Chapter 110 Competition In The Auction
How did womenpete with each other? They were not like men who usually resorted to physical
fights. Most of the time, they didn''t even need to argue. As long as a woman excelled in her beauty
and charm, like having a wlessplexion, perfect figure, elegant aura, and confidence, she
would definitely stand out. Outstanding women usually beat other women.
Maria was the best example. On whatever asion she attended, she could easily steal the
limelight from Alina or any other woman. She always became the center of everyone''s attention.
And in tonight''s auction, Alina obviously lost against Maria again.
Whether she admitted it or not, she felt miserable inside. James, who was sitting next to her right
now, was her only chance to save her dignity. He was her only way to make everyone fawn on her.
Although Maria showed up in a high-profile way, she kept a low profile when she was inside the
auction hall. She didn''t even greet anyone. Completely ignoring James and Alina, she found her
seat, sat quietly, and waited for the auction to begin.
James and Alina were in the first row while Maria was in the third row. Dani was also present in
the auction. She was in the third to thest row with ine sitting next to her.
The two didn''t look good when they saw Maria. But since they were in a public ce, they didn''t do
anything. They tacitly treated her as a stranger. A few seconds before the auction began, Ethan
came in. He didn''t see Maria, so he walked up to James and sat next to him.
Maria found the auction quite boring that she didn''t even raise her bidding paddle for the first few
items. She was about to doze off when something appeared on the stage that attracted her
attention at once. In an instant, she sobered up.
The bid caller announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, the next treasure is a surprise from Mr. Jiang of
YL Group. It is a valuable Paraiba tourmaline ne called ''Angel''s Tear.'' This ne is one of
the collections of the royal family of T Country."
The ne was called "Angel''s Tear" because its tourmaline pendant was teardrop-shaped. It
was one of a kind. What made it different from ordinary nes was that the tourmaline gave off
a mysterious color. There seemed to be a magic in it that could intensely attract everyone''s
attention. Once youid your eyes on it, you couldn''t tear your gaze away from it.
All the women present in the auction got so excited. But since they had to care about their image in
public, they could only express their love and longing to possess the said ne through their
eyes.
"The starting bid for this treasure is five million dors," the bid caller announced.
"What? Five million is the lowest price? I have to think twice then," one woman said sadly.
Those women who were not that rich still hesitated. But those rich ones had already started to bid.
"Six million dors!"
"Seven million dors!"
The price soared up so quickly. Before everyone could notice, the bidding price had already gone
up ten times the starting bid when thest bidder shouted, "Fifty million dors!"
That bidder was Alina.
Almost all of the women there turned and looked at her with admiration. They all thought that she
deserved the ne. After all, she was the most famous celebrity in H City, and she would soon
be James'' fiancee.
Alina enjoyed the crowd''s attention and admiration as a matter of course. Actually, she didn''t
hesitate to ce a bid because she was confident that James would pay for it. In her mind, even if
she made it one hundred million dors, it was just a drop in the bucket for him.
The bid caller called fifty million dors twice, but no one ced a higher bid. It was not that they
didn''t have enough money. They just didn''t dare topete with Alina. After all, she was sitting next
to James, one of the most powerful men in H City.
The bid caller was about to announce for the third time when a woman''s voice was head. "Sixty
million!"
The auction hall was in an uproar after the bid. Everyone was wondering who was bold enough to
challenge Alina. To challenge James, to be exact.
They all looked in the direction where the voice came from, and their mouths agape when they
found out that it was Maria.
People started discussing. The auction hall was filled with different voices.
One woman voiced out, "Why has Mr. Xi allowed a murderer to sit here andpete with Alina?"
"How do you know that she''s a murderer?" her husband retorted in confusion. Another woman
sitting next to them chimed in, "You''ve just moved to H City, so you don''t know yet. Maria Song, that
woman who bid sixty million dors, killed her own son. It was in all newspapers several years ago."
The man was taken aback. He couldn''t imagine such a gorgeous woman to be so vicious. ''What a
pity!'' he thought and heaved a sigh.
