His eyes widened in confusion, and she turned her back to him.

"You can let him go," she said to the guards. "He won't be disrupting this auction again."

​​

The guards looked to Sean, and he nodded slightly.

"Very well then," the head guard said. "He's free to go, but he may not roam the premises, and we will stay with him until he is off the grounds. Furthermore, he is banned from participating in or attending any other auction or event here ever again."

The vein in Lawson's temple looked like it might burst, but he didn't say a word. Slowly, he stood up with Madison, and Melanie rushed over to support him. They led him toward the door, and the security guards followed in lockstep behind him.

Before they could reach the door, a thin man with a red rose in his breast pocket greeted them. He carried a cane and had thick silver hair neatly brushed across his head. He nodded to Sean and reached out to shake his hand.

"Mr. Blair," the man said. "Please allow me to apologize for the events at the auction. And allow me to apologize again for detaining this, er, friend of yours. If I had known he was with you, I would have done no such thing."

Sean shook his head, "It's fine."

"Oh, but really, it's not at all," the man said. "Please allow me and my wife to treat you and yours to dinner. I feel I must apologize."

"It's fine," Sean repeated, a warning note in his voice.

The man shifted his cane to his other hand. He looked embarrassed. "Well then," he finally said. "Please know that I am deeply sorry, and if there's any way I can make it up to you, do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, Lord Croyden," Sean said. "I'll keep that in mind."

Without another word, he lifted Catherine into his arms and carried her toward the exit.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Lord Croyden," he said. "He owns the auction company. He's an awful snob and social climber, though."

"I see," she said.

They passed out of the auction house into the warm evening. Valets saw them and raced to get the cars, leaving the Stewart standing awkwardly next to them.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Catherine asked.

"What?" Lawson snapped, looking as if he wanted to hit her. "I'm not apologizing to you. You stole my art and sold it as if it was your own."

She rolled her eyes, "Not that. Another week has passed, and you still owe me my money."

Lawson's face turned purple, and Madison and Melanie glared at her. Catherine lifted her head and stared down at them, but it was hard to feel dignified when Sean was carrying her like a child.

"You heard me," she said. "I haven't forgotten, and this auction doesn't change anything. You will get me the money you stole from me, or else."

"You can't threaten me anymore," Lawson roared, breaking free from his wife and daughter. "I'm done with this game you're playing. What will you do? Steal everything from me? Well, you've already done that. Drag my name through the mud? You've done that too! There's nothing left but to kill me, and I know you don't have the guts."

Melanie and Madison gasped and tried to pull him away, but he ignored them. He paced back and forth like a furious animal, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Don't be dramatic," she said coolly. "I guess I'll see you in court then."

Sean's sports car rounded the corner, and the valet pulled to a stop in front of them. Catherine let him put her into the passenger seat and adjust the seatbelt. All the while, she glared at her uncle. As the car pulled away, she watched them out the side mirror, staring after her with fury on their faces.

The car ride was silent. Sean sped through the night, and she stared blankly out the front window. She had been so hopeful for the auction, but it had been disappointing and embarrassing. Even worse, she was sure Sean was furious.

"What are you thinking? You are frowning."

Sean didn't like her worried look and reached out to smooth the fold between her eyebrows.

"You can tell me if you are worried about something."

"Nothing. Our monitor called me and asked me to go to the class party tomorrow."

"You want to go?"

"I didn't want to go, but Sophia said she was going back to school to get the admission notice. She will go, and I think I'll go too."

Catherine still had something to discuss with the director of education, but she didn't know how to speak. She had to do it in secret, and Sophia was not supposed to find it out.

"Well, can I go?" Catherine forgot to ask him for advice.

"Go if you want."

Sean would not limit her freedom, provided she knew how to protect herself.

After Marco was sent away, Sean's concern seemed to become trivial.

Catherine would never go with Marco. She would stay with Sean all the time. So in order to make her happy, Sean lifted her ban.

"Thank you."

Sean did not like her to thank him. Her careful expression made him wonder whether he restrained her movement unduly.

He held her waist from the back, "You can go out if you want, but you have to tell me where you are going and come back on time."

"Ah?"

Why was he suddenly so generous?

Catherine felt that his hot breath sprayed on her sensitive neck, and she suddenly trembled.

He got too close to her.

"What? You're not used to it?"

"No."

"Ask Geoffrey to go with you."

"She has not recovered because of your punishment."

The day after the punishment, Geoffrey fell ill. Her feet were injured.

"Then I will go with you."

"Don't."

Feeling his breath suddenly stopped, she hastily explained, "I don't want to turn down your advice, but there are my classmates at the party. You will have no common topic with them. I'm afraid you will feel bored."

Catherine just graduated from high school, but she got married. She hadn't invited any classmates from the class to her wedding. Except for Sophia and Madison, no one knew she was married.

"I will not be bored when I stay with you."