Chapter 55 His Heart, Empty
Things descended into chaos on Isabella and William's side.
In the end, Amelia only saw William pick up Isabella and hurry toward the villa.
Not just Amelia saw it - everyone present witnessed it.
Jeffrey looked at Amelia with concern.
He wanted to say something, but with all the reporters around, he could only keep quiet, just holding his phone and yelling at the people over there.
The three from the Jenkins family saw this scene, and Otis curled his lip.
That woman rolled her eyes too.
Everyone reacted differently.
As for Amelia.
She simply looked away calmly.
As if the person carrying Isabella inside wasn't the husband she'd lived with for years, as if none of this had anything to do with her.
The villa's horn sounded again.
Then came the sound of helicopter blades.
Amelia looked up and saw the helicopter overhead.
Jeffrey protected Amelia as they headed toward the helicopter.
Amelia nodded and followed the security team that had finally broken through the crowd toward the villa.
The Adams Group's people, who had been blocked halfway earlier, had now arrived and cleared a path for the evening's guests to leave.
The guests left in an orderly fashion, and with security maintaining order, the crowd gradually thinned.
As she stepped onto the stairway to the rooftop, Amelia looked back one last time.
On the first floor, the crowd automatically parted. Isabella had just woken up, and William was sitting beside her, looking down and saying something to her.
His furrowed brow, his pressed lips - everything showed his concern for Isabella.
"Let's go." Jeffrey glanced in the direction Amelia was looking and said softly.
Amelia lowered her eyes slightly, then turned around without looking back.
"Okay," she replied.
Then Amelia followed Jeffrey out through the passage.
In the first-floor hall, William looked up as if sensing something, but all he saw was the empty rooftop entrance and the pitch-black night.
The sound of helicopter blades came, and his heart felt inexplicably empty.
"William, I'm sorry for worrying you," Isabella said weakly beside him. "I was too eager and scheduled too many events."
"I'm sorry."
"It's just... I don't have much time left."
William's brow furrowed more deeply. Unable to bear it, he shook his head at Isabella, indicating it was fine.
On the other side, in the helicopter.
Amelia looked down at the city below.
Taking off from the villa, the helicopter flew over the congested mountain road toward the low-altitude route destination approved by the Adams family.
The traffic below was still jammed, but she could see vehicles moving through the middle lane.
The wind from the rotor blades was strong, blowing up Amelia's long hair.
Amelia watched the traffic below. She didn't really know what she was thinking - just felt tired.
The next moment, a suit jacket was draped over her shoulders.
The jacket still carried the warm temperature from someone else's body and that person's faint pine scent.
Amelia turned around and saw Jeffrey's hair disheveled by the wind and his worried eyes.
He opened his mouth, saying something, but all sound was drowned out by the loud helicopter blades. She couldn't hear clearly.
Below, at the villa parking lot.
William and Isabella had returned to the car.
After helping Isabella into the passenger seat first, William took the briefcase containing the auction items from the Adams Group staff.
He opened it to check - the tanzanite and ruby lay quietly in the box.
"Good." William nodded, confirming receipt.
Watching the Adams Group people leave, he didn't immediately get in the car.
The Bugatti sat quietly there. William glanced at the reporters blocked outside by Fu family security in the distance, then lowered his eyes slightly.
His lips pressed together, William took out his phone.
On the messaging screen, his slender fingers scrolled up, trying to find something.
Finally, he found Amelia's chat window.
Unlike the interface constantly popping up with red notification dots, this one was quiet, without any activity.
She still hadn't contacted him.
"William?" Isabella's voice came.
At some point, Isabella had opened the car door and gotten out. She stood by the passenger side, looking at him weakly.
"Is there a problem with the items?" Isabella asked with a smile.
William put away his phone and shook his head, then got in the car with the briefcase.
"I'll take you back," he said.
"Okay," Isabella said with a smile.
The Bugatti drove down the mountain, with all other cars yielding.
William's expression remained unchanged, still wearing that inscrutable look, but his ears seemed to catch the sound of helicopter blades.
...
People left the villa in an orderly manner, and the previously crowded and noisy area gradually returned to calm.
But online, the buzz about this was just beginning to explode.
First was the betting pool among high society.
Two bets had been opened regarding the bidding war between 888 and 823 - one on who would ultimately win the items, and another on how many rounds 823 would dare to keep bidding after William personally entered.
The first was basically a sure thing, given William's wealth, so the odds were very low.
The second was an upset - no one had guessed the correct number of rounds.
"823 is really impressive. Not only did she get the upper hand over William psychologically, but we all lost our bets too."
"But William is still cool. When will I be able to be like William, not having to think about anything, just crushing with money? No matter how good 823's psychological tactics were, didn't she still lose to William?"
"The way you talk, it's like money grows on trees and you can have it whenever you want."
"Hahaha, but for William, isn't it just like leaves?"
"True enough."
People discussed while the bookmaker was even happier.
These bets were just pocket change to them, but even pocket change made the bookmaker happy.
Most importantly, that night, this Lika left an extremely deep impression on countless high society figures.
If they didn't know she was an artist under the Adams Group, they would have tried to poach her.
Although the Adams Group was just one of Jeffrey's properties, it was one of Shadow City's three major powers. They couldn't guarantee they could offer better terms than the Adams Group.
This only circulated within elite circles.
Reports from inside the villa still needed approval before being published.
What shot straight to the top of trending searches online was - #William bids to the end for Isabella#
Followed immediately by - #Isabella faints from busy charity work#
The photos showed the burning drones and firework tassels in the sky above the villa, as well as the scene of Isabella fainting in front of everyone after her speech, with William picking her up.