The elevator doors chimed shut just as Harold looked up, and he only caught a blurry glimpse of her eyes. In that instant, his heart hammered in his chest, and a splitting headache tore through him.


    “Dr. Houston, are you alright?” his assistant asked, rushing to his side.


    “I''m fine,” Harold said, waving him off. He took a few deep breaths and gradually felt normal again. It was probably just his old ailment acting up.


    ording to his father, he''d suffered from these headaches since childhood. Each attack was excruciating, so much so that he had no memories of his life before the age of thirteen. He must have selectively forgotten the pain.


    "That''s a relief," the assistant said. "Shall we go up?"


    "Yes," Harold nodded. But as they reached the top floor and walked toward their private suite, his heart began to pound violently again. He''d never felt anything like it before. Strange.


    ...


    Meanwhile, Juniper had just settled in, her fingers flying across her phone screen as she texted Lue. Shanley sat beside her, elegantly rolling up his sleeves as he peeled fruit for her.


    Lue: [What? That old man Shanley is there too? I wanna see, I wanna see, I WANNA SEE!]


    Juniper: [You dare show your face here and see what happens!]


    Knowing Lue''s unhinged personality, she would probably scare Shanley off.


    Lue: [???]


    Juniper: [I''ll let you meet them all tonight.]


    Lue: [Them?]


    Juniper: [Yeah. The ''old man,'' and my other two brothers who are even older than him.]


    Older by one year still counted.


    Lue: [Deal.]


    Besides, her main purpose at the auction was to bid on medicinal herbs and sell thetest drug developed at their facility. Business first. Shanley had already fallen into Juniper''s clutches and wasn''t going anywhere, so she could meet him anytime.


    ...


    Thirty minutester, the pharmaceutical auction officially began.


    Juniper''s only target was that one wilted little herb, so she paid little attention to the other items, content to munch on snacks.


    Finally, when the auctioneer


    mentioned a new drug called "P30,"


    the girl who had been


    who had been focused on


    her food, slowly lifted her gaze a flicker of interest in her eyes.


    X8


    "You want this?" Shanley, who had been watching her reactions closely, immediately opened the auction catalog P3.0 is thetest drug developed by a med-research institute in Australis. It''s used to treat blood vessels and can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascr disease. The Schwartz Group''s hospitals happen to be in need of this."


    “Is that so?” Juniper blinked, a smirk ying on her lips.


    Quite perceptive of him.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, the starting bid for the P3.0 drug is three million. Please ce your bids."


    As soon as the auctioneer finished, a flurry of bidding paddles shot up. It was clear the drug was in high demand.


    "I heard P30 is the upgraded version


    "}


    of P2.0, $ Someone in the main hatt


    eximed. "The buyer who won P2.0st time must have made a fortune content


    "If we can get our hands on 3.0, it''s bound to be even more profitable."


    Inspired by thesements, buyers all around began to raise their paddles.


    "Five million."


    "Eight million."


    "Twelve million."


    After a few rounds, the price for P3.0 had been pushed up to twenty million. Juniper


    was very satisfied with that figure.


    "Twenty-five million," the man beside her suddenly said.


    "Yes, boss," Felton acknowledged, pressing the button on the bidding device.


    While others were raising the bid by one or two million at a time, Shanley hade


    in and immediately raised it by five million.