He no longer dared provoke Ste as recklessly as before; this time, he was worried she might not take the bait.


    Still, after bidding on so many items, Jasper couldn''t believe Neville would bankroll all of Ste''s extravagant purchases.


    Jasper joined several more rounds of bidding. Yet each time, Ste outbid him and imed the prize.


    At first, Jasper felt smug, thinking he''d finally managed to make Ste pay dearly for her stubbornness.


    But every time Ste calmly swiped her card and epted her winnings without batting an eye, Jasper couldn''t help but feel that things weren''t going the way he''d hoped.


    By now, Ste''s total spending must have crossed well over ten million dors. Jasper''s gaze drifted toward Neville.


    Neville hadn''t ced a single bid all evening. He simply sat there, a faint smile ying at the corners of his mouth, giving nothing away about what he might be thinking.


    Jasper, never the sharpest tool in the shed, was starting to feel truly lost.


    What the hell was going on?


    Did Ste actually want these things or not?


    With this question gnawing at him, Jasper dove into yet another bidding war with Ste.


    When the price hit nine million, Ste abruptly dropped out.


    What on earth was wrong with this infuriating woman?!


    And it wasn''t just Jasper-Rachel, too, couldn''t quite figure out what Ste was up to.


    Whenever Jasper drove the price up, Ste would simply bow out; but if Jasper withdrew, Ste would buy the item without a hint of regret.


    By now, the auction seemed to revolve entirely around Ste and Jasper, the two of them locked in a private contest.


    Everyone else watched them with a mix of shock and amusement, as though witnessing two entric spendthrifts throwing money away.


    Let them duke it out, the crowd thought; either way, tonight''s show was bound to be entertaining.


    Before the event, a preview had listed the major items up for auction, and Jasper had marked a few he actually wanted.


    But after so many rounds of one-upmanship with Ste, he was burning through his budget at an rming rate-even before the things he coveted most hade up.


    Doing the math, he realized he''d already spent over twenty million dors!


    Worse still, he''d blown through the money his grandfather had given him to pick out a birthday present for his mother.


    It wasn''t until this moment, as Jasper suddenly realized he''d acquired nothing but useless trinkets, that regret began to set in.


    Just then, a stunning ne appeared on disy-a pendant set with a deep blue gemstone, sparkling under the lights like the shimmering surface of the sea. Its beauty was absolutely breathtaking.


    Rachel''s eyes lit up instantly.


    "That''s-Neptune''s Tear!"


    Neptune''s Tear was the matching ne to her violin, Nereid''s Sonata.


    Legend had it that Neptune''s Tear and Nereid''s Sonata once belonged to a pair of passionate lovers. When the ne''s owner died unexpectedly, the violinistposed a world-famous piece in her memory, then disappeared from public life entirely.


    Even his beloved violin, Nereid''s Sonata, eventually found its way into the world''s hands.


    Some say he died of heartbreak; others im that when his beloved was gone, he simply lost the will to y, and that''s why he sold the violin.


    Whatever the truth, it was a story that tugged at the heartstrings.


    Because Nereid''s Sonata was one of the world''s most renowned violins, the value of Neptune''s Tear had soared alongside it.


    But all the legends aside, there was no denying how striking the ne was- any woman would be instantly captivated by it.


    Rachel stared transfixed at the ne on disy. Suddenly, she seemed to realize something and whipped her head toward Haynes.


    "Haynie, you—"


    Haynes'' voice was low and steady. "I promised you I''d get you a new ne, didn''t I?"