At that very moment, Healy’s father was dominating the card table, blissfully unaware that his son had just unterally decided to change his interests.

Meanwhile, Healy turned to Noreen and asked, “Do you want to head up front? I’m a VIP here.”

€ b2 /b2 =

Noreen declined politely. “No, thank you. It’s quieter back here.”

Healy nced toward the front rows and had to admit she had a point.

Noreen then asked, “Aren’t you going up there yourself?”

Healy shook his head. “No, I like the peace and quiet too.”

While the two of them chatted, Henry arrived.

He spotted Noreen first, and his brows knitted together instinctively. He quickly looked away, scanning the crowd until his eyesnded on Bianca, sitting dead center in the front row.

He paused for a split second, then changed direction, heading instead to the second section. He was a VIP as well, but with Seth sitting next to Bianca, it didn’t seem appropriate to join them. The second section was just in front of Noreen and right behind Bianca.

After the auction had been underway for a while, something finally appeared that caught Bianca’s eye–a Kashmir sapphire ne with a starting bid of ten million dors.

It was steep, but with sapphire prices skyrocketing these past couple of years–and genuine Kashmir sapphires now all but mined out–it was to be expected. Even at this auction, only the main stone was

a five–carat Kashmir sapphire; the rest were simr–looking tanzanites worth far less.

Bianca didn’t hesitate for a second. She raised her paddle, bidding fifteen million dors straight

away.

The crowd began to murmur, and soon the price climbed to sixteen million.

Almost instantly, Bianca raised her paddle again.

“Twenty million.”

Her aggressive bidding quickly discouraged thepetition. Who would possibly pay twice the starting price for a ne?

But Bianca could bid with such confidence because she had the backing to do so–Seth’s unwavering support, and his willingness to spare no expense for her. With Seth’s indulgence, Bianca easily imed the sapphire ne as her own.

Ever since she’d lost out to Noreen at the g, Bianca had developed a fixation with sapphires. She wanted Noreen to see that if she set her sights on something, Seth would buy it for her, no matter the cost.

All around, people cast looks of envy her way.

Noreen, oblivious to the drama unfolding ahead, was entirely absorbed in her phone, focused on hashing out work details with Scott.

15:42

Healy had already seen how immersed she could get in her work, but even now, watching her, bhe /bcouldn’t help but be drawn to her again.

There’s something maic about a woman sopletely lost in her own world–a kind of brxed /bself–assurance that’s far morepelling than calcted charm. That unassuming self–sufficiency made being around her feel effortless, evenforting.

Watching her was like quietly admiring a work of art.

She was focused on her work.

He was focused on her.

It almost felt as if the two of them existed on a different ne from everyone else in the room.

Back at the front, Bianca was already bidding on her second item–a sapphire bracelet.

Jude, curious, leaned over and asked, “Bianca, you really seem to have a thing for sapphirestely.”

She replied, “Yeah, it’s a recent obsession.”

The bidding started at five million, but Bianca immediately doubled it to ten million.

After seeing what happened with the ne, the other bidders realized this was another lost

cause. fn6548 ???s ??????? ?s ?????? ?? FindN()vel/fn6548

The next several items were all jewelry, and Bianca kept bidding–aggressively. Every time, she pushed the price sky–high. Five–million–dor pieces? She’d go straight to ten. Ten million? She’d jump to twenty.

No one else even had a chance.

Before long, the entire auction felt like Bianca’s personal shopping spree.

15:42