Chapter 35 Identify Seller's Identity
Lucas heard my words and aggressively raised the bid!
Jonathan glanced at the number on the screen and panicked: "Lucas, this crown is actually my family's treasure. It was a gift my mother gave to Bella many years ago."
"That's impossible!" Amelia exclaimed, interrupting him.
Michelle pinched Amelia again: "Stop talking."
Jonathan ignored them. "Lucas, please, can you back off?"
Lucas sneered: "Just because you asked, I have to agree? How about you bow and beg me?"
I said, "Don't you dare bow!"
Marcus suddenly stood up: "Grab it!"
Adrian and Cole, following Marcus's command, lunged at Lucas to snatch the bidding device.
Alfred, catching Lucas's signal, reluctantly tried to block them.
Harold quickly told Simon to break up the fight, helplessly persuading Lucas: "You bastard! Bella's already angry, and you still won't stop? Do you want Bella to hate you completely?"
Lucas paused for a moment, then said expressionlessly: "I don't care."
Marcus, full of fighting spirit, quickly knocked down Alfred. Lucas, caught off guard, had his communicator snatched by Marcus.
"Bastard! All you do is bully Bella, what kind of man are you!"
Lucas said nothing, took off his jacket that was in the way, and directly pounced on Marcus, getting into a full-on fight.
Seeing this, Harold called Simon back: "Forget it, let them fight. Lucas really deserves a beating. Once he gets beaten up, he'll behave."
In the end, I won tonight's first item for $224 million.
Marcus threw Lucas to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw, didn't continue fighting, and ran over to comfort me: "Bella, don't be angry. Look at that guy, I beat him up so badly!"
"I'm not looking." I wouldn't even glance at that bastard Lucas again!
I picked up the auction catalog and said, "This crown isn't in the catalog, and we didn't receive any advance notice."
We'd have to auction Roger later, and who knows how much that would cost. We needed to save where we could from now on.
"It should be a last-minute consignment from a seller who was in a hurry to sell, so it was added to this auction." Marcus shrugged, "This kind of thing isn't common. We're lucky."
I nodded, "It's relatively easier to trace the seller's identity for items added at the last minute. Marcus, check who consigned it."
Although the auction house's rule was "don't ask about origins," with enough money, any information could be bought.
"No problem, leave it to me." Marcus got up and walked toward the door. Amelia suddenly ran over in a panic to block him: "You, you can't go!"
Everyone looked at her in surprise. Michelle was nearly driven crazy: "Amelia, come back!"
Amelia hesitantly looked at Michelle, timidly blocking the doorway.
At this moment, a waiter brought the diamond crown from a safe. Jonathan and I inspected it together, confirmed it was correct, and signed the document the waiter handed over.
Lucas watched Jonathan and me, and somehow had a flash of insight, asking: "Is this crown your engagement token?"
I hadn't told Marcus about running into Lucas at the restaurant on our anniversary, so he asked Lucas in confusion: "How do you know about the engagement?"
Lucas didn't answer. He looked at the diamond crown, then at Amelia, clearly very puzzled.
"Amelia, come back here. Do you think that with your skinny arms and legs, you can fight Marcus to defend Lucas? You're overestimating yourself!" Michelle said, forcefully pulling Amelia away from the door.
Marcus raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Want to fight? Come on! I'm pretty good at combat. I guarantee after a few slaps, your face will still be symmetrical."
Amelia's face turned red with anger at Marcus's words.
Lucas wasn't fooled by Michelle and asked Amelia, "What were you trying to do by blocking Marcus?"
"Nothing, nothing." Amelia stammered.
Marcus enjoyed her panicked expression for a while, found it boring, and strode out of the private box.
Fifteen minutes later, Marcus came back.
Amelia still couldn't hold her composure, asking: "Did you find out?"
Now, Harold, Simon, and the others also sensed something was wrong.
Arthur said whatever came to mind: "Why do you care so much? Could it be that you're the one who sold the diamond crown?"
"It wasn't me!" Amelia loudly protested.
"It really wasn't her." Marcus lazily answered, "It was Byron."
My sharp gaze turned to Michelle: "Can you explain why my engagement token, which was stored in my family vault, ended up in your son's hands?"
"I'm not clear about it either." Michelle was determined to play dumb, "I'll ask Byron when I get back. This must be a coincidence."
After Marcus returned to the box, his hand stayed on the holster at his waist. He looked at me, I pondered for two seconds, then shook my head.
Now wasn't a good time to make a move. We couldn't afford to offend Silver Eagle Auctions.
We would eventually kill Michelle to avenge our family members' souls, but only after I rooted out Michelle's accomplices.
Marcus obediently let go of his gun and glared at Amelia again.
"It was Byron, Lucas, believe me, I didn't know anything." Amelia pitifully nestled in Lucas's arms.
"I believe you." Lucas held her hand, "The mistakes the Gambino family made have nothing to do with you."
Amelia nodded vigorously.
Marcus looked at me, and I shrugged, indicating I didn't care.
Then the box fell silent. Michelle sat relatively calmly, but the two bodyguards beside her were no longer as low-key as before, blocking her completely.
I looked at Amelia, who wasn't within the bodyguards' protection range, thinking that the relationship between Michelle and Amelia was far worse than I had estimated.
I glanced at the diamond crown, thought for a moment, and under the cover of my handbag, took out two cans of Phoenix Blood Balm and gave them to Marcus, telling him to find the person in charge at Silver Eagle Auctions.
Marcus left the box under the pretext of using the restroom. When he returned, he sat down naturally and made an "OK" gesture to me.
I nodded. Around 8 PM, the eighteenth auction item appeared—three cans of Phoenix Blood Balm, sold as a set, with a starting price of $8 million.
Marcus made a slight sound of confusion, "Why is there an extra can?"
"It should be Jonas." I guessed easily. Jonas wanted to use the auction to bring Phoenix Blood Balm into the view of the elite, an idea that aligned with mine.
However, my purpose in having Marcus temporarily give two cans of Phoenix Blood Balm to Silver Eagle Auctions was to intercept some money—the money from buying the diamond crown. I absolutely wouldn't let that money go into the Gambino family's pocket!
Lucas participated in bidding for the Phoenix Blood Balm. He didn't know I made it, and I didn't tell him.
When the price soared to $30 million, only four people remained competing.
Then someone knocked on the door. Alfred went to open it, and after a moment saw the person off. After closing the door, he walked solemnly to Lucas's side: "ID144 is Stephen Potter from the Thornfield family."
Lucas frowned, "The chief secretary to the Don of the Thornfield family?"
"Yes, the person said Mr. Potter desperately needs Phoenix Blood Balm. If you're willing to back off, they can give you a batch of good stuff as compensation." Alfred handed Lucas a business card.
The Thornfield family was Dawnharbor's most powerful force. Lucas took a deep breath and withdrew from the bidding.
Around the same time, the other two anonymous IDs also withdrew. ID144 successfully bought the three cans of Phoenix Blood Balm for $37 million.
At 9:15, the final item everyone had been waiting for finally appeared!
But Roger wasn't visible on stage. The auctioneer held a stack of invitations and said, "Next, we'll auction the opportunity to meet Roger. There are ten invitations total, each with a starting price of $100 million."
"Please note! Roger has set up three additional challenges. Only those who successfully pass them can become Roger's true master."