Chapter 238
The manager gave a respectful nod. “Understood. Your presence tonight will remain strictly confidential.”
That suited Khloe just fine. She had no intention of drawing attention. She wasn’t here to be seen—only to select gifts and leave quietly.
Soon, she finished browsing the catalogue on the tablet. Her selections were simple but precise: a black Padparadscha sapphire necklace—deep, elegant, and commanding—for Loretta, and a pair of pink-violet sapphire earrings for Arista, delicate and bright like youthful laughter.
Price was irrelevant.
When the bidding began, her chosen pieces were brought forward early in the sequence.
The necklace appeared first.
Without hesitation, Khloe raised her paddle at a high opening price.
A ripple passed through the hall.
“That bidder again… the anonymous VIP?”
“They’re going straight in at that level? No warm-up bids at all…”
“Whoever it is doesn’t intend to lose.”
Whispers spread quickly across the venue. Everyone tried to guess the identity behind the curtain—someone from the Morrison Group? Or perhaps the Hunt family?
At the mention of the Morrison name, Trey’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly.
He leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing toward the opposite VIP section. Heavy curtains and bodyguards blocked his view completely.
A faint thought surfaced in his mind.
If it really was someone from the Morrison family… then the rumored heiress herself?
The taste of the idea unsettled him for reasons he didn’t want to examine. A woman with that level of taste—starting with the black Padparadscha sapphire—was not ordinary.
Before he could think further, Angela’s voice cut in.
“This one,” she said, pointing at the next item, her tone brightening. “I like it.”
On the screen was the pair of pink-violet sapphire earrings.
Smaller than the necklace, but rare—its color shifting under the lights like a quiet flame. Angela’s eyes lingered on them with obvious desire.
“It’s… fine,” Trey answered absentmindedly, still focused on the mysterious bidder across the hall.
For some reason, the earrings reminded him of Khloe.
That same understated glow. That same quiet beauty he had once overlooked.
Without fully thinking it through, he lifted his paddle and placed a bid.
Almost immediately, the opposing VIP box responded.
Higher.
Trey’s eyes sharpened.
So they were competing now.
He straightened slightly and finally turned his full attention toward the opposite side—but saw nothing except the faint outline of a silhouette behind curtains.
Whoever it was, they were not backing down.
Khloe, seated quietly in her private box, glanced down at the live bidding feed on her tablet.
Trey Fox.
Her expression didn’t change.
Beside him, Angela.
Still clinging to him as if nothing in their lives had fractured at all.
A faint, cold irony crossed Khloe’s eyes.
Even now, they were attending auctions together, playing the role of a stable couple, as if scandal, betrayal, and collapse had never touched them.
She signaled lightly to the manager.
No need to hold back.
The earrings were pushed into a higher tier immediately. The bid escalated cleanly, decisively—no hesitation, no sentiment.
Trey held on for a few rounds.
Then stopped.
If the opponent was truly the Morrison heiress, there was no point in continuing. He wasn’t here to waste resources on a losing battle.
His attention had already shifted entirely to the unseen VIP across the hall.
Angela, on the other hand, let out a soft sigh. “What bad luck… I really liked those earrings.”
Trey finally looked at her, slightly distracted. “You did?”
“Yes,” she said quickly, leaning closer with expectation. “You were bidding so aggressively just now—I thought you were buying them for me.”
There was a brief pause.
Then Trey’s voice cooled.
“We’re here to secure a gift for the Morrison Group contact. I’m not here for personal shopping.”
The warmth drained from Angela’s face instantly.
And for the first time that night, she realized—
He hadn’t been thinking about her at all.