Back when Charlene dropped hundreds of millions on that diamond, everyone assumed she was footing the bill with Stewart''s money.


    Now, they were realizing how wrong they had been.


    Because the paddle she was holding was the exact same one she had used to buy the diamond.


    Top-tier buyers at the auction house were granted exclusive, permanent paddle numbers. Furthermore, the design and color of these elite paddles werepletely distinct from those of regr buyers or standard VIPs.


    And sitting right in Charlene''s hand was the gold-stamped paddle reserved exclusively for the most elite clientele.


    Meanwhile, the paddle Stewart had used earlier was a standard VIP design—not a permanent, exclusive number.


    Dalton and Kelvin finally caught on.


    Like everyone else, they had assumed Stewart paid for her extravagant diamond. Seeing the distinctive gleam of the paddle in her hand shifted everything.


    Kelvin was shell-shocked. "That exclusive paddle is registered under her name? She''s actually that loaded?"


    Dalton frowned, his lips pressed into a thin line.


    He had been so certain she was mooching off Stewart because he thought he knew her background. He knew for a fact that the Ross family''s total worth didn''t even amount to a hundred million, let alone enough to drop that much liquid cash on a single piece of jewelry.


    If that fortune truly belonged to Charlene, where on earth did she get it?


    "Maybe," Kelvin theorized, "Stewart paid for it, but they just registered it under her name?"


    Dalton had considered that. So had half the room.


    But the logic quickly crumbled. If it was all Stewart''s money, why were they holding separate paddles tonight? Why wouldn''t they just share one?


    Which meant that the staggering sum she had spent on the diamond was, in all likelihood, her own money...


    Kelvin didn''t care what the strangers in the room thought. He knew her background, which made the reality even more baffling. "Seriously, where did she get that kind of cash?"


    He paused, a ridiculous thought crossing his mind. "You don''t think... Thorne Henderson gave it to her, do you?"


    Dalton stiffened, his chest tightening.


    Thorne was the kind of man who would hand over Neural Nexus Tech-worth hundreds of


    millions to Vesta just as a gift. He tossed multi-million-dor mansions around like candy. Casually dropping a massive fortune on Charlene didn''t seem out of the realm of possibility.


    But if Thorne really had given her that money, Stewart-knowing her family''s financial state—would undoubtedly be suspicious of the source, wouldn''t he?


    The Hawkins and Spencer families, who knew the truth about Charlene and Thome''s impending divorce weren''t shocked that she had the money. They were just appalled by the way she was throwing it around.


    She was acting like she could buy whatever she pleased without sparing a single nce at the price tag.


    They naturally assumed her reckless spending was fueled by the knowledge that once the divorce was finalized, she''d walk away with billions of dors in a settlement.


    Leah ground her teeth. "Let her blow


    it all. With the way she burns


    through cash, she''ll squander every penny Thorne gives her in no time. I''d like to see how arrogant she acts when she''spletely broke."


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!