***
Another thirty minutes had passed and the Auction was about to start.
At this point, Yuri was already losing her patience, so she decided to visit the mini bar and have a little drink.
Because of this, she missed Lisa and Chaeyoung's entrance.
Lisa was wearing a black three-piece suit that made her look more mature than her actual age. Her presence was so domineering that people failed to notice the woman beside her, who was wearing a black pantsuit that hugged her small waistline and long legs.
Many people started introducing themselves to Lisa and even congratulate her for her engagement with Chaeyoung Park. Unbeknownst to them, Chaeyoung was just standing a few feets away from Lisa, solemnly observing everyone.
Chaeyoung was not wearing anything to disguise herself except the black contact lenses that she had chosen to avoid attracting too much attention.
Tonight was Lisa's night.
Of course, some people also tried to conduct a conversation with Chaeyoung, after all, they found her somewhat familiar and very beautiful.
However, the current Chaeyoung had a different vibe than her usual pampered young miss aura. Her black eyes seemed to know everything behind the smiling facade that everyone gave to Lisa.
"Miss Manoban, I want you to meet my favorite actress Miss Yuri Park." An older man introduced Yuri to Lisa. This man was the current CEO of the agency that Yuri was in. However, he was unaware of Yuri's history with Lisa and Chaeyoung.
"Miss Manoban, I am very glad to see you again." Yuri said, her cheeks a little crimson from the little alcohol that she had before.
"Again? So you guys have already known each other before?" the CEO said before laughing. "Good... Good. This is a very happy occasion. How about we make a toast for this meeting?" he said as he offered Lisa a glass of wine.
A devious glint flashed in Yuri's eyes as she saw Lisa accepting the glass without saying anything. She watched as Lisa looked at her as if she was not able to recognize her. Was it possible that she had forgotten about her? Impossible, right?
Lisa made a toast toward the CEO before taking a sip. Then she turned to Yuri again and wondered what was the purpose of this woman's appearance. Could it be related to Henry Lee?
Seeing that Lisa was staring at her, Yuri gave her a very dazzling smile. "I wonder if CEO Manoban still remembers me?" she asked, her voice clear and devoid of any coquettish tone.
"No." Lisa's short answer almost made Yuri and her CEO choke on their drinks. She did not remember?!
"I don't remember insignificant people." Lisa's bluntness made Yuri grit her teeth, trying to compose herself.
"CEO Manoban must be kidding. I am Chaeyoung's younger sister," she answered.
"Hmmm," Lisa just nodded without acknowledging her. This made the entire conversation awkward.
"Hehe... CEO Manoban, you are such a sweetheart. How can you forget someone as beautiful as Yuri?" the wife of the CEO thought out loud. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it. Anyway, Miss Park Chaeyoung is not here. We can always keep a secret." she added with a wink. With her words, Yuri immediately faked a blush, sending side glances at Lisa.
She wanted to know how will Lisa react. However, to everyone's disappointment, Lisa just stared at them bluntly. "I'm not sure if you are trying to be a pimp but I'm not really interested." Then Lisa took another sip of her wine.
Everyone around her seemed to swallow a big fly, unable to say a thing. What was Lisa's meaning?
In this industry, who didn't like beautiful girls around them? Was Lisa that in love with her fiance that she would outright refuse a very blunt proposal from people with the same ranking as her?
"I'm sorry CEO Manoban, but you misunderstood our meaning." Yuri said after a few seconds of silence. "They just thought that you would remember me. After all, we both topped the exams two years ago."
This earned a sigh of relief from Yuri's boss. At least she was smart enough to clarify things, saving their face as everyone heard them.
"Oh! The auction is about to start. CEO Manoban, why don't you join us in our private lounge?" One businessman offered when he noticed the signal for the auction start.
In response, Lisa just nodded and continued to talk to the other gentlemen while ignoring Yuri and her boss.
Of course, this would not have stopped Yuri from following Lisa. However, this time, she noticed the woman, who was silently following Lisa.
