Chapter 258 Flattery
Everyone had their eyes glued to Darlene, and she was feeling super embarrassed. Ever since she got that crazy skill to sniff out raw stones, she was always the center of attention, the big deal wherever she went. No way could she let anyone know she lost that mojo.
So, Darlene put on her best stern face and snapped at the appraisers, "How the heck did you pick these raw stones? You guys are totally useless. Not a single gem? Seriously? I thought I was giving you a shot to learn something, but you really let me down."
Her words hit the Spellscroll Group appraisers like a ton of bricks. They felt humiliated, pissed off, and just plain angry. They were pros, but to Darlene, they were just a bunch of nobodies. It was clear she was throwing them under the bus. Even though they were fuming, they kept their mouths shut.
They had busted their butts; expecting them to nail so many raw stones in half an hour was just nuts.
Plus, today was just a bad luck day. They thought they'd find some gems, but nada. This had never happened before.
Elizabeth, looking all surprised, said, "I saw you picking out raw stones one by one and jotting down a bunch of serial numbers. Was that all just for show?"
Matthew chimed in, "Looks like, besides you, the rest of the Spellscroll Group is kinda..."
He didn't finish, but everyone got the hint. He was stirring the pot, trying to mess things up between Darlene and her appraisers.
The execs and appraisers from the Ingram Group were loving it. Darlene had always hinted that their appraisers were trash.
Before, they had to suck it up because Darlene was the queen of finding good gems. But her attitude sucked; she trashed other companies' appraisers and now was publicly dissing her own team, making it hard for them to get jobs elsewhere.
Darlene shot a cold look at Elizabeth and Matthew. She replied, all high and mighty, "We at The Spellscroll Group aren't short on gems, so we let our appraisers practice. Losing a few million bucks is no biggie. I can easily pick a few raw stones that'll yield gems and cover it."
Elizabeth smirked, "Ms. Spellscroll, you're loaded; a few million is chump change to you. Are you gonna let the appraisers practice with the secret bids too?"
The secret bids had the primo raw stones, where the big bucks were spent.
Elizabeth was pushing Darlene into a corner, bringing up the secret bids. They were already submitted, so Darlene couldn't blame the appraisers this time.
Sure enough, one of the Spellscroll Group appraisers spoke up, "Ms. Spellscroll picked and submitted all the secret bids; we didn't touch any."
Another appraiser, with a bit of sarcasm, added, "With Ms. Spellscroll around, who needs us useless folks?"
They were waiting to see if Darlene could still hit the jackpot with the bids and find gems. She'd been the star for the past two years, not just because she rarely missed finding gems, but also because she always nailed the prices on her bids.
Since the bid numbers were already in, Darlene wasn't sweating it. She said, "Yep, I submitted the secret bids, so no screw-ups here. If you wanna see the results, just wait for the announcement tomorrow. Now, everyone can scram."
Darlene felt a wave of relief wash over her. She'd already picked the raw stones and submitted the bids. If she hadn't, she'd be in deep trouble.
Plus, she noticed the secret bids had way more high-quality and top-grade gemstones than the public ones. If she snagged a few big raw stones, their value could skyrocket.
'Hah, when the secret bid results drop tomorrow, it'll blow their minds,' Darlene thought with a smirk. 'Then, I'll take down Matthew and Elizabeth myself.'
Elizabeth said with a knowing smile, "Well, let's see Ms. Spellscroll work her magic again tomorrow. I'm really curious and can't wait."
Matthew added, "Yeah, me too. After all, Ms. Spellscroll had some pretty harsh words for us before. If she pulls off another miracle, as the head of the Ingram Group, I'll admit defeat."
He had a hunch that Darlene's past impressive appraising skills came from some shady means. Now, Elizabeth seemed to have cracked Darlene's secret. That was why Darlene bombed so hard in the public bids today.
Even though the secret bids were in, he could see Elizabeth was hyping Darlene up to the max, setting the stage for tomorrow's outcome to deliver a fatal blow to Darlene.. Of course, he had to play along.
With the two of them singing her praises, other jewelry company execs and appraisers who Darlene had overshadowed joined in.
If Darlene could still win all the bids, they'd accept it. But if she flopped, they wouldn't hesitate to laugh in her face.
They'd been robbed of gemstones and pushed around by Darlene too many times. They were itching for her to fail this time.
Even though Darlene was confident about the secret bids, she was still a bit on edge.
With everyone hyping her up, she didn't feel as proud as before but more irritated.
After a bit, the organizers called for those who submitted secret bids to come watch the unboxing. So everyone headed to the front hall.
Two staff members from the organizers opened the bid box. They pulled out the bid sheets one by one, reading the company names at the top to confirm.
After going through all the bid sheets, Darlene's face twisted as she asked, "Where are our company's bid sheets? Why didn't you read our name?"
The staff asked back, "Did you submit them into this box?"
Darlene, now nervous, said, "Yes, of course. We submitted them at noon."
The other Spellscroll Group members chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, we submitted them in the morning. If you don't believe us, check the surveillance."
The two staff members discussed it, and one went to check the morning's surveillance. After a bit, he came back.
He told Darlene, "You did submit the bid sheets in the morning."
Just as Darlene was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he added, "But you didn't actually get them into the box. They fell out, got stepped on, and were eventually swept away as trash by the cleaner."
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