Chapter 150 The Truth about Tanzanite, William's Pain
That tanzanite stone...
"There's a summary online that you can check out. I've sent you the link," Rhys continued.
Meanwhile, Finn looked furious and hit William a few more times.
But William seemed to feel no pain. He just hung up the phone and clicked on the link Rhys had sent him.
...
Ten minutes earlier.
The narrative that Isabella attended the charity gala for sick children while Amelia was only there to drive up prices was spreading everywhere.
Isabella's PR team was fanning the flames.
They kept hyping up the value of the tanzanite stone itself.
"That tanzanite was originally valued at a million dollars. Normally, its price wouldn't exceed 1.2 million. If Isabella had stopped bidding at that point, you'd see she was true to her word. It was Amelia who insisted on outbidding Isabella, which led to what happened next."
"Right, if Amelia liked that tanzanite, she could have bid from the start. She obviously only bid because she saw Isabella wanted it."
"Isabella was there to raise awareness for sick children and get society to pay more attention to this group. But Amelia? She was just being difficult."
...
Amelia's side had remained silent, which pleased Isabella greatly.
Previously they said she wouldn't spend money, but now she was twisting the facts to claim—[She originally intended to bid and had already acted on it, but Amelia insisted on driving up the price, forcing her to give up].
In short, the person responsible for this outcome wasn't Isabella, but Amelia.
The people in the lounge were amazed.
"Her team is pretty good—they can still spin nonsense even in this situation," Sable said. "Wonder where she found these people."
Amelia nodded.
She'd always been aware of Isabella and her marketing team's capabilities.
Unfortunately, she was a victim of Isabella's PR tactics.
After thinking, she said, "I think it's about time. We can start now."
Jeffrey nodded and communicated with Soren and others in the group chat.
Then, in the next moment, two statements appeared out of nowhere.
The first was issued by the Adams Group's official account.
The statement contained:
1. Identity verification: Lika was Amelia, with a confidentiality agreement as proof.
2. Due to the confidentiality agreement, Amelia's identity needed to be hidden when attending the charity auction gala.
3. At the charity auction gala, the much-discussed tanzanite originally belonged to Amelia, and was donated by Amelia—it was only hidden due to points one and two.
Timestamped proof was attached below.
The second statement was from Amelia's personal account, showing purchase records for the tanzanite and archived proof of purchase from the Jenkins Group.
The Jenkins Group's official account reposted this, confirming its authenticity.
The internet was shocked.
At the Brown Villa.
Having read everything, William felt it was all surreal.
What the internet knew was that the stone originally belonged to Amelia.
But he... knew its true meaning.
It was a birthday gift she had prepared for their child.
His mind flashed back to what she said when they first saw that tanzanite—
"Tanzanite symbolizes love and eternity, turquoise means success and victory."
"If it were me, I'd prefer to buy the tanzanite."
"Because I want to tell the child that Mom and Dad will always love them."
William's hand holding the phone trembled slightly.
A birthday gift for their child...
And he had outbid her right in front of her, taking that tanzanite for 25 million dollars.
What's more, after Isabella had bid on it.
She must think he gave that stone to Isabella.
Before his eyes appeared again that deep blue tanzanite now locked in his apartment safe.
That deep blue glow seemed to pierce his eyes through memory.
The air around him felt sucked away, and William's vision swam with dizziness.
"What on earth is going on!" Finn demanded. "Did that woman Isabella do something again!"
But William just shook his head.
He stood up unsteadily and turned to walk out.
"William, where are you going!" Finn roared.
But William didn't stop.
Finn threw his cane at William, hitting his leg hard.
William only stumbled, then continued walking out.
On the other side, Soren was already leading people to follow up—
"Now I finally understand—Amelia came to the gala and donated the stone, but because the bidder happened to be the mistress, everything that followed happened."
"Anyone would be furious!"
"Right, being all lovey-dovey with your own husband, wearing a dress with wedding dress elements, and then bidding on your own stone!"
"Put yourself in Amelia's shoes—you'd be driven crazy!"
"Now I understand why she kept raising the bid."
"Yeah, from this perspective, Isabella is the mistress!"
"And she's still saying Amelia was targeting her!"
"And that William—he's got problems too!"
"Isabella, come out! Come out and apologize!"
"Isabella apologize!"
...
In an instant, everything reversed!
Isabella had been gloating just moments ago, but now her expression changed instantly. She grabbed her phone and found William's contact, but hesitated about whether to reach out to him.
At the Brown Villa.
William had returned to his residence.
He stood outside the villa's woods, remembering how Amelia had stood here that day and slapped him, her eyes, and her tears.
He walked toward the villa, and upon entering, he remembered that kiss in the entryway.
And also...
William walked into that bedroom where the lights hadn't been on that day. Now it was still dimly lit by moonlight, just like that day.
He stood quietly, looking at the bed.
He seemed to still see the tear stains from when she cried that day.
And in the corner, the button that had come off when he tore her clothes that day.
The air seemed to still carry her scent, but now, he stood there alone.
The room seemed to echo with what she'd said to him on the rooftop garden during the auction intermission—
"Mr. Brown, don't show too much concern for anyone except your own people, because that's being unfaithful to her."
"That way, she'll be hurt."
That day, Lika was smiling, but Amelia was crying.