The lights at Christie's auction house glittered like stars. Xia Xiaoman sat in the third row of the guest seats, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the edge of the invitation. The charity auction had gathered the elite of the business world, and she was here as a special correspondent for *Finance Frontier*—arranged by Li Moting himself.
"Next is Lot 17," the auctioneer's voice echoed through the hall. "A fragment of a meteorite dating back 4.6 billion years, certified to contain unknown metallic elements. Starting bid: two million."
The spotlight fell on the necklace inside the glass display case—a silver chain entwined with a dark-blue meteorite fragment that refracted eerie golden streaks under the bright lights, strikingly similar to the hue of Li Moting's irises.
"Five million," Li Moting's voice came from the VIP booth, detached yet resolute.
The room erupted in murmurs. Xia Xiaoman looked up, meeting his gaze through the one-way glass—even though she couldn't see him, she knew he was watching her.
"Eight million," Su Yuan raised her paddle, her red lips curling into a smirk. She was Li Chenzhou's chosen fiancée for a business alliance, draped in a black dress, elegant as a venomous spider.
"Ten million," Li Moting countered.
The bidding war escalated rapidly. When the price soared to thirty million, Su Yuan suddenly turned toward Xia Xiaoman and said loud enough for the entire room to hear, "What does Reporter Xia think? Could this meteorite of unknown origin carry a curse?"
Camera flashes instantly zeroed in on Xia Xiaoman. She maintained her smile, but her nails dug into her palms—Su Yuan was hinting at those "meteorite samples" sealed in concrete during the Bay Project.
"Fifty million," Li Moting doubled the bid without hesitation.
The gavel fell like thunder.