Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Elara turned and saw it was fucking Aurora.
AS Your
She spun back around to face Marcus, her voice rising despite the setting. “Seriously? Can you see what your girlfriend is doing right now? She’s poking me. What the fuck does she need a pregnant canvas for? She’s not even pregnant!”
Marcus gave her a stern look, his jaw tight. “She’s not my fucking girlfriend. Can you let that shit about calling her my girlfriend go?”
“No,” Elara said flatly. “I can’t let it go.”
She raised her paddle high, making sure Aurora could see it from across the room. “One hundred twenty thousand.”
pause. Then Aurora’s voice rang out from the back, sweet and cheerful. “One hundred thirty
A brief
thousand.”
This was going to keep dragging. Elara could feel it. Aurora wasn’t bidding on art, she was bidding against her. This had nothing to do with the painting and everything to do with proving a freaking point.
“One hundred fifty thousand,” Elara called out, her voice steady.
But it didn’t stop the little devil. Aurora’s voice came again, that same sugary tone that made Elara want to scream. “One hundred seventy thousand.”
People were starting to look at them now. Heads turning between Elara’s table near the front and Aurora’s table in the back. This was one of the longest bidding wars of the entire evening, and the crowd was beginning to understand that something personal was happening here. That this wasn’t just about art
anymore.
“One hundred seventy thousand dollars,” the auctioneer said, trying to maintain his professional demeanor. “Going once, going twice, going-”
Elara slammed her hand on the table, the sound echoing through the quiet room. She shot up from her seat, raising her paddle high above her head.
“Three hundred thousand!” Her voice rang out clear and final, “Can we wrap this shit up?”
“El, language,” Marcus muttered beside her.
“Leave me alone.”
The auctioneer’s eyebrows had shot up to his hairline, but he recovered quickly. “Three hundred thousand dollars! Going once, going twice, sold to paddle number seventeen!”
Elara turned to look at Aurora, giving her the coldest, most triumphant look she could muster. Then she sat back down with more force than necessary, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Finally,” she said, loud enough for several tables to hear. “It’s been overly dragged out. Can we move on to the next piece?”
Chapter 86
The auction continued, but Elara’s mood had soured completely. Half the time she was just sitting there seething, everything getting on her nerves. The way the auctioneer’s voice went up at the end of every sentence. The clicking of Aurora’s heels when she walked past to go to the bathroom. The smell of someone’s cologne that was way too strong. The pregnancy hormones weren’t helping. Everything was starting to irritate her in a way she couldn’t control.
Mimi reached out under the table and held her hand, squeezing gently. “Calm down, El. Okay? Just breathe.”
“I’m fine,” Elara lied.
The auction kept going peacefully after that. People bid on paintings and sculptures and photography series with the polite enthusiasm of the wealthy doing charity. Nobody else tried to start a bidding war, and the room settled back into its comfortable rhythm.
Then the auctioneer’s voice changed, becoming more excited. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have something truly special. A piece by Maurizio Cattelan, the renowned Italian artist known for his provocative and often controversial work.”
The piece was revealed on the screen behind the stage. It was a sculpture, covered entirely in gold leaf, gleaming under the stage lights. Even from the photograph, it was stunning. Bold, striking, the kind of art that demanded attention and made statements.
Marcus’s entire demeanor changed. He sat up straighter, his eyes going wide with interest. He leaned over to Dante, his voice low but excited.
“Dante, see whose art that is? I’m going to get it.”
“Cattelan?” Dante whistled low. “That’s going to be expensive, man.”
“Market value is around twenty-five million directly. Since it’s for charity, I don’t mind spending more
than that.”
The auctioneer smiled, clearly expecting this piece to bring in serious money. “We’ll start the bidding at thirty million dollars.”
Almost half the men in the room raised their paddles immediately. It was as if they’d all been waiting for this particular showpiece. The crown jewel of the auction.
The bidding climbed fast. Thirty million. Forty million. Fifty million. Cards started dropping as the price climbed higher and higher. Sixty million. Seventy million.
Elara watched with something like shock. That was a lot of money. A lot of money. She couldn’t believe Marcus had that amount just sitting in his account somewhere, ready to spend on a gold-covered sculpture. The wealth in this room was insane.
Eighty million. Ninety million. One hundred million.
More cards dropped. Men who’d been confidently bidding at thirty million were now sitting back in their seats, knowing when they were beaten. The crowd had thinned to about ten bidders.
One hundred ten million. One hundred twenty million.
Mon, May
Chapter 86
There were four people left now. Marcus, two men sitting at tables near the front, and someone Elara couldn’t see from where she was sitting.
“One hundred fifty million,” Marcus called out, his voice calm and confident.
The two men in front glanced at each other, then lowered their paddles simultaneously. They gave the sign to signal that they were out.
The auctioneer looked pleased, already opening his mouth to begin the countdown. “One hundred fifty million dollars, going-”
But he stopped. His eyes had caught on something at the back of the room.
Marcus noticed too. He turned in his seat, following the auctioneer’s gaze.
Someone else still had their paddle raised.
Elara turned too, craning her neck to see who it was.
Julius stood at his table near the back, his paddle held high, a small smile on his face. He looked directly at Marcus, the challenge clear in his eyes.
Marcus turned back around slowly, his jaw clenching so hard Elara could see the muscle jumping.
He looked at Elara, then at Julius’s direction, then back at Elara again.
“What’s with this fucking family today?”
AD
