Chapter 206: Bring It On, Who’s Afraid
"Verify your assets?"
The moment Timothy Donovan said this, the room once again erupted in an uproar.
The guests present were no strangers to the practice of asset verification.
Before entering the auction hall, everyone had already had their assets verified. The minimum requirement was twenty million, a measure to prevent guests from bidding on items they couldn’t afford to pay for.
But to demand another asset verification mid-auction—that was an unprecedented, earth-shattering first, even for this auction house.
Especially since the final owner of the item hadn’t even been decided yet, suddenly demanding to verify a guest’s assets seemed, by any measure, intended to humiliate.
"This..." The auctioneer was also completely flummoxed by this curveball from Timothy Donovan and his group. After a long moment, he said, "I apologize, but we do not have the authority to require a guest to undergo another asset verification mid-auction. Furthermore, this auction house has never had such a precedent."
But Timothy Donovan acted as if he didn’t understand the man’s tactful refusal, or perhaps he understood perfectly but was unwilling to give up this chance to crush Arabella Donovan under his heel.
"Just because it hasn’t happened before doesn’t mean it can’t happen now. Your auction house has rarely handled items reaching this price, has it?"
That was true. Since its founding, the most expensive item ever sold by the Pavilion of Many Treasures auction house was a mere eight hundred million, with no sale ever exceeding one billion.
The two land parcels being sold as a bundle today were, by any metric, making history.
"This..." The auctioneer was momentarily speechless, forced to seek help from the person who could actually make the decision.
Before long, a handsome and charismatic middle-aged man hurried onto the stage. "Good evening, everyone. I am the general manager of the auction house, my surname is Vance. Regarding the request from guest number fourteen, my company is fully aware of the situation. However, out of respect for every one of our guests, we do not have the right to arbitrarily verify a guest’s assets. Unless..."
Manager Vance glanced at Arabella Donovan from afar. "Unless the guest voluntarily agrees to the verification."
Brandon Jennings sneered. "This Manager Vance has an interesting way with words."
Timothy Donovan had passed the buck to the auction house, and the auction house had passed it right back to Arabella Donovan. No one wanted to get involved in this mess, yet everyone had been dragged into it.
Caspian Rhodes’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he chuckled. "Perhaps this is Manager Vance’s first time handling a transaction of this magnitude. He must not be very confident, hmm?"
At his words, the few people around them couldn’t help but laugh. To describe someone as ’provincial’ in such a refined and elegant way was truly a talent.
Even though Brandon Jennings found him irritating in every possible way, he had to admit that the man’s words were both accurate and incredibly satisfying!
When Timothy Donovan heard what Manager Vance said, he felt as though he had the auction house’s backing. His confidence swelled, and he shouted across the room to Arabella Donovan, "What’s the matter, are you scared? If you are, just admit defeat. We’ll promise not to bid any higher, and we can let this whole thing go. We’re magnanimous, so we won’t press the issue."
"There’s no need to provoke me; your goading won’t work." Arabella Donovan didn’t even spare him a glance, looking directly at Manager Vance instead. "But as the saying goes, a clear conscience fears no accusation. Since your company wants to check, I can cooperate. However, I have a condition."
With that statement, Arabella Donovan placed herself on equal footing with the auction house, completely ignoring Timothy’s existence.
Manager Vance’s expression darkened slightly. "Please, go on."
"I can agree to an asset verification, but I demand that everyone else who is interested in this item and plans to bid against me also undergo verification. Otherwise, I refuse to be singled out as the only exception."
’Asset verification? So what? Bring it on! Who’s afraid of whom? This is a perfect chance to weed out a few competitors.’
’What a clever little imp!’
Caspian Rhodes instantly guessed Arabella Donovan’s intention. He turned to look at the few bidders who had been competing fiercely with her just moments ago and, sure enough, saw that several of their expressions had suddenly changed, their faces growing grim.
This land auction had been a last-minute addition. Aside from a rich bumpkin like Desmond Donovan, who had prepared a billion in cash for Arabella to squander, and a god-tier cheat like Caspian Rhodes, who had a massive amount of investment capital on hand, most people would have found it difficult to raise over a billion in liquid funds in such a short time. This was true even for the major families deeply rooted in Brynn.
The ones who looked troubled now were likely those who hadn’t managed to gather the funds in time and were planning to win the bid verbally first, then transfer the money during the transaction phase.
Who would have thought that a wild card would appear out of nowhere, forcing an asset verification right in the middle of the auction!
These people were suddenly caught in a dilemma. If they agreed to the verification, their money hadn’t arrived yet. If they refused, Miss Donovan had just said that everyone who wanted to bid had to be verified.
If they refused verification, even if they had the nerve to keep bidding later, wouldn’t the auction house and the other guests suspect they were just trying to cause trouble or couldn’t afford the land parcels at all?
For a moment, many people felt a surge of dissatisfaction and anger toward both Arabella Donovan and Timothy Donovan’s group.
Arabella Donovan was in a slightly better position. After all, she was the one being forced to face suspicion. Dragging everyone else down with her might not have been the most ethical move, but it was at least justifiable.
Besides, with Desmond Donovan backing her, people couldn’t do much to her even if they were unhappy.
The two Donovan brothers were a different story. As the instigators, their family’s participation in the bidding had already annoyed many. Now, by causing such a scene, they had become a complete thorn in everyone’s side.
Suddenly bombarded with malicious glares from all directions, the two brothers felt as if they were sitting on pins and needles, and a cold sweat broke out on their backs.
They could only cling to the sliver of hope that everything they were doing was to complete a task for that important person. As long as they succeeded, that person would surely protect them from any repercussions.
Arabella Donovan’s proposal might have been difficult for the guests about to be audited, but for the auction house, it was all benefit and no harm.
Manager Vance pondered for a moment before nodding. "Guest number eighteen’s request is perfectly reasonable. Does anyone else present have any objections?"
What objections could the other guests possibly have? Most people in the room were just enjoying the show and had no intention of getting involved.
Only a few were actually caught up in the affair. Of those, they had either decided to brazen it out and play dead by not responding, or they were perfectly confident and had nothing to fear from an audit.
"In that case, would the several guests who require asset verification please follow us to the outer private rooms for a one-on-one private audit. Please rest assured, the amount of funds in your bank accounts is for reference only, and our firm will maintain absolute confidentiality."
At Manager Vance’s words, a few people, including Arabella Donovan, cooperatively stood up and followed the staff to the private rooms.
Timothy Donovan’s group was in the room right next to Arabella’s. Before entering, Timothy snorted, his nose in the air, and strutted into his room with immense arrogance, as if he was already certain that Arabella didn’t have that much money.
Arabella Donovan: ???
’Even now, I still don’t understand. Who on earth gave him the audacity to question my ’superpower of money’? Ruth Lambert?’
Brandon Jennings and Caspian Rhodes, who had followed along because they didn’t feel comfortable letting Arabella go alone: Pfft...