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Chapter_101
As soon as the crowd heard that an emerald could be seen, they eagerly moved forward, crowding the stone-cutting area.
When the person in charge finally cut open the raw emerald, gasps rippled through the crowd. It was an AAA-grade emerald—rare and highly prized. The color was rich, a vivid green that dazzled the eye. The piece, about the size of a fist, was flawless—completely free of any impurities.
If it were polished and crafted into jewelry, it would be worth a fortune—at least 15 million dollars.
Kevin couldn’t believe his eyes. He felt like he was dreaming. Martin, on the other hand, was extremely excited. An AAA-grade emerald was a rare find, and discovering this one could be the key to saving the Garcia family from their current crisis.
Kevin never imagined that he could spend only 100 thousand dollars and end up with an AAA-grade emerald. When he returned to the Garcia family, he could finally hold his head high.
He couldn’t help but feel immensely grateful to Yvette. Without her, he likely would’ve returned empty-handed again, and the elders of his family would have scolded him for being a spoiled brat.
In the midst of his joy and excitement, Martin suddenly remembered Yvette, the one who had suggested Kevin buy the raw emerald. According to Kevin, Yvette had just pointed at the raw emeralds randomly.
Martin couldn’t believe that. It was impossible for someone to simply point at a random emerald and end up choosing an AAA-grade one. She had to be an expert in stone gambling. The fact that she handed the raw emerald to Kevin without bidding on it herself suggested that she didn’t care about the money. Who was she, really?
Martin glanced at Kevin, who was gleefully celebrating, and sighed. This foolish nephew of mine… Where did he get such luck? This girl… she might be our savior!
Later, they learned that Yvette and Jeremiah had entered VIP Room No. 1. After such a generous gesture from Yvette, they couldn’t just ignore her. They wanted to show their gratitude, so they decided to send over a bottle of fine red wine.
When Emmett returned to the room after handling matters outside, he found Yvette curled up on the couch, eyes closed, with her long legs draped over the armrest. She was covered by Jeremiah’s white casual jacket.
Jeremiah’s gaze lingered on the familiar jacket for a moment before he sighed. Didn’t Mr. Chavez have mysophobia? Normally, Jeremiah wouldn’t let anyone use his clothes—not even his own mother, the lady of the Chavez family. Yet, now the jacket was draped over a girl.
Emmett walked softly toward Jeremiah and whispered, “Boss, I’ve arranged everything. Our men have left the exhibition hall, but some of them stayed behind to monitor Caleb’s movements. If he makes a move, we’ll know right away.”
Just then, Yvette turned over on the couch, revealing her slim, perfectly curved back to the two men.
Emmett fell silent, his gaze sharp. He then withdrew his gaze, realizing that Yvette was truly asleep. After all, one’s breathing couldn’t be faked. Little did he know, if Yvette had wanted to hide her presence, no one would have detected her.
When Emmett looked up again, he found himself meeting Jeremiah’s icy gaze. It made him uneasy. Jeremiah fiddled with the coffee cup in his hand, his gaze soft as he glanced at Yvette’s back. Then he turned to Emmett and said, “Emmett, if you ever show even a hint of hostility toward her again, you can leave.”
Emmett’s expression changed immediately. Is Mr. Chavez dismissing me? He felt as though he had been condemned to a fate worse than death. He quickly bowed his head. “Mr. Chavez, I was wrong. Please punish me.”
Jeremiah set the coffee cup down with a quiet clink. The motion wasn’t forceful, but it struck Emmett deeply. Emmett knew Jeremiah all too well. He knew that if he showed the slightest disrespect toward Yvette again, he would be banished to Mysonna and never allowed to return to Betrico.
“Don’t let it happen again,” Jeremiah said, his voice low but stern.
Yvette, who had been lying with her back to them, slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear, showing no signs of sleepiness. She had woken the moment Emmett entered. As expected, Jeremiah and his men were also there for Caleb.
At 10:30 AM, the bidding officially began. The auction was split into two types: sealed bids and open bids.
In sealed bids, the organizer issued numbered forms where buyers could fill in their names and the price they were willing to pay for a particular raw emerald. Once the forms were filled out, they were sealed in a box. When the bids were opened, the winning bidder and their price were announced publicly.
In contrast, open bids gathered all potential buyers in one place. Each time the host announced a raw emerald number, everyone at the venue took turns bidding, with the highest bidder winning the emerald. The competition was fiercer in open bids, and every year, unexpected things happened.
The host of the auction was a young woman dressed in a low-cut gown. Her voluptuous figure and flirtatious demeanor drew the attention of every man present. She seemed to be used to this, relishing the gazes fixed on her.
She strutted up to the center of the exhibition hall, where a stage had already been set up. A table and a gavel were ready, with several burly bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses standing nearby, looking intimidating.
“Good morning, everyone. I’m Liza, the host of today’s auction. Welcome to Kransbay. Mr. Caleb Kerton, our chairman, has carefully selected these raw emeralds. I hope everyone finds what they’re looking for. You all know the rules here, so let’s not waste any more time. I now declare the raw emerald open bid officially open,” Liza announced.
The crowd burst into applause, their excitement palpable. The locals, who knew of Liza’s true identity, remained much calmer than the outsiders. She was Caleb’s most favored mistress, often accompanying him to important events. No one dared speak carelessly, for fear that Caleb would hold a grudge and cause trouble for them.
Once the crowd had been sufficiently hyped, Liza announced, “Now, let’s welcome the eldest son of the Kerton family, Bradley Kerton, to present the first piece of raw emerald for auction.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a man in his twenties, with slicked-back hair and a somewhat sleazy appearance, stepped onto the stage. Dressed in colorful local attire, he greeted the audience.
“Everyone, thank you for coming. I’m Bradley Kerton. I’ll be hosting the auction for the first piece of raw emerald. Our experts evaluated it and determined that it has an 80% chance of producing high-quality emeralds. I’m sure you know what that means. The bidding starts now at 1.7 million dollars,” Bradley announced.
“1.85 million dollars!”
“Come on! Mr. Hughes, 1.85 million dollars? I’ll go for 2 million dollars!”
“Hmph! I’ll bid 2.3 million dollars then!”
“2.6 million dollars!”
In less than ten minutes, the price of the first raw emerald had climbed to 5 million dollars.
When the bid hit 5 million dollars, everyone stopped bidding. The first raw emerald was eventually won by an emerald merchant from Mysonna.
Bradley couldn’t stop smiling. They had acquired that batch of raw emeralds at a low price from the mining site, knowing that only a few would contain high-quality emeralds. The rest of the raw emeralds weren’t anything special. After all, not everyone could be as lucky as Martin and Kevin, who had just uncovered an AAA-grade emerald.
On the second floor, Emmett’s phone rang.
