Chapter 50 The Stolen Jewelry
"Fifty million? Did I hear that right?" Miranda muttered unhappily.
"What did that village girl do to Mr. Dominic that he was willing to spend that much money on her?" Miranda grew even more annoyed at Rossie's behaviour at that moment.
"Huh! It seems Mr. Dominic needs to have his eyes checked. What's so good about that village girl? She can't be compared to Lily. She's just average looking, has no talent, and no background!" Kelly joined in the rant.
Miranda accidentally turned to her left and saw Mrs Carolina Cavendish sitting in the third row. A smile appeared on her face.
Miranda nudged Kelly and said, "Look over there, Mrs. Carolina Cavendish, Mr. Cavendish's new wife! I'm sure Mrs. Carolina won't stand idly by and watch that village girl spend the Cavendish family fortune!"
Kelly giggled, "You're right, the Cavendish family could cause trouble for the Jones family. A Rose Winter would surely be worthless in their eyes. As for her closeness to Mr. Dominic, it was nothing more than a toy for that man. "
60 million. "Bryce suddenly raised his bidding paddle, and his eyes glanced at Rossie, mocking her.
" 70 million." Rossie did not waver. She raised her bidding paddle again without hesitation.
The other bidders suddenly slumped as the numbers offered kept rising, leaving them frustrated. There was no way they could compete, so only Bryce and Rossie remained.
Alex, who saw this, just smiled slightly, nodding and thinking to himself, 'Hmm, the competition is getting fierce. The ones competing are the Thorne, ha ha ha.'
"80 million." Bryce bid again, and Rossie was shocked.
Meanwhile, Bryce glanced at her mockingly.
Rossie bit her lip with a burning feeling. She knew that Bryce wasn't just after the antique clock. What he was doing now was trying to pressure Rossie and show how great Bryce Johansen was.
As Bryce's ex-wife, Rossie knew their finances and how they managed them. Even though Bryce seemed confident that he could afford to spend that much money, he would surely regret it later.
But this time was different. To bring Rossie down, he would not hesitate to spend more money. Whatever Rossie offered, he would definitely bid higher, and this was boring for Rossie.
"Hey Rossie, how about it? Is that all you've got?" Bryce taunted after he didn't hear anyone else make a higher bid than him.
Rossie replied with a cynical smile, "Hmm, take it if you want!"
Bryce became even more arrogant, "Oh, I know. It turns out Mr. Dominic only gave you a little money! Ha ha ha, I thought that after leaving me for that conglomerate guy, you would be rolling in money, but it turns out your life is no better than when you were with the Johansen family! "
Rossie snorted," Whatever!"
But inside, she was laughing. She was sure that the Cavendish family had something up their sleeve. The Cavendishes were not a family to be underestimated!
"Eighty million once!"
"Eighty million twice!"
"Eighty million three times!"
"And..."
"One hundred million!" Someone suddenly raised a paddle, and it wasn't from the front row.
Bryce raised his eyebrows and looked to see who it was.
'Carolina Cavendish! Huh! I can't possibly compete with her.'
Bryce lowered his paddle and had no intention of competing with Cavendish, considering what had happened recently. Meanwhile, Rossie smiled and turned around to find Aunt Carolina giving her a thumbs-up again.
After Carolina's victory in obtaining the antique clock, the host spoke again.
"Last but not least! This is a necklace with a red heart-shaped gemstone pendant that symbolizes eternal love, donated by the Nexus group. I've heard that this necklace was specially ordered from a designer from Gemsware for a woman he loved very much."
Bryce furrowed his brow, knowing full well that the man the host was referring to was him. Jesselyn, the designer, had only made one necklace, and Bryce had paid a high price to give it to Lily.
Meanwhile, Lily was struck by lightning.
"Mom! How could this happen?" Lily asked nervously.
As far as she knew, her mother had sold the jewellery at a pawn shop, not registered it for auction.
Daisy froze.
"What should we do? Bryce is here and he saw the gift he gave become part of the auction collection, and it was a donation from the Nexus group. He's definitely going to be even angrier!" Lily sounded worried.
"There are only two possibilities. First, it's a replica. Second, the Cavendish family bought it from a pawn shop." Daisy tried to remain calm.
Lily was silent, hoping for the first possibility, but it wasn't peculiar.
Meanwhile, Miranda had other thoughts. She guessed that the Cavendish group might also have a pawnshop and chose to donate this ordinary necklace to a charity auction.
However, she believed this incident was no coincidence. Considering what had happened recently and Rossie's relationship with Mr Cavendish, she was sure that there was something behind it.
She secretly glanced at Rossie, who was in the front row, while clenching her fists. "This cunning woman! She was so jealous of Lily because Bryce gave her this necklace before. Now she intends to embarrass us by persuading Dominic to auction this necklace!"
At that moment, Bryce's handsome face turned gloomy and stiff.
"Bryce? Are you okay?" asked Alex, pretending not to know what was going on. Alex and the Cavendish brothers were good friends, so it was impossible that he didn't know about this plan.
The necklace was proof of Bryce's sincere feelings for a woman. But now his feelings were being exposed in an embarrassing auction. It felt like being stripped naked and becoming the subject of public ridicule.
"A representative from the Nexus Group stated that this necklace is a symbol of a man's deep love for his lover, which is truly extraordinary. Sincere love cannot be measured by money. Therefore, this item is being displayed last because of its unique auction process. We will follow the company's advice and auction this necklace without a starting price!"
Lily slumped down, her vision going dark.
Everyone was curious to own the necklace. Bryce couldn't hold back any longer. His eyes reddened as he bit his lip.
"Stop!" he shouted.
"What is it, Mr. Johansen?" asked the host.
"This auction is invalid! This necklace is mine, and stolen goods should not be auctioned here!"
Everyone in the room was stunned to hear Bryce's words. At that moment, he realized that Dominic's seat was empty, and Rossie had left without his knowledge.
Bryce was even more convinced that Rossie was behind this incident.
Meanwhile, Rossie exhaled deeply as she arrived at the restroom. She had just sneaked out of the auction room.