"Pretty," commented Vanessa, staring at the set of jade earrings brought out.
Many shared same opinion as Vanessa and began to bid on the earrings. The quoted price started to get higher and higher.
A sigh left Vanessa's mouth.
"I wish I could own them," expressed Vanessa regretfully. "But they are way over my budget."
Emma turned her head to look at her. There was a gleam in her eyes, tempting Ellie. "Do you want it?"
Vanessa's eye brightened up. "Wouldn't it be too expensive?"
Emma waved her hand dismissively. "This is barely a drop in the ocean. Raise the price. I will pay for it."
With the encouragement from her friend, Vanessa lit the buzzer and announced, "Ten million."
An opposing voice sounded next. "Twelve million."
"Fifteen million."
After a second of hesitation, the other side shouted, "Twenty million."
But Vanessa didn't back down. Seeing how Emma remained casual, she boldly added ten million more.
"Thirty... five million," stated the other side with much reluctance.
"Fifty million!" Vanessa excitedly exclaimed.
The host then voiced out, "Fifty million going once, fifty million going twice. Are there no more bidders?"
And with that, the jade earrings was finalized for Vanessa.
Only after spending fifty million on a pair of earrings did Vanessa have the awareness the money did not belong to her. She carefully looked at Emma.
"Is fifty million too much?" asked Vanessa.
Emma pulled out the black card handed by her father before leaving and spoke out, "Don't humiliate me by saying this."
Although Emma acted generously with her money, Ellie made an ugly face and hung on to Emma's arm.
"Fifty million is too much for her!" exclaimed Ellie. "You haven't bought me anything expensive yet. This is clearly favoritism."
Emma glanced at her silly pouting friend and smiled. Raising her hand, she patted on the girl's head.
Fifty million to buy danger for Vanessa was worth it.
"What do you want? I will get anything for you," Emma brought up, acting generous.
"Then, I want you to spend at least ten times more money on me," demanded Ellie domineeringly. "I will ignore you if you don't."
Vanessa watched the close interaction between both the friends unfold, understanding the atmosphere between them was one she couldn't get into.
Clenching her hand into a tight fist, she tried to reel in her temper while sitting awkwardly behind them, hearing their conversation.
"Emma, that oriental headband! It would look so good on me!"
"Should I try to get pearls as well? I don't have those in my collection!"
"Emma, get that watch for Uncle Lin. He will like it a lot!"
"What do you think I should get for my dad? Forget it. He doesn't deserve a gift!"
After the auction was over, Ellie dragged Emma over to see everything she splurged on without giving Vanessa a chance to get a word in.
Although Vanessa was dissatisfied, thinking about the jade earrings she bought, she went over to receive it. Inside the velvet cake was a delicate pair of lustrous jade earrings.
Vanessa reached out to hold the earrings. Even though the pieces were pretty, thinking about Emma's behaviour of rewarding a dog made anger bubble inside her.
She tightly grabbed on to the earrings.
The sharp touch from the studs brought her back to her senses.
"Does Ms. Liu not like these earrings?" A rough, masculine voice came from behind her.
When she turned, Vanessa was met with a face she understood not to be easily triffled with. The scar running across his coupled with that cold smile made him seem like a ferocious wild beast.
His dark eyes pinned her to her position as if about to aim for her life next.
"They are pretty," Vanessa carefully answered.
"If they are pretty..."Jonathan said, reaching out for one of the earrings and raising it to her ear's length.
Then, leaning closer to her, he moved to insert the stud in her ear.
"They should be in your ears," stated Jonathan.
The next instant, Vanessa felt a sharp stab in her ear and took a step back, holding her ear. Her widened eyes stared at him cautiously.
"Did I hurt you?" Jonathan asked. "I am sorry," he immediately apologized.
Vanessa shook her head.
Although Vanessa was not the one to hold back her temper, from his presence alone did she understand he happened to be a formidable figure.
"I will wear them on my own," Vanessa said, putting her palm out.
Jonathan placed the earrings in her palm without doing anything extra this time.
"Do you like them?"
Vanessa nodded. "Or else I wouldn't think they were worth fifty million."
That was a lie. Vanessa simply wanted to assert dominance over the other party who bid against her in the auction.
However, the excitement from the win was soon over when Emma made her realize this happened to be a charity work done by her.
"I am relieved then. The earrings are in good hands. I am Jonathan Chen. These earrings were designed by my mom, and there is only one pair of them. I am sure you will treasure them."
Jonathan Chen?
The illegitimate child from Chen Family?
Although Vanessa didn't think highly of him, she knew his status was higher than her. And even though the Chen Family was ashamed of him, the distant rumors let her know he made quite a fame for himself abroad.
Moreover, looking at his face, although it seemed scary at first sight, her cheeks heated up thinking about the rugged handsomeness he carried.
"I will, Mr. Chen," Vanessa softly said, "Your mother was truly a talented woman."