Chapter 205: Demanding an Asset Verification
The only reason their family had the nerve to compete financially with the great families of Imperia was because they had the backing of a powerful figure.
But that bitch Arabella Donovan, what gave her the right? She was just riding Desmond Donovan’s coattails and spending his money! That money should have been theirs!
They were Desmond Donovan’s closest blood relatives, but that old bastard gave his money to an outsider. He deserved to die! Why couldn’t he have just died sooner!
Arabella Donovan turned to meet Timothy Donovan’s furious and resentful gaze. She didn’t need to guess what he was scheming.
’In the original story, my grand-uncle was so devastated by the loss of his beloved that he completely lost the will to live. That’s the only reason you clowns got to run rampant for as long as you did.’
’Now the old couple is living a happy and beautiful life together, enjoying their golden years. I can’t let a bunch of ghouls like you ruin it.’
’And with me here, if I let this insatiably greedy bunch harm the old couple, wouldn’t all my efforts have been for nothing?’
Listening to his younger cousin’s muttering, Brandon Jennings suddenly understood why the old man was so comfortable unconditionally handing over so much money for Arabella Donovan to manage.
The old man had spent most of his life being schemed against by everyone around him. This was probably the first time he’d ever met someone like his family’s sweet, simple younger cousin—someone who would put her own interests aside and fight for them simply because she couldn’t stand to see them being plotted against, all without ever expecting anything in return.
And that, he supposed, was precisely what made this special favor so precious.
Caspian Rhodes couldn’t help but smile at her indignant muttering. The Rhodes Family did have plans to enter the Brynn market, and they hadn’t intended to go up against the local major families so soon, but...
As if sensing something, Caspian Rhodes scanned his surroundings. Unsurprisingly, he was met with numerous wary and hostile gazes.
It wasn’t hard to imagine the kind of vicious attacks and troubles Arabella Donovan would face after today, both in Brynn and when she eventually returned home.
At this thought, the light tapping of Caspian Rhodes’s fingers on the armrest paused.
’Looks like it’s time for me to have a talk with my own old man, as well as the Donovan patriarch. There’s no harm in accelerating our plans a bit.’
At that moment, Arabella Donovan was still oblivious. She hadn’t even run into any real trouble yet, and someone was already secretly scheming how to run interference for her.
With her entry, the already white-hot auction descended into further chaos. The bidding, which had started to slow, shot up again as if it had been given a shot of adrenaline.
"Nine hundred and fifty million."
"Nine hundred and sixty million."
"Nine hundred and seventy million."
"..."
"One billion."
"One billion! It’s at one billion!" The other guests, who had long since dropped out of the bidding, were still shocked to hear the number, especially...
"It hit a billion that fast? This thing really is the prize all the big families have their eyes on. It’s not going to be easy for anyone else to snatch it from the tiger’s jaws!"
"I don’t know about that. Look, she’s still in the game. And did you see? The guys over here are starting to look strained, breaking out in a cold sweat, but she looks like she’s handling it with ease."
"She’s still bidding at one billion? How old is that girl? How could she possibly have that much money? I hope she isn’t just shouting numbers. If she wins the auction but can’t pay, it’ll be a massive embarrassment."
"That’s where you’re wrong. She’s with the master of Number 9 Vistagrove Avenue. Didn’t you hear her bodyguard call her ’Miss’? I saw that bodyguard at a banquet once. He’s one of the Ninth Master’s most trusted men, no doubt about it."
"So, she’s spending the Ninth Master’s money?"
"Most likely. Didn’t you just say it yourself? She’s so young, where would she get that kind of money? It has to be from her family."
"Then that’s it. The Ninth Master’s family is rich and powerful. As formidable as those other big families are, they’d still have to give him some face."
Timothy Donovan was already stewing over Arabella Donovan matching the bid up to one billion. Hearing the chatter from the crowd around him only fanned the flames of his anger.
Then, just as his party called out a new bid: "One billion one hundred million."
Arabella Donovan immediately countered with, "One billion one hundred and ten million."
The tightly wound string in his mind finally snapped. Ignoring that the auction was still in progress, he shot to his feet, pointed at Arabella Donovan, and roared, "Haven’t you had enough?!"
Arabella Donovan was speechless. "..."
’Is there something seriously wrong with this guy?’
Caspian Rhodes and the others silently agreed. ’Daring to cause a scene in the middle of an auction... they must think this place is their own living room, where everyone has to play by their rules.’
"Are you talking to me?"
"Who else would I be talking to?" Timothy Donovan met the assessing gazes from all sides and felt a chill, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head. He realized he might have just done something incredibly stupid.
But what was done was done. He could only bite the bullet and press on. "Who bids like you do, so recklessly, latching on and never letting go? I suspect you’re making malicious bids to disrupt the auction!"
Hearing this, Arabella Donovan looked as though she’d just heard the most ridiculous joke. "Oh, so you *do* know what ’malicious bidding to disrupt the auction’ means? I was starting to think your family set the rules here. You’re allowed to bid, but no one else is."
"You!"
Arabella Donovan couldn’t be bothered to argue with the idiot. She turned directly to the auctioneer. "Was anything I just did against the rules of this auction house?"
The auctioneer was also left speechless by this interruption but answered truthfully, "Not at all. Everything bidder number eighteen has done has been perfectly legitimate and in accordance with our rules."
"Did you hear that? The auction house itself says I’ve done nothing wrong. Some people should stop acting like they’re in charge and mind their own damn business."
"Who are you calling—" Before Timothy Donovan could finish, Mr. Donovan pulled him back down to prevent further embarrassment and took over. "Please don’t misunderstand, little sister. That’s not what Timothy meant. He’s just worried about you."
"Worried about me?" Arabella Donovan was even less willing to speak to this man than to Timothy. Every time he spoke, her skin crawled.
"And another thing, who are you calling your ’little sister’? Sir, you should be careful claiming random women as your sister. You might just get yourself beaten up."
Mr. Donovan’s eyes glinted, but he completely ignored Arabella Donovan’s sarcasm, his smile never wavering. "In that case, Miss Donovan, does our Second Grand-uncle know you’re spending so much of his money on this item?"
"That doesn’t seem to be any of your business. I’m spending my own grandfather’s money. Do I need to report that to outsiders like you?"
"You little—" Timothy Donovan started to get up again, ready to curse her out, but Mr. Donovan held him down once more.
"Of course not. However, if he *doesn’t* know about this, then a sum of over a billion... I’m afraid Miss Donovan will have a hard time producing that, won’t she?"
As if reminded of something, Timothy Donovan shot to his feet, his face flushed with excitement. This time, Mr. Donovan didn’t stop him.
"That’s right! If it weren’t for Second Grand-uncle, how could you possibly have this much money? To ensure this auction can proceed and the item can be properly handed over, we demand a verification of her funds!"