was one million.
As soon as Vanessa saw this jewelry set, her eyes lit up. She raised her paddle.
Someone else joined in, but she didn't care. No matter who bid, she just kept raising her paddle.
Soon, the price climbed to two million, and the person competing with her finally put down their paddle.
The auctioneer called out three times and raised the hammer. Just as he was about to bring it down, Felix raised his paddle.
"Two million five hundred thousand."
Vanessa turned around and saw it was Felix. Her expression changed.
She nudged Vincent with her elbow, almost through gritted teeth. "I don't like that necklace you just bought at all. I only like this one. You figure it out."
Vincent directly grabbed her hand and held the paddle high, calling out loudly, "Three million!"
Felix smiled and continued bidding. "Three million five hundred thousand."
Vanessa's fingers tightened around the paddle. Vincent pulled her hand up again. "Four million!"
While the sapphires were beautiful, they were far from worth this price. Everyone knew it, yet Felix seemed determined to compete with Vincent.
"Four million five hundred thousand!"
Daisy quickly tugged at his sleeve. "Stop bidding, you're losing big."
Felix smiled. "I won't lose."
Sure enough, the next moment, a childish voice rang out loudly in the hall. "Five million!"
Luna held up her paddle proudly and triumphantly. Feeling everyone's eyes on her, she straightened her back and lifted her little head high.
Felix quietly said to Daisy, "Your daughter is pretty cute."
Daisy rubbed her forehead without saying anything.
As the auctioneer's hammer fell, the sapphire set went to Vanessa.
At twice its actual value.
Vanessa wasn't particularly happy, only angry.
It was the anger of having her preferences become a bargaining chip in her husband's fight with someone else.
She could tell, of course, that Vincent's repeated bidding wasn't for her at all, but to compete with Felix.
But he and Felix had no past grudges or recent conflicts—why would he compete with him?
Who was he really doing this for?
She looked at Felix, but he had already turned away, talking quietly with Daisy. Seeing their slightly smiling faces, she felt even more that this was mocking her!
Perhaps noticing her expression, Vincent leaned closer. "What's wrong, not happy?"
She forced a smile, but her tone became strange. "Happy? Of course I'm happy. You spent five million without blinking for me—how could I not be happy?"
Luna laughed beside them. "I'm the one who won the bid!"
Vanessa couldn't even be bothered to humor her, leaving Luna confused and deflated.
Seeing her mood was off, Vincent said nothing more.
Noah, on the other hand, completely oblivious to Vanessa's unhappiness, said, "Your man treats you so well."
Vanessa forced a smile and didn't respond much.
What happened next confirmed her suspicions even more. For the next several items, whenever she raised her paddle, Felix followed.
What was more infuriating was that he didn't always follow through to the end. Often, he'd drive the price up to double the market value and then quit. Vanessa was determined to compete with him too.
Twice, she deliberately acted like she had to have something, then suddenly withdrew when Felix was aggressively bidding.
Back and forth they went, turning a proper auction into something thick with tension.
Even Daisy, slow as she was, noticed something was wrong and couldn't help whispering, "Why are you competing with him?"
"He provoked me first," Felix said, then raised his eyebrows and leaned closer to Daisy. "What, seeing him lose money, you feel bad?"
Daisy sighed helplessly. "What would I feel bad about? I just think it's unnecessary."
Felix smiled and said nothing.
The auction continued. Vanessa didn't bid on any of the following items, and Felix didn't either. As if by agreement, neither of them moved.
Finally, the last item was brought out.
A set of high-end jade jewelry—necklace, earrings, and ring, a complete set that glowed with an almost mesmerizing green light under the spotlights.
At this auction, people generally weren't very interested in jade, but no one could deny its value.
Especially since the jade was paired with high-clarity, top-quality diamonds.
The auctioneer enthusiastically described its history and finally set the starting price at "one hundred thirty million."
The room immediately filled with low gasps of surprise.
Daisy looked at the jewelry set with a complicated expression.
She'd kept this jewelry set for six years and never worn it once. Now it lay on a velvet tray, illuminated by lights and watched by countless people, looking so much better than when it was in her safe.
Maybe it was because some things, when placed where they don't belong, just look dull.
Lost in thought, she didn't look at Vincent's expression, unaware that when this jewelry set was brought out, his face had turned almost greener than the jade!