After Lina left Reuben there, she looked around for her family and found them all looking straight at her with nervous eyes.

'Geez…! These people must be scared that I danced with some strange man. Talk about over-protective.' She admonished them in her heart and headed in their direction.

"Let's take our seats before the auction starts." She chirped happily when she reached them.

Her conversation with Reuben had helped her calm down and forget about what happened earlier.

Wayne and Wade looked at her apprehensively but did not say anything to her.

They all had their assigned seats so they couldn't sit together.

Wade and Lina had arranged for their seats to be in a discreet corner to avoid any suspicion.

Uncle Ace, Uncle Pat, and Wayne along with the Ming family and Huo family were given the best seats in the hall, followed by everyone else.

"What happened after I left? How did you end up with Reuben?" Wade openly asked because he had seen them chat so casually which only meant that they knew each other.

"Oh? So you know him?" Lina was surprised when she heard his name from Wade's mouth.

'The entire city knows him except for you.' He just nodded his head and did not explain any further.

While they were whispering, the auctioneer came onto the stage.

He was an older man in his forties and was considered to be the best in his business. He soon began speaking about Obsidia Designs and its designers.

"We proudly present to you Obsidia's star designer LY's latest collection, *A LIFETIME WITH YOU*!" He introduced the collection in an animated way.

He spoke about how the three sets represented three stages in the life of every woman.

Lina had already provided this information to Asst Kirk who had passed it onto the auctioneer.

The crowd applauded when the screen flashed with the images of the finished products that Mr. Hitoshi and his team had worked very hard to perfect in the span of two weeks.

"But as you were intimated earlier, this auction will be different from our normal auctions. One person can only buy one piece, so be wise and choose which one you would bid for." He was doing a great job of keeping the crowd engaged.

After revisiting the rules, he motioned to his colleague and she brought out the first piece for the auction.

It was the bracelet from the Yoshino Cherry Blossom range.

"The precious stones used in this range are the white diamonds which reflect a soft pink light but without much distortion to their clarity." He pointed at the screen.

The younger women's eyes twinkled when they saw the images on the screen.

"The opening bid for this piece is at 8 Million. Get your paddles ready and let us start bidding!" He announced.

Instantly paddles were raised and the bid kept increasing exponentially.

"8"

"9"

"12"

It finally ended at 20 Million after two young women fiercely competed for it.

"Congratulations to the young lady in the yellow dress for buying this piece." He wished her and the next piece was brought out.

Lina was beaming when she saw the final bid amount.

'Come to mommy, my precious money!' She rubbed her palms and eerily chuckled.

Likewise, the necklace was sold at 38 Million and the earrings at 25 Million.

"Our next piece is from 'Queen of the night' Tulip range which was made using the pure sapphires mined from the Himalayas."

He gave a sign and a beautiful lady brought out a ring cushioned in a ring holder and placed it on the podium.

The screen at the back displayed LY's final draft of a beautiful dark blue tulip and then the video cut to the actual ring.

"Let us start the bidding at 10 Million dollars." He looked at the crowd.

"10 Million"

"12 Million"

"16 Million"

The bids kept increasing until it stopped at 16 Million.

"The 'Queen of the night' ring goes to our beautiful Mrs. Huo." He announced after the ring was sold.

The next piece was called on stage and after an elaborate bidding war, the necklace landed in Mrs. Ming's hands.

But later the earrings were easily won by Mr. Huo for his wife.

The two women glared at each other but Renee eventually smirked at Moira Huo and used her finger to count the men by her side.

'One, two, three, and four.' She ended the count at herself.

Moira finally understood why Renee had gone easy on the bid for the earrings.

Now Moira had used up hers and her husband's chance at bidding so all she could do was curse at her hot-headedness.

"Amateur!" Renee whispered and concentrated at the auctioneer's words.

The next range was what she had been desperately waiting for ever since she saw their images flash on the screen.

"The next piece is from the 'Red Amaryllis' range. These beautiful pigeon blood rubies were extracted from Country B and have zero imperfections."

The gems for this one were just as expensive as the design itself because pigeon blood rubies were very hard to find.

"The first piece from this range is the beautiful ring." He presented the ring which made the eyes of everyone widen when they saw how it shone under the flashing lights.

"The starting bid is at 15 Million. Let's see some excitement for this beautiful jewelry!" He hyped the crowd.

