Ynda''s gaze remained fixed on them, a chilling coldness in her eyes.


    "Vonnie." Bet spoke to Yvonne, but when she didn''t respond, he habitually reached out and gently tapped the tip of her nose. "What are you looking at? You didn''t even hear me talking to you."


    "Your ex-girlfriend and ex-mother-inw are here," Yvonne said.


    Bet cast an indifferent nce toward the Walker mother and daughter before looking away, his voice devoid of emotion as he simply said, "I see."


    Soon after, the auction began.


    The host and staff took the stage, and the LED screen started disying the items up for bid.


    The initial lots were all antique paintings and calligraphy. Yvonne wasn''t interested, and Bet couldn''t be bothered to bid.


    The Thompson family estate had a vi dedicated to their collection, and Frank''s antiques and paintings filled an entire floor. Unless it was a rare masterpiece, the Thompsons rarely showed much interest.


    Ynda and Mrs. Walker also refrained from bidding; it seemed they were just there to fill seats and observe.


    About halfway through the auction, a jade bracelet that Yvonne liked came up for bidding. It was a top-quality nephrite jade, wless and milky-white with a warm luster.


    Such perfect, high-grade jade bracelets were a rare sight on the market, hence the steep starting price of fifty thousand dors.


    "Fifty thousand."


    "Fifty-two thousand."


    "Fifty-five thousand."


    Bids starteding in one after another.


    "Sixty thousand." Bet casually raised his paddle.


    "Sixty-two thousand." Ynda immediately followed suit.


    "Sixty-five thousand."


    "Sixty-eight thousand." Other bidders continued topete.


    "Eighty thousand." Bet raised his paddle again.


    "Eighty-five thousand." Ynda was right on his heels.


    Yvonne instinctively nced back at Ynda, who was ring at them, clearly targeting them on purpose.


    Bet didn''t look back, simply raising his paddle again. "One hundred thousand." Ynda bit her lip and raised her paddle. "One hundred and five thousand."


    Bet continued, instantly pushing the price to one hundred and twenty thousand.


    To everyone''s surprise, Ynda kept going. "One hundred and twenty-five thousand."


    Yvonne turned to look at Ynda again, who met her gaze with a tilted chin and an arrogant expression.


    "Are the Walkers that wealthy?" Yvonne turned back to Bet.


    While public officials weren''t always paragons of virtue, casually


    sl


    dropping over a hundred thous dors seemed excessive content,


    "Perhaps," Bet said with a raised eyebrow and a cold, sarcastic smile. Then, he lifted his paddle and shot the price straight to two hundred thousand.


    Ynda was about to raise her paddle without thinking when Mrs. Walker firmly pressed her hand down.


    "Ynda, stop this nonsense," Mrs. Walker reprimanded her with a stern face.


    Ynda was blinded by jealousy, but Mrs. Walker was thinking clearly. Given their public profile, spending hundreds of thousands on a bracelet at an auction would likely attract a visit from the ethicsmittee the very next day.


    Although Ynda didn''t raise her paddle again, her expression was ugly, a clear sign of her displeasure.


    In the end, Bet won the bracelet for Yvonne for two hundred thousand dors.


    Later, Bet also won a jade dragon charm and a pair of jade


    cbash earrings that yvonné est


    her eye on.


    Every time Bet bid, Ynda would follow, deliberately driving up the price.


    After all, money was the one thing the billionaire Thompson family had in abundance.


    Ynda was so furious that the hand holding her paddle wouldn''t stop trembling.