The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 278

“Patricia, you can relax now,” Anne said, letting out a long breath. “Looks like the other bidder has backed off. The diamond is yours.”

She was so relieved. Honestly, she’d been holding her breath, terrified Patricia was about to blow her entire secret stash just to win.

“One hundred ninety million, going...”

The whole room was hanging on the auctioneer’s words, waiting for him to bring down the gavel. That’s when, from the VIP section upstairs, the bidding alert chimed again. Not just once—three times in a row.

Everyone knew what that meant. If someone pressed the bidding button three times in succession, they could skip the normal ten-million increments and go straight to a much higher offer.

One hundred ninety million was already a number that made even the richest people in the room feel broke. It was way beyond what anyone had expected, and most assumed no one would dare raise it again. But here it was... a surprise contender jumping in at the last moment. Not just raising by ten million, but clearly going much higher. It was obvious now—the diamond would easily break two hundred million.

Patricia had been seconds away from celebrating. Now, she just stared at the glowing number on the board, stunned. “Bidder number nine? Where did they even come from?”

Anne didn’t say a word. She wished she hadn’t sounded so sure a second ago. The diamond suddenly felt out of reach.

“Bidder number nine, please enter your offer!” The auctioneer, fidgeting with a tissue, wiped sweat from his forehead. His hands shook. Before tonight, the most expensive diamond ever sold went for one hundred forty million. Now ‘SaKura’ was already at one ninety, smashing the world record. A price like this? Who knew if it would ever happen again.

In a private suite, Anthony sat gracefully on the sofa, long legs crossed, an electronic bidding device balanced on his lap. His eyes, dark and thoughtful, landed on Charlotte beside him.

“Lottie, what do you think? How much should I bid?”

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