CHAPTER 399: CHAPTER 399: BET -2

She watched as the man started to follow Aurora. Her fingers curled into a light fist on her lap.

Finally, she raised her voice slightly and said, "Wait. I want to make a bet."

Aurora stopped walking and turned back, her brow raised slightly. "Again?" she asked.

The elegant woman smiled faintly. "Yes. I am willing to put ten million dollars on the line. You will have to prove your identity."

Aurora chuckled at that, shaking her head slowly. "Ten million is far too low. If we are going to make a bet, let it be worth something. I say one hundred million."

The elegant woman’s smile did not waver.

"You are trying to bluff. I am proposing this bet in the first place because I don’t want a rising star to be scammed," she said in a smooth tone.

Aurora’s lips curved in a mocking smile.

"You did not hesitate when you thought of scamming a rising star before. But now you hesitate? Don’t you find your double standards laughable?"

The elegant woman’s eyes glinted as she replied,

"What if you are from a rival company of mine? What if your only purpose is to destroy this rising star so that I will not invest in his business?"

Aurora chuckled softly. "You think too highly of yourself," she said. "I have better things to do."

With that, she turned as if to leave.

The businessman looked torn for a moment before he decided to follow Aurora. He had made up his mind, after all.

The elegant woman’s eyes narrowed further. She watched their backs for a moment, then said sharply,

"Very well. I am willing to put twenty million on the line, as long as you can prove your identity within five minutes."

Aurora stopped and turned back again. A smile played at her lips.

"First, we need to make a contract," she said. "Otherwise, I will be scammed, and I will have nowhere to cry about it later."

The elegant woman’s face stiffened slightly at the words. Finally, she said,

"We do not need a contract. We can write one on the spot and sign it."

Aurora nodded with a light laugh.

"That is fine. But you will try to trick me by using a fake sign, right? So for that, we should take a recording."

The elegant woman’s eyes narrowed, and she gave a soft laugh. "You are only bluffing," she said.

"You are trying to find every excuse to make me back out."

She then turned her head to the businessman. "Are you still going to go with this woman?" she asked.

The man’s hesitation returned for a moment. He glanced at Aurora, then at the elegant woman.

Aurora, however, stayed calm. She said in a steady tone,

"As long as we make a verbal recording, I will not ask anything else from her."

Hearing that, the businessman straightened up. His doubts faded.

"That is fair," he said. "It is just a recording. She is only making sure everything is proper so that no one can go back on their word."

The elegant woman tilted her head and finally nodded. "Fine," she said.

With that, she repeated her own statement aloud. Aurora recorded her words carefully.

Then the elegant woman insisted that Aurora also make a statement, saying clearly that if she failed to prove her identity, then even if she had to sell her kidney, she would pay back Mariana Greene’s twenty million dollars.

Aurora agreed without hesitation, and her statement was recorded as well.

Mariana Greene gave a thin smile. "Now we can begin," she said.

She took out her phone and started a timer, setting it to five minutes.

Her eyes were sharp as they fixed on Aurora. "You have five minutes," she said.

Aurora only smiled at that. She calmly tapped her phone a few times, then took out her official ID and showed it to both Mariana and the businessman.

The moment they saw the blue verification tick beside her name, both of them froze.

Mariana was the first to recover. She gave a light smirk and said, "That still does not prove anything. There are many who can buy a blue tick."

Aurora nodded in agreement. "That is true," she said lightly. "But if that is the case, then all the people following me must be fake too, right?"

With that, she tapped on the ’followers’ section of her account. The screen displayed a long list of well-known names in the industry, all with verified IDs.

Both Mariana and the businessman stared in silence. Their eyes widened as they saw familiar names....big investors, tech leaders, business figures...all following Aurora’s account.

Aurora smirked faintly and asked, "Now do you believe me?"

The businessman trembled with excitement and nodded. "I do," he said firmly.

Mariana’s fingers curled into her palm. Her jaw tightened slightly, but she forced a smile.

"Very well," she said. "I will transfer you twenty million dollars as promised."

Aurora nodded in satisfaction. "Good," she said. "I will wait for your transfer."

She then turned to the businessman and said calmly, "My earlier statement still stands."

The man nodded quickly. "I agree to it," he said.

Then he realized that he still had not introduced himself. He offered his name with a polite nod. "Hello, my name is Ian."

Hearing his name, Aurora felt a flicker of recognition.

She became even more certain that he was the same man she had seen in her dream, the one who had created so many troubles for Alex.

She hid her thoughts behind a calm smile and said to him, "Once we land, you will receive the investment."

Before she could continue further, Mariana suddenly stepped forward. Her expression was calm, but her words were sharp.

"I am ready to invest one billion dollars," she said.

Ian was stunned. He turned to look at her in surprise.

Mariana continued, "I want only twenty percent of your company and a favor that you will owe me, plus one dollar profit for every product you sell. In exchange, I will give you 1 billion dollars."