The bidding began and many people bid on it. Even Uncle Ace and Pat occasionally bid just to raise the price of the ring.

"The final bid is from the gentleman accompanying the Ming family. Going once, going twice…. Sold!" He pointed at Mathew Kim who blushed when the spotlight fell on him.

Similarly, Felix won the earrings after an elaborate bidding war with none other than Mrs. Eve Zheng with the final amount at 35 Million.

Talia felt like burying her head in the ground when her own mother was fighting tooth and nail to bid on her rival's jewelry, but Eve was more interested in the beautiful earrings than her daughter's measly pride.

The final piece of the auction was the necklace which made many others bid for it.

"What are you waiting for?" Renee jabbed Reuben in his ribs when she saw that he made no move to bid on it.

"Patience, mother. I just want the designer to earn a little extra before I end this auction." He smirked as he watched the screen.

"40 Million from the beautiful lady in the red dress. No more bids?" He glanced around.

"Reuben, I'll skin you alive if you make me lose this!" Renee snarled at him.

If she won this bid then she will own the complete jewelry set but her son was being so nonchalant about it, it was scaring her.

"40 Million going once, going twi-"

"60 Million" A clear and deep voice cut the auctioneer off.

Renee and everyone else turned to Reuben in a dramatic way.

Lina too gawked at this super-rich guy who had raised the bid by 20 Million altogether.

'Woah!' Her eyes shined when she thought of all the money she'll get after this auction.

"Master Ming has bid 60 Million. Is anyone else willing to top it?" Auctioneer got no replies.

This was why Reuben did not bid earlier because he knew that no one would stand to oppose him.

"Congratulations to Master Ming for winning the necklace." He announced and Renee was so happy that she almost yelped.

"Mrs. Ming sure is a lucky woman and smart one as well." He quipped and gained a pleased smile from her.

The auction had officially ended and the guests went ahead to have their dinner.

Lina enjoyed her meal in Wade's company because the others had to join their business partners and acquaintances.

She did not want to spoil her mood by talking about what had happened when she was left alone so she just put that incident at the back of her mind for now.

But she was determined to avoid that man if she ever saw him in the future.

Reuben on the other hand had to dine with the Zheng family who shamelessly tagged along.

"Brother Reuben, let me pour some more soup for you." Talia offered to fill his empty bowl.

"Asst Kim." Reuben did not lift his head but Mathew understood his boss's words and immediately filled his bowl up.

The elders of both families just ignored them because they were used to this scene from when the two of them were just kids.

'Let me torture him a little.' Renee sneered and turned to Talia.

"So Talia, when are you planning on getting married?" Renee teased her, knowing full well what would happen next.

Reuben looked at his mother with contempt.

'Even after buying her everything she wants, she still causes problems for me. Women are so troublesome!' He then focused on the delicious food.

"Aunt…! I'm just waiting for when Brother Reuben finally decides to settle down. As soon as he says the word then we can get married." She shyly spoke and blushed while looking at him.

'Delusional.' Reuben did not take her words to his heart and quietly ate his food.

But Asst Kim wasn't as calm, he almost choked on his drink when he heard her bold proposal.

'Emperor has it hard sometimes!' He looked at Reuben with pity.

When Reuben noticed his gaze, he raised his brows seeing the pitiful look he received.

He was just about to scold Mathew when he heard someone else start speaking.

"Are you sure, Talia Jie?" Valerie butted in with a sarcastic smile and everyone turned towards her.

Eve Zheng was signaling her daughter to shut up but she did not heed any of the warnings.

"Because I did not see Brother Reuben ask you to dance even once but he danced with that strange woman twice." She continued when she noticed everyone's attention on her.

Talia visibly frowned when she heard this and clenched her fists under the table.

"What I do is none of your business and it would be better if you don't poke your nasty nose in it." Reuben retorted in a dissatisfied manner.

He did not care that their parents were right there, he just did not want his mood that had brightened to drop again.

He had seen something interesting during the auction and he smiled when he thought about it.

But Talia's face darkened when she saw his blissful smile.

'He never looked at me with such a smile but he smiles for some strange woman he just met?' She lowered her head and grit her teeth.

"Calm down, Jie. Your sister is here! I'll help you out." Valerie moved closer to Talia and whispered in her ear when she saw that her elder sister was about to have her usual outburst in front of so many people.