As the emcee lowered the gavel with a crisp and clear sound, a loud round of applause resounded in the auction hall.

They reckoned that he had to be incredibly wealthy since he had spent thirty million dollars on a beautiful woman!

The crowd congratulated Liam, the winner of the auction of the finale item. Some were sincere, but many were of course secretly mocking and criticizing him for being a fool.

He has too much money to spend! What a wastrel!

At this moment, Liam was sulking and feeling so dismayed that he was on the verge of tears even though everyone was congratulating him.

Although he was the scion of the Wallace family, the Wallaces would never let him squander money in such a lavish and unbridled manner. His current disposable assets were less than three million dollars, let alone thirty million!

"Wait a minute! This auction doesn't count!" Liam's interjection interrupted the applause and successfully made everyone stunned.

"What does he mean?"

Since Liam already spoke, he no longer bothered about the gazes of bewilderment being cast on him. He said self-righteously, "It's all his fault for deliberately competing with me, so I bid so high to spite him. It doesn't count!"

As soon as he said this, everyone was stunned and full of disbelief.

Lucas sneered and stared at Liam like he was a fool.

"That's how things work at an auction. What does he mean by 'deliberately raise the price'?"

Moreover, if anyone had deliberately disrupted the bidding with malicious intentions, that person was Liam, who intervened halfway, not Lucas!

Lucas sneered and looked at Liam. When Liam first intervened to compete with him for Grace, he could already tell what Liam was trying to do.

But the amusing thing was that Liam still took Lucas for a fool and let his greed get the better of him, as he was bent on raising the price to empty Lucas's bank account. But he ended up making a fool of himself and made himself fall into the trap he had created himself.

"In that case, are you planning to deny the outcome of the auction, Mr. Wallace?"

At this moment, a cold and dignified voice spread from the auction stage as Russell appeared in front of everyone with a stern expression on his face.

Following him were several tall bodyguards who worked for the Kingstons, and they were exuding a domineering and terrifying aura.

In all the years that he had worked as a professional and experienced auctioneer, Russell had seen countless people like Liam who got carried away with competing against others to become the highest bidder but subsequently regretted their decision and tried to deny the validity of the auction. Thus, he immediately stepped forth to maintain order in the auction.

Seeing how assertive Russell was, Liam immediately felt a little ashamed and hurriedly said, "No, no, that's not what I meant. But this bastard indeed deliberately raised the price…"

"Shut up!" Russell bellowed, interrupting Liam. He then said coldly, "An auction is not a market. The rule is that the highest bidder wins. What do you mean by 'deliberately raise the price'?

"Besides, if you thought that Mr. Gray was deliberately raising the price, you could have just withdrawn from the bidding. Why did you continue to compete with him? Are your brains fried?"

When Liam heard what Russell said, his face turned pale, and he looked extremely dismayed. But deep down, he was well aware that he was the one who had deliberately raised the price. However, he could only keep it to himself.

But just because Liam didn't admit to it, it didn't mean that others couldn't tell.

After all, he had just suddenly intervened in the bidding of the finale item, Beauty No. 1. Besides, he was also the one who kept raising the bid. Everyone had seen it clearly.

The current outcome was undoubtedly because Lucas was smart enough to withdraw in time, thus causing Liam to fall into the trap he had created himself.

You reap what you sow!

All of a sudden, many people in the auction hall started mocking Liam with disdain while waiting gloatingly to see what would happen next.

A staff member dressed in a black uniform walked up to Liam and asked with a polite but oppressive tone, "Mr. Wallace, please pay for the auction item that you have won the bid for immediately. The total amount is thirty million dollars. Would you like to pay by bank transfer or by check?"

This was often the case at auctions. No arrears were allowed when it came to the payment for the auctioned item. It was also to prevent some people from placing high bids for the sake of the thrill of it, only to end up failing to make the payment and thus aborting the sale of the items.

Liam's face became even more sullen. There was only a little more than 150,000 dollars in the bank account linked to the card he had with him now. How could he afford to pay thirty million dollars?

Liam panicked and looked around anxiously. When he suddenly saw Lucas, who was sitting still, he hurriedly said, "Lucas Gray, aren't you very wealthy? Hurry up and bid for the item again. I promise I definitely won't compete with you again this time! Just add another dollar, and Grace will be yours!"

Remaining seated calmly, Lucas merely smiled flatteringly. "Mr. Wallace, have you gotten all muddled up because of how panicked you are? The minimum bid increment is 80,000 dollars. How can I offer a dollar higher?"

Liam finally recalled the things that the emcee had said before putting Grace up for auction. He gritted his teeth and exclaimed, "I can pay the eighty thousand for you! You just need to pay thirty million!"

He said this through gritted teeth. But he still felt the pinch and also felt that he was giving Lucas an advantage.

Lucas was immediately amused by his expression. "Mr. Wallace, do you take me for a fool? I could have bought the girl for six million, but you raised the price to thirty million. Yet you still want me to help you out of this. How are you so thick-skinned?"

"Haha!" Many people in the auction hall couldn't resist laughing out loud.

Liam's face was burning hot. But when he thought about the thirty million dollars, he could no longer care about his pride.

"Lucas, I know you fancy that woman. Can you bear to give her up just like that?" Liam said furiously as he reached out to point at Grace, who was still locked in the glass display case.

Lucas said indifferently, "Thirty million is enough for me to buy at least a hundred beauties of different shapes and sizes. What makes you think I have to buy her?"

Liam panicked and threatened, "If you don't buy her, she will land in my hands, and I'll turn her into my slave. I'll violate her and humiliate her every day, turning her life into a living hell! Won't you mind that?"

Lucas's eyes were full of an intense murderous intent as he glared daggers at Liam!