Chapter 205
Mandy also recognized that the person who just bid one million dollars was John. She thought to herself that he must be trying to buy the ring back to give to Rachel. She muttered, "He won't succeed!"
"One million two hundred thousand dollars!" Mandy raised her paddle again.
Ethan, standing next to her, twitched and quickly stopped her. "That's enough, Mandy. Don't raise the price any further. This ring isn't worth one million two hundred thousand dollars."
"I don't care. I just don't want Rachel to get it." Mandy bit her lip, her eyes red as she spoke.
Ethan frowned, wanting to say something, but another male voice interrupted, "One million five hundred thousand dollars!"
Rachel's face lit up with a hint of joy. "It's Robert!"
"I know it's him." John nodded, then raised his paddle. "One million seven hundred thousand dollars."
Mandy hated John and the man who bid one million five hundred thousand dollars. They were clearly against her.
"Two million dollars!" Mandy clenched her paddle tightly, gritting her teeth as she added three hundred thousand dollars.
The crowd was in an uproar.
In the second-floor box, Michael frowned deeply, full of confusion. He thought, 'What is Mandy up to? Why is she so fixated on this ring?'
"Three million dollars!" Michael pressed the button.
The auctioneer gasped, announcing the bid with a trembling voice.
The crowd was once again in awe. They wondered, 'A million-dollar increase in one bid. Who is this wealthy person?'
Everyone looked towards box number one by the stairs. Ethan squinted, starting to suspect that Michael was inside.
Ethan was very displeased that Michael didn't allow him into the box. After all, he was Michael's future father-in-law. Wasn't Michael afraid of offending him?
"Three million five hundred thousand dollars!" John raised the bid again.
Immediately, Robert's voice followed, "Four million dollars."
"Four million five hundred thousand dollars!" Joseph, who had been silent, suddenly joined the bidding war.
Rachel shook her head repeatedly. "You're all crazy!"
"Don't worry, Rachel. Can't you see we're not really planning to buy this ring? We're just messing with Mandy." John waved his paddle, smiling.
Rachel glared at him. "Of course, I guessed that. But there's someone else on the second floor. People who sit in boxes at auctions are not ordinary. We can't afford to offend them. If that person ends up buying the ring instead of Mandy, your malicious bidding will surely offend them."
"Don't worry. We already know. The heir of this auction house is my college classmate. I've already found out that the person in the number one box is Michael."
John pouted. "Michael and Mandy are on the same side, so no matter who we mess with, we win."
Rachel was stunned. "Michael?"
"Yeah." John nodded.
Rachel bit her lip, her mind in turmoil. She thought, 'So it is Michael who is bidding against Mandy from the start. Why's Michael bidding on this ring? For Mandy?' Rachel shook her head, dismissing the thought.
People didn't usually give their ex-wife's wedding ring to their current girlfriend, so he must have had another purpose. She couldn't figure it out and didn't want to. She'd long since given up on the ring and didn't care what others did with it.
"Five million dollars!" In the second-floor box, Michael bid again.
Mandy was about to raise her paddle, but Ethan firmly held her down, glaring at her with a dark expression. "If you dare to raise the bid again, you'II regret it," he warned.Ethan thought, 'This is simply outrageous! Even if she's jealous of Rachel, she can't behave like this.'
In the end, Mandy had no choice but to compromise and watch helplessly as the ring was auctioned off to someone else.
The crowd was abuzz with discussion, wondering if the buyer on the second floor had lost their mind for spending five million dollars on an old ring.
The ring was swiftly delivered to the second floor. Michael gazed at it in the black velvet, his eyes deep and unreadable. When Rachel left the Smith family, the ring was the only thing she took. Now, even that had returned to him. From now on, Rachel would have nothing of his. Thinking this, Michael clenched the ring tightly, a sharp pain piercing his heart.
The auction soon ended, and everyone got up to leave the venue, heading to the banquet hall upstairs.
After everyone downstairs had left, Michael finally got up from the sofa, leaning on his cane as he walked out of the box.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw Ethan and Mandy approaching.
Mandy's eyes widened in disbelief. "Michael, was it really you who bought that ring?"
"Yes." Michael's eyes flickered as he admitted openly.
Even a brief investigation would reveal that the person in Box One bought it, so he had nothing to hide.
"Why?" Mandy's eyes instantly welled up with tears. She bit her lip and looked at him as if he had wronged her. "Why did you buy that ring? Are you planning to give it back to Rachel?"
Ethan also stared intently at Michael.
Michael frowned. "No, this ring has the Smith family crest engraved inside, so it can't be circulated."
That was indeed one of his reasons for buying it.
Another reason was that he didn't want anyone else to have this ring. The thought of the ring possibly ending up with John, Joseph, or some other man made him inexplicably angry.
Mandy didn't know Michael's thoughts. Hearing his explanation, her tears stopped immediately. "Really?"
Michael took out the ring and handed it to her. "You can check."
Mandy actually took it and examined it closely.
Michael pursed his lips. Though he had offered, watching her do it felt like an eyesore—a clear sign of her distrust. She had once said she'd trust him, but now he realized she never truly had.
Just as he was thinking this, he heard Mandy's surprised voice, "It really does."
Michael collected his thoughts and said calmly, "Of course."
"Sorry, Michael. I misunderstood you. I thought you were going to give it to Rachel." Mandy returned the ring to Michael.
Ethan laughed heartily. "Glad we cleared up the misunderstanding."
Michael took the ring, responded, and then instinctively wiped the inside of the ring with his thumb.
After wiping, he was shocked to realize that he was actually disgusted by Mandy touching the ring.
"Michael?" Mandy waved her hand in front of him.
Michael snapped back to reality. "What is it?"
"I was just about to ask you what's wrong. You suddenly zoned out." Mandy looked at him and asked.
Michael said calmly, "Nothing, just thinking about some things. By the way, Mandy, why did you bid on this ring?" He put the ring back in his pocket, his eyes scrutinizing Mandy.
Mandy lowered her head in grievance. "It's because you wouldn't give me a ring now, saying you'd wait until we got married. So when I saw the ring Rachel donated and remembered you had one too, I wanted to buy it to match yours."
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