The Unlucky Turn by Mark Twain 206
“You don’t mind?”
Leilani didn’t understand what he meant. He clearly had no interest in that woman, so why should she care?
“You have boundless charm. Isn’t it normal for beautiful women to approach you?”
Callahan narrowed his eyes, about to speak, when the auctioneer’s voice rang out again.
“Next is Lot 23. The rare South African pink diamond, ‘Heart of the Rose.’ Starting bid: three million.”
The spotlight focused on the display stand. A brilliant pink diamond sparkled in a velvet box, drawing a low gasp from the audience.
Leilani was attracted by the commotion and instinctively looked at the stage. A single glance told her it was jewelry she had no interest in. She lowered her head and listlessly flipped through the catalog to check the other lots.
However, in the next second, she heard Callahan beside her raise his paddle. “Ten million.”
Leilani froze and looked up at him. “What are you bidding on that for?”
Callahan looked indifferent. “To give to you.”
Leilani was speechless.
Before she could say anything, Micah enthusiastically joined the fray. “Twelve million.”
Callahan’s eyes turned cold as he raised his paddle again. “Fifteen million.”
Micah raised an eyebrow and deliberately drawled, “Eighteen million.”
The atmosphere in the venue instantly tightened. Everyone smelled the gunpowder in the air. Everyone present knew that Micah and Callahan had never gotten along. Were they going at it again?
Leilani watched the two of them go back and forth. The price quickly soared to twenty-five million. Finally, she couldn’t help but press down on Callahan’s wrist. “Mr. Langley, do you have money to burn?”
Callahan looked down at her. “You don’t like it?”
Leilani didn’t know what to say. “What would I do with a diamond? Wouldn’t it be better to save the money you’d spend on this rock and buy me medicinal herbs instead?”
Leilani had just said it casually. She didn’t actually expect Callahan to pay for anything. Their relationship hadn’t reached that level yet.
But Callahan didn’t care about that. Leilani’s subconscious reaction proved that she was trusting him. This instinctive trust gave him a secret rush of satisfaction.
After two seconds of silence, Callahan couldn’t help but curl his lips. “Okay.” He put down the bidding paddle and stopped countering.
Micah paused, not expecting Callahan to suddenly stop at this point. When the gavel finally fell at
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thirty million for the pink diamond, his face instantly darkened.
“Callahan, did you play me?” He gritted his teeth and whispered, his fingers gripping the paddle until his knuckles turned white. The market value of this diamond was twenty million at most. Callahan had forced him to drive it up by an extra ten million.
But he didn’t want this pink diamond! He had only deliberately bid it up because he saw that Callahan wanted it. He wanted Callahan to win it at a premium price to annoy him. Instead, he had dug a hole and fallen into it himself.
Micah was furious. He turned to look at Callahan’s box, only to see the man looking down and saying something to Leilani with an expression he had never seen before… Compliance?
At the auction site, the lights were brilliant, and the bidding sounds rose and fell. The bidding for the next item had already begun on stage.
Across from him, the atmosphere was warm and affectionate, which only made Micah look even more like a clown by comparison.
His assistant stepped forward cautiously. “Mr. Locke, about this diamond…”
Micah let out a cold laugh. “Keep it for now. There will be plenty of chances to ‘gift’ it later.”
He wanted to see if Callahan’s woman really had no interest in jewelry.
The auction moved into its second half. Throughout the event, the frequency of medicinal herbs appearing was very low; most items were jewelry and rare collectibles.
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