'It's just an auction. Why did Matthew invite both Phoebe and me? What does he want?' Erica thought.
While the crowd watched, Phoebe waved at Matthew gracefully and called his name enthusiastically. But she knew she had to at least acknowledge Erica, so she reluctantly nodded to her.
Erica gave her a fake smile and thought, 'This woman is really annoying. It's like she's stalking Matthew.'
Matthew held Erica's hand and helped her sit down first.
Erica wasn't playing that game, though. She was about to take a seat, then suddenly moved one seat over. Now Matthew had to sit next to Erica, no matter what. Phoebe would be on the end.
And Erica was there, smiling smugly. She wasn't going to let Phoebe get any closer to Matthew than she already was.
After the person in charge of the event walked away from them, Erica whispered in the man's ear, "You told me you weren't inviting Phoebe along. Why is she here?"
Matthew looked at her, a hint of a smile in his eyes. "She isn't here because of me."
If his suspicions were correct, Phoebe might be attending this charity auction representing the Su family.
"Then why is she here?" Erica said, in a demanding tone. If she hadn't chosen a seat first, Phoebe would have sat next to Matthew.
After thinking for a while, Matthew answered honestly, "Hard to say. Maybe the organizer knows that Phoebe and I are friends, and invited her along." After all, he had attended quite a few events with Nathan and Phoebe before.
What he said made sense. Seeing that she couldn't win this one, Erica dropped the topic. She didn't care why Phoebe was there as long as Matthew hadn't specifically invited her.
Many people saw Erica and Matthew sitting together in the first row and whispering intimately. While they didn't know what was being said, this helped bust the rumor that Matthew was in love with another woman.
Soon, the auction formally began. It was held once a year, and the guests were famous people in the city. The items on auction were real rarities.
The first item was a jade pendant from the Qing Dynasty with two fish as decoration. Its final price—six million—shocked Erica.
Matthew handed the bidding sign to Erica and said, "Bid on whatever you want." Knowing that his wife was loath to spend money, he added, "I'll pay for it. Consider it a gift from me. Use my credit card!"
Sure enough! His words excited her. "Really?"
"Absolutely!" He had never lied to her.
Erica nodded her head and said excitedly, "Wow! Okay, thanks!"
"No problem!" As long as she was happy.
However, Erica was not interested in the first few pieces, and Phoebe didn't seem all that intrigued either. Matthew sat there, dispassionate, bidding on nothing, as if he were there just to watch.
So far, the auction seemed quite boring to Erica. Finally, when she was about to fall asleep, the item in the auctioneer's hand woke her up.
It was a bookmark made of gold, a historical item from the National Museum of M Country whose collection had fallen in private hands. The bookmark was very thin and delicate, fashioned in the shape of a leaf, and engraved with rather elaborate patterns.
The starting bid was ten thousand. Erica was interested and was about to raise the bidding sign, but Phoebe was one step ahead of her. "Thirty thousand!" Phoebe said.
Erica was deliberating as to whether to raise the price or not. Someone else took advantage of her silence and shouted, "Fifty thousand!"
She knew she had to act now. She raised the bid sign and said, "Sixty thousand!"
A smile flashed across Matthew's eyes. 'Ah, something she's interested in.'
However, next to her, Phoebe stared at the item displayed onstage and increased the price again. "Eighty thousand!"
Erica turned her head to stare at the woman who had just bid against her. She felt this woman was competing against her deliberately, outbidding her at every turn. Was it real, or just an illusion?
So she did something that was a bit out of character. Erica decided to let Phoebe have the final bid. Phoebe was pregnant. Why should she compete against a pregnant woman?
At last, the deal was closed at eighty thousand dollars and Phoebe got the bookmark.
The second item that aroused Erica's interest was a butterfly brooch. The starting price was one hundred thousand. As soon as she raised the bidding sign, Phoebe decided to step in and raise the price. "One hundred and fifty thousand!" Phoebe declared.
Erica was surprised. But she chalked it up to sheer coincidence. She wasn't that paranoid, after all. It was an auction, right? And people went to auctions to bid on things.
And the same thing happened with the third item. Erica's suspicions were confirmed. She was sure that Phoebe was deliberately trying to outbid her. One time is coincidence, twice is suspect. Three times is deliberate.
She gritted her teeth, her anger boiling in her heart. Finally, she asked Matthew, "Do you care how much I spend here?"
The man looked into her eyes, and he could tell that the girl was obviously angry. Although he didn't know why she was so angry, he still answered her question. "That depends."
"Well... How about this? There are about twelve items left. Can you bid on them and give them to me?"
Erica was angry, so her voice was a little louder than normal. Phoebe heard every word she said.
She looked at Erica in disbelief and exclaimed, "Erica, are you nuts? You trying to drive Matthew into the poorhouse?"
Erica glanced at her coldly. "Why do you care how I spend my husband's money, Mrs. Tu?"
Erica stressed the words "Mrs. Tu." Of course, she was reminding Phoebe of who she was and warning her not to go after someone else's husband.
As if unaware of the hostility between the two women, Matthew replied calmly, "Sounds good."
Phoebe was angry, but there was no reason for her to stop Matthew from agreeing to Erica's request, so she had to curb her anger and bite her tongue.
Then, Matthew started to bid on the items in person.
When he got the sixth one, Erica couldn't stand it anymore. She tugged at the man's sleeve and said, "This isn't fun anymore, can we stop..."
Her heart ached for the money he spent. The items became more and more extravagant and expensive as the auction wore on. The jade bracelet Matthew had just bid on was worth over ten million!
Matthew held her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze to calm her down.
At the end of the auction, Matthew's action shocked everybody. The twelve items topped 70 million. Matthew acted nonchalant about it, like he burned through that amount every day.
Then came the charity dinner. Matthew took Erica to the table and sat down, and Phoebe sat with another woman nearby.
Erica heard two ladies sitting opposite her talking to each other. "I like those earrings a lot but Mr. Huo snatched them up!"
"So why are you bitching about it, Mrs. Xu? Your husband's the head of the city hall. Why don't you let him talk to Mr. Huo in private to see if he can get you the earrings?"
"Well... I don't think it's a good idea."
"Why not? Money can work magic. I like that vase too. I'm going to ask my husband to do the same thing."
Erica overheard the whole conversation.
She rolled her eyes and came up with an idea.
Matthew was busy with logistics and organization at his own company, tapping a message out on his phone. Erica leaned in and whispered in her husband's ear. "Can I give the items we bid on to someone else?"
"They are yours now. Up to you."
"But you spent so much money on them!"
The man laughed. 'Since she owns the items, shouldn't I be asking that question?' "And? It's only money."
'Wow. What a nice guy, ' Erica thought.
When she was at the auction she noticed the oohs and ahhs by the rich women in attendance. They were excited by the items Matthew bid on. But they knew there was no way to put up more money than him, so they gave up.
Erica made a note of who wanted what, then had the auctioneers hand out the items to each one of them, under the name Mrs. Huo.
The women's mood turned from disappointment to elation, and not a little surprise. They didn't need to bid on the treasures they wanted, and someone even arranged for these precious items to be given to them directly. Who could turn down an offer like that?
So, Erica, or rather Mrs. Huo, earned a reputation for being generous. She impressed the other aristocrats. And all before the charity dinner had even ended.
In the evening, when they returned to the villa, Erica wept silently holding two of the treasures. She felt sorry for herself for being so generous. She had just given total strangers gifts worth tens of millions.