She squinted her eyes while looking at the lady, who was taller than her with her stilettos. She rummaged her mind as she analyzed, how come Lisa's bodyguard was a girl, wearing stilettos.
Since the bodyguard was walking ahead of them, she was not able to see her face. But her guts had already told her that something was wrong.
This woman would not be Chaeyoung, right?
...
Auction.
The live auction was going to be held on a dance floor that was separated by a long and narrow stage. Chaeyoung thought they were going to display the pieces of jewelry that would be auctioned on that stage.
Tables were placed surrounding the stage in a U position. Chaeyoung assumed that all high-bidders would be seated at the front. Of course, this included Lisa and her private 'bodyguard'.
And just like what she expected, someone asked Lisa to join the high-bidders on the front part of the seating chart. In response, Lisa just nodded and followed the attendant to her designated seat.
Just like Lisa and Chaeyoung, the other CEO's and prominent individuals were also invited to their designated seats.
Since this was a jewelry gala, a lot of the items that were going to be auctioned, were ancient and elegant pieces of jewelry. In fact, the ambiance of the whole auction venue screamed elegance and class.
At this point, Yuri was already waiting for an opportunity to see Chaeyoung's face. She had already had a hunch that Chaeyoung was Lisa's bodyguard for the night. Yuri inwardly chastised herself for missing this very important point.
How could have she missed Chaeyoung? No... it was not her fault. Who would have thought that Chaeyoung would become Lisa's bodyguard and dress this way to avoid people from noticing her?
Did she know that Yuri was planning to use this opportunity to get close to Lisa?
"Hey, are you alright?" Yuri's boss asked her.
"Yes, I just noticed that Lisa's bodyguard is a girl," she answered. The CEO of Yuri's agency was an extremely lewd person, who would attempt to bed every girl that he wanted. Of course, this included his personal favorite-Yuri. Even his wife was aware of this.
And just like what she expected, the CEO's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when he looked at the woman next to Lisa. Her tall and slender frame instantly attracted his attention.
What a pretty silhouette.
At this moment, Lisa felt the licentious gaze and looked at the CEO, who was ogling Chaeyoung. Her face instantly turned darker, as her gaze pierced through the old man
The CEO shivered when he noticed Lisa's glare and was forced to divert his gaze elsewhere.
This interaction did not go unnoticed by Yuri and with this, she was able to confirm that the bodyguard was indeed Chaeyoung. She gritted her teeth in annoyance as another plan started forming in her mind.
Yuri watched, as Chaeyoung followed Lisa around to the seat that had already been reserved for them. It was two seats away from Yuri and her CEO's seats.
At this point, Chaeyoung had already noticed Yuri's glare, but she refused to acknowledge it. Her guess was originally right. Someone wanted Lisa to attend this event without her. And that someone could be Henry and Yuri. Too bad, she was going to ruin their plans for the night.
Chaeyoung watched as the auction manager made his way to the stage, her lips curling into an evil smirk.
The auction started with the least valuable pieces of jewelry, however, for the common people, these types of jewelry were already very expensive.
It was a beautiful bangle made of white gold and diamonds. Although this type of item was fairly common, this one had been around for hundreds of years, making it unique and expensive.
People started placing their biddings as Lisa silently slid the bidding paddle to Chaeyoung, a silent signal that she could do the bidding instead of her.
Still, this action had not gone unnoticed by Yuri. Just how much did Lisa dote on Chaeyoung, to give her the right to use millions of dollars the way she wanted to?
The jealousy in Yuri's heart was almost making her dizzy. She hated this woman for being so lucky. Yuri once again stared at Chaeyoung before an evil glint flashed in her eyes.
It's showtime.
The Auction continued without any mishaps.
"Our next item was one of the most sought after necklaces twenty years ago. This piece had been worn by a royalty member in England. It contains fifty emeralds and 47 diamonds, all handcrafted by one of the most talented jewelry makers, thirty years ago."
