Someone in the audience quietly did the math.

In less than half an hour, Bianca had already spent ten million dors.

No wonder she had a reputation in the world of finance–her generosity knew no bounds.

She spared no expense when it came to her fiancée,vishing wealth on her without a second thought.

Bianca looked every bit the victor, the triumphant curve of her lips never fading.

She cast what seemed like a casual nce toward Noreen’s direction.

The auction was already halfway through, and Noreen hadn’t ced a single bid. Did she not have money to spend?

Whye to an auction if you can’t afford to buy anything?

After the jewelry lots came the antiques and artwork. Finally, Noreen put down her phone, ready to participate.

The piece she had her eye on–a calligraphy painting–started at fifty thousand dors. Noreen, sticking to the rules, raised the price to sixty thousand.

Others joined in, and the bidding crept up steadily to one hundred thousand.

Just as Noreen was about to make a second bid, someone in the middle section called out, “Five hundred thousand.”

Seriously?

Who taught them to throw money around like this?

Noreen turned to see who had spoken. When she recognized the face, she went quiet.

It was Henry.

Of course, it made sense. Anyone who hung around Bianca was bound to have the same extravagant habits.

Healy, noticing how much Noreen wanted that painting, casually raised his paddle. “Six hundred thousand.”

Noreen assumed he was bidding on her behalf, so she said nothing.

But then Henry raised his paddle again. “One million.”

Noreen frowned. “That’s way too much. The markup is ridiculous. It’s not worth it.”

Her business instincts kicked in–she only cared if something was worth the price.

And clearly, this painting wasn’t.

She had others in mind anyway. She’d just wait for the next one.

15.42

So Henry took that painting for a million dors.

The second painting Noreen was interested in started even higher, at five hundred thousand. Once again, she made the opening bid, raising it by fifty thousand as protocol dictated,

But Henry jumped in again, immediately doubling it to a million.

Noreen frowned, finally realizing Henry was doing this on purpose.

She lost her cool for a moment, raising her paddle to one and a half million.

Henry snorted dismissively and was about to bid again when someone at the front raised their paddle.

It was Seth.

He didn’t hesitate. “Three million.”

That number jolted Noreen back to her senses. fn2946 ???s ??????? ?s ?????? ?? f?ndnovel/fn2946

Auctions really did make people lose their heads.

Henry squinted at the front row.

Seth turned back at that moment, their gazes locking across the room.

Two secondster, Henry raised his paddle. “Five million.”

The auction room suddenly felt like a battlefield–no smoke, but plenty of fire.

To these men, it was a numbers game, a contest of pride.

Watching from the sidelines, Noreen couldn’t help but wonder what had set these two off.

It had to be Bianca.

Love is possessive, after all—it makes you wary of every man around the one you care for.

That included Dn and Henry.

And Henry had no fondness for Seth. If Seth wanted a fight, Henry certainly wouldn’t back down.

He raised his paddle. “Seven million.”

Noreen sat back in her chair, half–amused, thoroughly entertained by this disy of masculine one–upmanship.

She’d always thought that watching menpete was far more fascinating than watching women

do it.

Since Seth had started this little war, he clearly had no intention of retreating.

He immediately called out, “Ten million.”

Bianca couldn’t stop herself from eximing, “Seth, it’s not worth it!”

Seth just shook his head at her, reassuring her that it was fine.

Bianca could only turn to Henry, hope flickering in her eyes.

15:42

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Henry was about to raise his paddle again, but when he met Bianca’s gaze, his hand paused in midair, then dropped.

He gave up.

In the end, the painting went to Seth–for ten million dors.

Even Healy couldn’t help but sigh. “Seth, you’re really going all out. You’ve already dropped twenty million just on engagement gifts. Who knows how much the wedding fund will be? How are the rest of us supposed to keep up?”

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