Chapter 117

“This necklace isn’t that special,” Preston remarked nonchalantly. “But it caught my eye. The bidding starts at ten million, and I don’t—”

Freya’s face fell at his words. Freya thought, Win it no matter what? Ten million is more than I have by a long shot, and he’s acting like it’s chump change. Is Preston messing with me?

“What’s wrong? You can’t do it?” Preston’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “If you can’t manage, you could make it up to me in other—”

Freya got a cold shiver down her back from what Preston was implying. She knew Preston was not someone to be trifled with. But she had no choice. Having caught his attention, she had to find a way to keep Nu’s powerful ally on her side. Otherwise, all her efforts would have been for nothing.

“Fine, I can do it,” Freya declared. “Besides, spending several million to have Mr. Tyler’s assistance doesn’t sound like a bad deal to me.” Preston raised an eyebrow at her statement, thinking Freya was far more interesting than Eloise.

The charity auction was about to begin. The starting bid for the first necklace was 10 million.

Eloise had been humiliated earlier, and Kieran wanted to salvage some dignity for her. So, he had his secretary, Jarrett, place a bid immediately.

“15 million! Going once!”

“17 million!”

“18 million!”

“20 million!”

The bidding was fierce. Freya calmly raised her paddle and said, “25 million.” Her jump of 5 million took everyone by surprise.

Seeing Freya bid, Kieran frowned slightly. Jarrett couldn’t help but glance at Kieran and ask, “Mr. Sutton, shall we continue?”

“Keep going.”

With those two words, Jarrett lifted the paddle again.

“30 million!”

Thirty million for a necklace was already outrageous. Moreover, the others wisely stepped back, leaving Freya and Kieran bidding against each other.

Freya felt a pang in her chest but kept a composed face, saying, “35 million!”

“40 million!”

Kieran’s counter of 40 million made Freya hesitate, but Preston’s smile grew wider.

“50 million!” Freya escalated by 10 million in one go, causing a stir among the crowd.

“Mr. Sutton, shall we…”

“60 million!” Kieran cut off Jarrett mid-sentence.

When Kieran firmly stated 60 million, Freya knew he was determined to outbid her.

“Fine,” Freya said. “Let’s see who has the last laugh.”

Without hesitation, Freya shouted, “90 million.”

The room erupted in murmurs. Even if the necklace were an antique, it wasn’t worth 80 million! Had both parties lost their minds?

Jarrett couldn’t help but say, “Mr. Sutton, this necklace isn’t worth this much. Maybe we should let this one go. We can get something else for Ms. Harwood.”