"Ladies and gentlemen: The Harmony." The auction manager dramatically introduced the next jewelry, which instantly earned a lot of gasps from the audience.
"Let's start from a hundred thousand dollars bid."
"Two hundred thousand." An older woman wearing a long purple gown raised the paddle.
"Three hundred," Chaeyoung said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. She liked this particular necklace and was planning to give it to her mother in law.
"Five hundred," Yuri instantly blurted, looking provokingly at Chaeyoung. She had seen Chaeyoung's reaction when the item was brought on stage. She couldn't let her get it.
"Six," the woman in purple said.
"Seven," an older man chimed in.
"Eight," Chaeyoung raised the bid without bothering to look at Yuri.
"A million." Yuri's words instantly earned whistles and gasps from the other guests. Many people looked at her like she was crazy. A million dollars? For this kind of necklace? It was not worth it.
At this point, Chaeyoung already knew what Yuri had wanted. With a smile on her face, she looked at Yuri, "A million and two hundred."
Seeing Chaeyoung's smiling profile, made Yuri even more enraged. She raised an eyebrow at Chaeyoung before smirking. "One point five."
Did Chaeyoung think that she could get the necklace that easily? How foolish of her.
"One point six," Chaeyoung responded, without batting an eyelid. Her answer had already earned her a lot of glances from the other businessmen. They couldn't help but wonder, why would CEO Manoban want to spend this amount for a necklace. Could this necklace be for her fiance? If so, CEO Manoban was really extravagant.
"Two million," Yuri raised an eyebrow at her. Her purpose was to make Chaeyoung use more money. Since she wanted this item so badly, then she should be ready to spend more, right?
But she was wrong.
Who would have thought that Chaeyoung would not bid anymore? She just raised a glass of wine toward Yuri and gave the latter a dazzling smile. Two million for this type of jewelry... Yuri was simply not thinking straight.
Chaeyoung knew that Yuri had wanted her to spend more money on this jewelry. However, Yuri should have known that this jewelry was not worth it. Although the necklace was very beautiful, two million dollars would still be an extravagant price.
"Two million going once? Going twice? SOLD! The Harmony is sold to the lady in red." The auction manager said as he pointed at Yuri Park. "This is, by far, the highest bid that we had for the night, I would like to thank this pretty miss for her help. As I have said earlier, half of the proceeds will go to the charity organizations."
"Everyone, please give the miss in red a round of applause." the auction manager added.
Yuri gritted her teeth before getting up to wave at everyone. She faked a smile, sending a side glance at Chaeyoung, who was leisurely drinking her wine. Chaeyoung was not even looking at her.
Yuri angrily sat back and answered some question from different women, who initiated some nonsense conversation about the necklace. For some reason, they were not really surprised that Yuri could afford to buy the necklace, after all, she had already starred in many films.
Yuri took a deep breath as she tried to compose herself. Right, she was just affected by her hate towards Chaeyoung. She should have known that it was quite a stupid move. She tried to convince herself that she just made a wrong assumption due to her hate towards Chaeyoung. She clenched her fists and told herself that she should not be this impulsive in the future when it came to this woman.
Chaeyoung was a cunning fox, there was no way that she would go down without a proper fight.
Now, she would have to explain to Henry why she had spent two million dollars just for damn necklace. How hateful.
Who knew how many men she would need to sleep to compensate for this loss?
Only the thought of Henry Lee, made her more depressed. Henry might have introduced her to the people in the film industry, but he had never once treated her as a daughter. She paid for everything that he gave her, sleeping with different men and obtaining some useful information for Henry Lee.
Sometimes, she would even wonder, if Henry was really her biological father. If he was, then how come he was so rude to her and used her as a toy? Yuri assumed that maybe Henry just hated her mother, because he loved Claire. But as time passed by, she realized that Henry had never really cared for her. He only cared for his hate towards Chaeyoung. As for the reason of this hate?
Even Yuri was not aware of it.
......