Extremely Expensive Wine
The wine was made out of the first batch of wild grapes that was grown in Cave Vineyard ten years
ago. The first batch of wild grapes was a smaller batch that had produced less wine than the other
batches, so there were only a total of 100 bottles of wine made. These were practically sold out the
moment it was put on sale. Due to the limited availability of wine, the price of one bottle was extremely
high. The first 50 bottles cost almost 5 million for one, while the remaining 50 bottles were a little
cheaper—about 3 to 4 million each.
Although the wine was pricey, there were also a lot of wealthy individuals who could afford it. Its sales
weren’t affected despite it being highly priced. Toby had first phoned Cave Vineyard to order ten bottles
of the wine, but he had finished it a long time ago. Since this specific batch of wine was sold out right
after it was released, and since the factory hadn’t released much information about this wine to the
public, most people weren’t aware of the fact that the factory had ever produced this batch of wine.
Yet, Sonia had one of these exorbitantly-priced wine bottles with her. Toby wasn’t looking down on
Sonia—he simply knew that it was impossible for someone with her spending power to purchase this
type of wine. That explained why he was so shocked to see her showing up with that wine bottle. Sonia
had no idea what the man was thinking about, and she sat down while responding to his words. “It’s not
too bad. Apparently, this costs more than a million. My dad left it behind. He said that a friend had given
it to him and that he had left it here because he couldn’t bear to drink it. However, I’m not sure if it was
really a friend who gave it to him. He’s a huge fan of red wine, and he usually collects expensive wine,
so it’s possible that he was the one who bought it. Furthermore, I’m not sure how much this actually
costs. I tried looking for this brand online, but I couldn’t find any information about it. I would’ve thought
my father had been conned if he wasn’t someone who was relatively knowledgeable about wine. I
might have thought that he paid all that money for an unknown wine brand.” Sonia let out a smile at the
thought of her father. Her eyes were filled with longing for the past.
Eventually, Toby forced the cork out of the bottle and held a wine glass up to pour some of the red
liquid into it. He passed the glass to Sonia. “I’m not sure if your father was the one who bought this
wine, but I can tell you that he didn’t lie about the price.”
Sonia’s hand trembled a little upon hearing the man’s words. “Are you serious? Is it that expensive?”
“Of course.” Toby poured a glass for himself before he sat down and swirled the wine glass in his hand.
He took a sniff before he continued speaking. “There are only a total of 100 of these bottles in the
world. The first 50 bottles cost 5 million, while the remaining 50 bottles cost about 3 to 4 million. Yours
is probably…”
Toby reached over and spun the wine bottle around to check the number on the back of the bottle. He
raised an eyebrow. “Your bottle says number 50. It’s the 50th one.”
“Does that mean that this was worth 5 milion?” Sonia stared at the wine bottle before looking at the
glass in her hand. She gulped after speaking in a shaky voice. Although her father had once boasted
about owning a bottle of wine that was worth millions, she had never truly believed his words and had
always assumed he was just exaggerating. Her father did have that bad habit, after all. However, she
was shocked to hear that it was the actual price of the wine.
Sonia didn’t consider the possibility of Toby lying to her since he had no reason to lie about such a
thing. Toby chuckled when he saw the dumbfounded expression on Sonia’s face. “Yes. This costs
5,000,000.”
5,000,000… 5,000,000! Sonia hastily placed her glass down on the table. “I’m not drinking this
anymore. This is so pricey; it probably costs at least 10,000 for every sip. It’s such a shame to finish it. I
don’t even feel like I’m drinking alcohol—it feels like I’m swallowing money, and it makes me feel guilty.
I should pour this back and replace the cork so that it can become some inheritance that I pass on to
my nephews and nieces. Stop drinking,” she ordered. Right after that, she reached her hand over to
snatch the glass from Toby.
Although Sonia was also from a rich family, she had never tasted wine that cost more than 3 million.
Even the wine that cost 3 million sounded too expensive to Sonia, let alone trying one that cost 5
million. Sonia felt like she couldn’t take another sip of the liquid after hearing its price. Toby hadn’t
expected her to react in such a manner upon hearing the price. She attempted to pour the wine back
into the bottle, and she even tried to snatch the wine away from him.
How could he allow her to do that? With Sonia’s hand still reaching toward Toby’s glass, he abruptly
threw his head backward to pour the whole glass of wine down his throat. Sonia widened her eyes
when she saw his actions. “Why did you drink it, Toby?”
“Isn’t this wine meant for drinking?” Toby put down his wine glass before staring at her with an innocent
look on his face. Sonia felt as if someone had stabbed her chest when she saw his empty glass. Her
face was twisted into a frown as she felt a physical ache in her chest. “This isn’t just any regular wine,”
she muttered while looking like she was about to burst into tears.
“Hmm? What sort of wine is it, then?” Toby rested his chin on his palm.
“This is extremely expensive wine!” Sonia let out a sob.
Toby lowered his head as he chuckled silently. “It’s still wine regardless of how much it costs. Why are
you feeling sorry for it?”
“You wouldn’t mind drinking it since this isn’t your wine,” she uttered while glaring at him. “This is my
wine… My…” Before she could finish her sentence, she wrapped her arms around the bottle of wine
and brought it close to her while she sobbed.
Toby let out a soft sigh as he felt sorry to see her cry. He quickly leaned over to bring her into his arms
before patting her on her back gently. “You’re right that this isn’t my wine, but I’ve bought the exact
same type of wine before. I bought ten bottles then, and I finished all of them without feeling any sorrow
or regret. So, you should stop feeling that way.”
“You’re richer than I am. Of course it doesn’t hurt you to do such a thing,” Sonia hissed grumpily.
Toby remained silent as he curled his lips a little. It seems like I’ve used the wrong way to comfort her.
Well, that doesn’t matter. He held the back of her head as he finally responded to her. “That may be
true, but you should change your mindset and consider things from a different perspective.”
“What perspective?” Sonia looked up at him with her misery-filled eyes. Toby let out a laugh as he
found this rather adorable. “Well, you should remember its expiration date. Although wine can be
stored for long periods, it eventually expires. So, would it be a greater loss for a bottle of wine worth 5
million to be left until it expires, or for it to be finished by its owner?”
“…It’s a greater loss for it to expire without the owner tasting it, of course,” she replied after a while.
“Exactly my point! So, we’re drinking to ensure that it doesn’t get to its expiry date. If that happened,
you would suffer a greater loss, wouldn’t you?” Toby’s eyes glinted as he spoke. After that, Sonia
silently glanced at the red wine bottle in her arms, and she recognized a slight shift within her. It does
seem like my heart no longer aches as much after hearing what Toby said to me.
Toby was paying attention to the changes in Sonia’s emotions the whole time, and he noticed that she
had gradually begun to let go of the wine bottle in her hands. He could tell that her mind had been
changed a little. Finally, he reached out and took the red wine bottle from her before placing it on the
dining table again.
Although Sonia’s first instinct had been to protect the wine, she soon pulled her hands away after
reflecting on Toby’s words. Soon after that, Toby placed the wine glass back in Sonia’s hands. “You
should drink some since it’s open. It’d be a waste if you didn’t have it.”
Sonia looked at the glass that was filled with deep, red liquid that gave off a strong smell. She gave in
in the end. He’s right. I wouldn’t be able to keep the wine for long even if I poured it back into the bottle.
When that happens, I will suffer a greater loss. It’d be more than just losing 5 million; it’d also be losing
the chance to taste good wine. I’d cry over this for the rest of my life.
At that thought, Sonia took a deep breath. Then, she threw her head back and gulped down the glass
of wine.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda