Chapter 5

Across half the auction hall, Vivian Hayes sat ramrod straight, appearing confident.

Beside her, Liam Foster tried hard to suppress the smile at the corner of his lips, while also deliberately glancing at me. The three parts provocation, seven parts show-off in his eyes were unmistakable.

Suddenly, someone hurried towards Vivian, bending down to whisper something in her ear.

Vivian clenched her fists, abruptly trying to stand up, but realizing she was at an auction, she merely adjusted her collar and sat back down, saying something to the person. The person bowed and retreated.

Vivian looked at me again, still maintaining her forced air of defiance.

The host on stage had been deftly changing the subject and smoothing things over for three minutes. The audience below began to whisper, wondering what had happened.

Others didn't know, but I knew very well: forget "lighting up the night," if Vivian Hayes' card could even swipe one cent today, then I, Alexander Thorne, was worthless.

Just then, the same person scurried back to Vivian, this time with a look of difficulty. Vivian's face finally turned green.

The host on stage grew impatient, but maintained a smile. "Ms. Hayes, are you sure you want to offer one hundred billion dollars to 'light up the night' for Mr. Foster here?"

"Our staff here have already verified your funds three times, and your qualifications are insufficient."

"How is that possible! There must be something wrong with your machines! Yesterday, I had two hundred billion in my account! What's going on with you people?"

Publicly humiliated, Vivian Hayes' face was flushed with anger.

The staff member was equally impolite. "Ms. Hayes, we've verified it five times. Not only do you have no balance in your account, but my colleague from the credit department just said... that your account..."

"Said what!" Vivian Hayes snapped impatiently, watching the staff member stammer and cover up. "If you have something to say, say it clearly!"

The staff member's lips moved, and he said in a voice that was neither loud nor soft, "Ms. Hayes, the background check results just showed that your personal account does not have a balance of two hundred billion; instead, it has a debt of two hundred billion."

"And it's increasing at a rate of 5% per minute."

A ripple of gasps went through the audience.

"So this Hayes woman was a fake? And I thought I was going to witness true wealth today!"

"You guys don't know? This Hayes woman married up to Mr. Thorne of Thorne Corp to get her current wealth, but she seems to have upset the real boss recently."

"What? Thorne Corp? Then who's that guy next to her?"

"No need to ask, of course it's a love triangle."

Seeing everyone around them staring at her and Liam with strange looks, Vivian Hayes finally couldn't maintain her composure.

She looked over the crowd, her gaze fixed on me.

"Alexander Thorne, do you have to be so ruthless?"

Everyone followed her gaze and looked at me.

I felt a little helpless. I hadn't intended for things to escalate this much today. After all, me, the CEO of Thorne Corp, getting into a public spat with my wife at an auction, was truly undignified.

I scoffed. "Ms. Hayes, what's wrong?"

"Why did you freeze my cards? What's going on with my assets becoming debts?" Of course, she couldn't say those words aloud.

"Are you still angry? Can't you stop being so unreasonable?"

*Clap, clap, clap!* I clapped three times, unhurriedly standing up.

Since she insisted on dragging these dirty affairs out into the open, I didn't need to save her any face.

"What do I have to be angry about? Just that my wife wanted to use my money to lavish on her little boy toy?"

"Just that my wife, to please her toy boy, gave away my private island without my permission?"

"Just that my wife openly brought her toy boy to provoke me right in front of me?"

"Vivian Hayes, I actually admire you today. After all, a gutter rat, you managed to drag him into the spotlight."

Despite wearing sunglasses, some people in the crowd recognized me.

"Holy crap, it's confirmed! The real deal is here, confirming the other man!"

"The legendary Mr. Thorne! He's so handsome! Some women are truly cheap. She got tired of the finest delicacies and decided she wanted pig slop instead."

"They used to say Vivian Hayes was crazy for throwing away a rich, handsome man like Mr. Thorne for that guy. Today, I see it for myself. Tsk tsk tsk."

Liam Foster, listening to the whispers and chatter, fidgeted uncomfortably, unsure whether to stand or sit, but ultimately dared not say anything.

"Mr. Foster, do you still want this item?" The host smiled as he looked at Vivian Hayes.

Vivian bit her lip, gave me one last look, and before she could speak, two uniformed officers entered.

"Excuse me, is Vivian Hayes here? And Liam Foster?"

"Someone has filed a lawsuit against you for illegal appropriation of property and asset transfer. Please come with us."

The entire hall was stunned, then erupted into boisterous laughter, followed by small groups discussing the event.

The protagonists of the entire scene, Vivian Hayes and Liam Foster, watched wide-eyed as the officers entered.

"What are you doing? Is it you two? Why are you just standing there? Come with us."

The two of them had lost all their previous dignity and elegance, now looking tense and helpless.

Despite the clear displeasure on their faces, they had no choice but to hang their heads and slink away.

Vivian gave me one last look. She was always smart; she must have known what was happening.

I had been more than generous, after all, I'd warned her yesterday.

"Holy cow, instant karma for the cheating duo! So exciting! I heard the last person who went in like that got ten years!"

"I think that Vivian Hayes has a screw loose. She had a good life but chose to sing 'Iron Window Tears'."

...

"Didn't you say you'd get me a gift, huh?"

I nudged my friend beside me.

He snapped out of his stunned state. "Alex, you're a real silent operator! You kept this from me, didn't you?"

"This was just a side thing. You promised to bid on three items for me. Today, I'm going to make you pay dearly."

"Forget three! I'll bid until you're satisfied, Alex!"

Honestly, I hadn't really intended to do anything to them. It was just that the private island Vivian used to do favors on had a very specific variety of coconut trees, and only that latitude produced the exact sweetness of coconut water I liked, so I was quite annoyed.

24 hours later, Vivian Hayes returned home, looking disheveled and defeated.