Chapter 236 Significant Losses
Kaelen hated to admit it, but he lost this round. He had to cough up the 200 million. Without the video, his future was golden. With it out there? Toast. Compared to that, 200 million was chump change. No matter how much it burned, he had to pay.
"Skyview," Kaelen spat, his voice dripping with venom. "You're ruthless."
Skyview chuckled. "You have no idea, Kaelen. No idea."
Kaelen snorted but kept his mouth shut. If looks could kill, Skyview would be six feet under. If words could kill, Skyview would be history. But looks couldn't kill. Words couldn't kill.
Showing defiance now would only expose his weakness, and Kaelen wasn't about to show weakness.
The auction kicked off. "Now, I've been an auctioneer for thirty years," the auctioneer boomed, "and I gotta say, I don't get this next item. This USB drive. I can't for the life of me see how it's worth the starting bid of $10 million! Mr. Scott insisted on donating it in Ms. Link's name with that starting price, so here we are! Let's see what we can do."
"A mysterious USB drive, starting at 10 million! Minimum bid increase, 1 million!" With that, the auctioneer moved on, already thinking about the next item.
The crowd murmured.
"10 million for that? Who's he kidding?"
"If it was a million, maybe, just to meet the guy. But ten? No way."
"Just watch, no one's gonna bite. First time in Brighter Futures history we'll have an item go unsold!"
No one bought the hype. Then, cutting through the chatter, Skyview's voice rang out, calm and clear. "20 million."
The room went dead silent, then buzzed with whispers. So Skyview was buying his own donation. No rule against it, after all.
"Well, that's one way to do it."
"These youngsters and their games."
The rich folks chuckled, thinking it was just another rich kid trying to impress a girl.
Then Kaelen bid, and the room went silent again. Everyone knew Kaelen as Skyview's rival, both chasing Willow. They had no idea why he was bidding on Skyview's donation.
"Thirty million," Kaelen said flatly. He'd just called anyone who bought it a fool. Now he was that fool.
"One hundred million," Skyview shot back, his voice steady.
The auction turned into a two-man showdown, everyone else stunned as the bids skyrocketed.
'A 100 million USB drive! This is nuts! Unreal!' Everyone thought the same thing.
"Are they serious? Are they allergic to money or something?"
"What could possibly be on that drive?"
All eyes were on Skyview and Kaelen, the whispers getting louder. They were the main event now. The bids kept climbing, neither man backing down.
"200 million!" Kaelen finally roared, his voice cracking. "$200 million! That's it! Don't even think about it!"
Skyview smiled, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "As you wish." He stopped bidding.
Kaelen practically collapsed, gasping like he'd run a marathon. It had taken everything he had. 200 million, gone. The pain was almost unbearable.
The auctioneer was speechless. He'd never seen anything like it in all his years. A 200 million USB drive. It was beyond belief.
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