Alina didn''t need to look back to see who had challenged her bid. Maria''s voice was so familiar to
her, and she hated it to the core.
Instead, she nced at James beside her. He was resting his arm at the back of the chair andzily
supporting his forehead. He didn''t have any reaction at all, so she raised her bidding paddle again
and yelled through clenched teeth, "Eighty million dors!"
"One hundred million dors!" Maria offered immediately. She had definitely attracted everyone''s
attention this time.
Dani was silently cursing Maria for her craziness. But she was also anticipating to see Maria in a
messter. After all, she believed that Maria could never afford a ne worth one hundred
million dors.
The woman next to Maria didn''t know her but knew Alina. So she couldn''t help reminding Maria in a
low voice, "Ma''am, the man sitting next to Ms. Tang is Mr. Xi. Do you think you can win against
him?"
Maria smiled and shook her head but said nothing.
Of course, she knew that she couldn''t win against James in terms of wealth, but she could with
Alina. And that was actually her purpose. She took out her phone from the purse and sent a
message on WeChat. "It''s all right that you refused to invest in my business. But if you dare to go
against me today, believe it or not, I can cause you big trouble." James'' phone had been in his hand
all the time, so when it vibrated, he opened it and read the new message.
Alina had all her attention on Maria and didn''t notice that he was reading something on his phone.
Ethan was having so much fun witnessing Alina and Maria battling against a ne. He
whispered to James, "Who will you support, your current girlfriend, or your ex-wife?"
James didn''t reply to Maria''s message. He answered Ethan, "They are both the same." What he
meant was, whoever he chose to support, he would still be the one to pay for their bids.
Ethan was amazed by his answer. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Are you not afraid that Maria will scratch your
face?"
James just gave him a cold nce. He then said crossly, "She won''t be that bold."
The bidding for the ne continued between Alina and Maria. This time, Alina ced a bid of
one hundred twenty million dors.
"One hundred fifty million dors!" Maria said calmly. She wasn''t worried at all because she knew
that James had always kept his promise.
Everyone waited for Alina to speak up again. After a moment of silence, they all assumed that she
had already given up.
It had been final. Maria got the Paraiba tourmaline ne for one hundred fifty million dors. In
an instant, she became the center of everyone''s attention in the auction hall.
Alina pretended to look calm on the surface. And to hide her embarrassment, she turned to the
socialite diva beside her. "The ne is beautiful, but I''m not that stupid. It doesn''t worth one
hundred fifty million dors at all. Let her take it away."
The socialite diva was rendered speechless. Looking at Alina''s pale face, she exactly knew what
was going on.
It was James who stopped Alina continue bidding by telling her that there would be a more beautiful
bracelet to be auctionedter. Alina understood that he just didn''t want her to go on fighting with
Maria this way.
Although she didn''t know why he had to do it, she had no other choice but to listen to him
obediently.
After signing the deed of sale for the ne, Maria''s mood lightened up. Finally, after begging
James for so many things, he had done one thing that made her feel really happy.
Alina patiently waited for the bracelet that James mentioned to her. It was a tanzanite bracelet that
she liked so much. But much to her disappointment, it was Maria who got it again.
She looked at James, pouted, and said sadly, "James, I want that bracelet."
She wondered if he had seen that Maria was robbing her on purpose. What she wanted from him
was his support.
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"That''s easy," James replied with a nod.
Alina was overjoyed at once. However, she still asked, "But how?"
"I''ll give you one hundred million dorster. Ask her to sell it to you." Maria got the tanzanite
bracelet for fifty million dors. James was asking her to pay it double.
Alina''s heart sank again. If she was to ask Maria in person, she knew that Maria would definitely
refuse. Biting her lower lip, she asked him tentatively, "Can you buy it for me? Maria may not be
willing to sell it to me. You know, we have some small conflicts."
James didn''t object. "I''ll ask Lorenzo to make an appointment with Mariater. I''ll talk to her alone."
This time, Alina was stunned. James wanted to talk to Maria alone. How could she allow it to
happen?
In the end, she was in a dilemma.
She only had two options now. It was either she chose James, or she showed off in front of Maria.
&
Ophelia Q