CHAPTER 30: THE AUCTION (4)

That was when the climax in the auction hall hit the roof. The people who had felt intimidated by Seith had their mouths wide open, completely in shock.

Someone else had bidded ten million dollars, that could literally be the highest the necklace could go for. I didn’t think Seith would do more than that.

"Guest number twenty bidded ten million." The host picked the hammer, ready to hit it on the table, and at that moment, I felt my life flashed through my eyes and my shoulders fell. This was it, I could never get the necklace after today. I would never find answers to my questions. I had failed my grandma, not just once, but twice.

Suddenly, a hush of silence swept over the hall, snapping me out of my thoughts. Curious, I looked around, then to the screen and what I saw next made the blood drain from my face. Fifty million! Seith had bidded fifty million!

"What?! You can’t do that. That’s exceeding the necklace’s worth!" I didn’t know why I felt angry, but fifty million on a diamond necklace was freaking too much. Even though it was important to me, it wasn’t worth that amount.

"I know the necklace is important to you. So, I will get it for you at all costs," he grinned, showing his perfect set of teeth.

"But... this is too..."

"Just relax, alright?"

I swallowed hard and forced myself to calm down. It was his money anyways. But that wasn’t what scared me, it was what he would ask for in return for his good deeds.

"Fifty million by guest number three," the host announced, raising the hammer. And unexpectedly, the numbers on the screen shot up.

Hundred million dollars.

I stood up almost instantly from my seat and stared at the screen in disbelief. What was going on? Who was competing with Seith?

Whoever it was, he was imitating Seith’s style. Who was his target? The necklace or Seith? Seith winced slightly, a satisfactory smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

"I like this game. Haven’t played it for a long time," saying that, he reached his hand to enter the next price, and I grasped his hand.

"You’re not doubling the price again, are you?"

"Yes."

I shook my head. "No, please, no... Just forget it. I...I don’t want it anymore."

He gazed at me still smirking. "I’m not doing this for you anymore. I want to play my favorite game, so would you let me, Mi Lady?"

"Please, you can play your game with another item, not my necklace. I won’t allow it."

"Don’t you want to see how this sweet game ends?" He asked, staring at me for a response. When he saw that my expression or motive didn’t change, he exhaled sharply.

"Okay, I will make you a deal. Just two more rounds. If I win, I will make sure you’re rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. But if I lose, then it’s game over for both of us too."

"So... you won’t ask anything in return if you win?"

His smug deepened, then turned to the TV. "We will come back to that."

I slowly get back on my seat and let him continue. What do I have to lose anyway? If he wanted something I couldn’t give, then he could keep the necklace. It was important, but what was more important than life?

The bidding continued, turning into a battle without fire. Everyone present held their breath, wondering if Seith would make another bid. And when he did, he didn’t fail to amaze people.

"Four hundred million!!"

"Number three doubled it again! Who is him though? John Ford? Alexander Vaughn?"

"Don’t worry, let’s wait for number twenty to make a bid before concluding who they are. But wait, is he going to bid."

And shortly, number twenty made a bid, five hundred million. The price disappointed everyone.

"Is number twenty running out of money? Only bidding up by one hundred million?"

"Are you crazy? Can your company make up to a hundred million profit in ten years?"

"But he lost compared to number three. Number three always doubles the amount."

"Do you think Mr. Rick hired him? I mean who bids like this?"

I could hear those voices around me, and I had the same doubt. Watching the figure on the screen getting larger and larger, I couldn’t help but ask, "Seith, why is number twenty competing against you? It seems a little strange."

Seith looked a little concerned, but was still calm. "Don’t worry, it’s nothing," he said, as though he was trying to assure me.

I looked around and counted the tables, wanting to know who number twenty was. When I counted to twenty, I cringed on my seat.

From where I was sitting, I could see the side view of a person with the number twenty, he was a young guy. He was dressed in all black, a black cap, a black mask and a black hood, hardly revealing any skin. He looked down at the screen in front of him, and his expression was invisible.

Who was him? And why was he fighting to get my necklace? I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn’t realize that Seith had made another mind-blowing bid. At that moment, the host almost lost grip on the microphone, and a loud screeching sound came from the speakers, causing the audience to gasp.

"Number three... made another bid," the host began with a shaking voice, and a dead silence assured in the hall, "of one billion dollars."

I couldn’t believe my ears, no one could. One billion dollars?! Even the owner of the world wouldn’t in their right state of mind pour that much money on a ’necklace’, I thought in disbelief, then realized this wasn’t even about the necklace anymore. It was a game of wit and powers.

The host held the hammer in complete shock. I guessed the hammer never felt heavier until now. "Any other... higher bid...?" He asked, and everyone turned to number twenty. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest, anxiously waiting for him to make a bid. But after about three minutes of waiting, he didn’t do anything. He had lost, and Seith had officially won the battle.

"Since there is no other bidder, number three..." Before Mr. Rick could finish, one of the staff members ran up quickly and whispered in his ear.

"What?! Where are they?" The microphone was turned on, so everyone heard him. Noticing his own lapse, he explained that there was some problem which he needed to attend to, then he turned around and left the stage.

"What do you think happened?" I asked Seith out of curiosity.

He shrugged. "I have no idea."

After some time, Mr. Rick walked back on stage.