Chapter 884

Over the past two years of mingling with Rivercrest City's elite socialites, she had never once crossed paths with Noreen.

Therefore, she assumed Noreen's status and net worth were entirely mediocre― nowhere near Crystal's level.

Crystal offered a soft, mocking laugh, her posture radiating absolute superiority.

Noreen's gaze drifted lazily past Crystal, landing on Miles Holt, who was standing behind them frantically dabbing the sweat from his forehead.

Miles was Crystal's assigned agent.

Noreen looked directly at him. "VP Holt, since when did Apex implement this new policy?"

The cold sweat on Miles' forehead instantly multiplied. No matter how much he wiped, it just kept coming.

"There... there is absolutely no such strict rule, ma'am."

The moment the words left his mouth, Crystal's face contorted in outrage. "Agent Holt, what is that supposed to mean?"

Miles was practically drenched in sweat now. "Mrs. Wilder, please allow me to introduce her. This is the owner of Apex Auctions, Ms. Noreen Gilmore. Every single regulation at this auction house requires her personal signature of approval. If she says a rule doesn't exist, it doesn't exist."

Everyone in Crystal's entourage froze in horror.

The sheer panic cycling across their faces was an absolute masterpiece.

Claire almost whipped out her phone to record it.

Only her basic sense of public decency held her back.

"However, as the owner of this establishment, I suppose I should be

accommodating. If Miss Chelsea genuinely has her heart set on Suite 9, I can let you have it."

She emphasized the word 'let'.

The underlying message was crystal clear.

I can give it to you out of pity, but you don't have the power to take it from me.

Crystal easily caught the humiliating implication, and her face flushed an ugly shade

of red. "Keep it! I'm no longer in the mood to buy anything!"

She spun on her heel and stormed off, leaving her entourage behind.

The wealthy socialite, Wanda, scrambled after her, desperate to soothe her ego. "Mrs. Wilder, Mrs. Wilder, please don't let someone like her ruin your day! She can't even get an invite to our socialite circle. She's in no position to compete with you!"

Compared to Wanda, Jasmine looked significantly more uncomfortable.

To free InnoCore from Winrich's suffocating grip, she had been desperately scrambling to secure new investors.

She initially tried soliciting capital from the Hong Kong market, but she hit a brick wall at every turn.

She wasn't an idiot; after a bit of digging, she discovered Castle Joyner had blacklisted her in advance.

And Castle happened to be Noreen's fiancé.

Which meant the Hong Kong route was completely dead.

Left with no other options, Jasmine had retreated to Rivercrest City to scrounge for local capital.

But Rivercrest City's investment circles were just as treacherous.

Even Winrich's direct competitors went out of their way to show deference to Noreen.

That was why Jasmine had zeroed in on Crystal. After all, Crystal despised Noreen just as much as she did.

The moment Crystal heard the

investment involved a company tied

up in a feud with Noreen, she

jumped at the opportunity and expressed a strong willingness to fund InnoCore.

That was the only reason Jasmine had been shadowing her so closely lately.

But she never expected to run into Noreen like this before they had even formally declared war.

She wanted to say something to smooth things over.

But Noreen had already looked away.

From start to finish, Noreen hadn't spoken a single word to her.

She had treated Jasmine like she was completely invisible.

Thoroughly humiliated, Jasmine had no choice but to walk away with a dark, bitter scowl.

Humiliated and furious over the encounter with Noreen, Crystal was in a terrible mood.

A few of the socialites coaxed her into going to a private club for drinks to blow off some steam.

As the saying goes, put three women together and you've got a drama.

With this many women in the room, the vicious gossip simply never stopped.

Wanda was by far the loudest instigator.

"Mrs. Wilder, you really shouldn't be so upset," Wanda sneered

dismissively. "Don't lower yourself to her level. Noreen Gilmore is nothing but a cass capitalist reeking of new money. In every other regard, she couldn't hold a candle to you. Just look at her-she can't even get her foot in the door of our social circle."

Jasmine chimed in to stoke the flames. "Exactly. The only reason she's successful today is because she climbed her way up on men's backs."