Chapter 3 – The man in VIP box two

Giselle’s POV

Annie had this smug little smile on her face, the kind that didn’t just sit there harmlessly but pressed against my nerves like it was daring me to react, like she was silently telling me to try her if I had the guts.

It rubbed me the wrong way instantly, something sharp twisting low in my chest as I frowned, turned away from her, and forced myself to focus on the auction instead of the irritation creeping under my skin.

“Twenty thousand five hundred,” I called out, my voice steady even though something inside me was already tightening.

“Twenty thousand six hundred,” Annie chimed in almost immediately, her tone light and careless, like this was all some kind of game to her.

That was when the irritation really started to build.

This wasn’t normal, not even close. That pendant had never, in any circumstance, sold for anything near this price before, and yet the numbers kept climbing higher and higher like neither of us was willing to be the first to back down.

It didn’t make sense, and it was starting to feel less like bidding and more like a silent battle of pride, and I was already losing my patience.

So I decided to end it.

“Thirty thousand,” I said, lifting my chin slightly as the number left my lips, my tone firmer this time, sharper, like I was drawing a line.

Behind me, Annie reached forward and tugged lightly at Ken’s suit, her voice dropping into something soft and almost pleading, but not quite enough to hide the manipulation laced beneath it. “Sir, I really need that pendant. Can you tell her to stop bidding?”

The audacity of it made something cold settle over me.

I turned my head slowly, fixing her with a stare that held no warmth, no softness, just a quiet, cutting edge. “It’s a free world,” I said, my voice calm but firm, every word deliberate. “No one has the right to stop anyone.”

For a brief moment, silence stretched between us, thin and tense. Then Ken turned slightly, leaning toward Annie as his voice dropped into a low whisper that he probably thought I wouldn’t catch.

“If she wants it, let her have it,” he murmured. “It’s not worth that much.”

Not worth that much.

The words didn’t just land, they sank, heavy and suffocating.

“But I like it,” Annie whispered back, her voice just loud enough, perfectly pitched so that I would hear it, exactly the way she intended.

Ken turned more fully toward her this time, his tone still soft but carrying a note of finality. “I’ll buy you something else. Just let her have it.”

I heard everything, every single word, and in that moment, the truth didn’t come crashing down loudly or dramatically. It slipped in quietly, settling into my chest with a weight that made it hard to breathe.

Ken hadn’t come here for me, not for this, and not for the pendant. Not for anything that had to do with me.

All those promises, those words he had said before, suddenly felt thin, insubstantial, like vapor that disappeared the moment you tried to hold onto it.

They had sounded real at the time, comforting even, but now they felt empty, like something I had imagined rather than something that had ever truly existed.

And what replaced that realization wasn’t anger, not immediately.

It was pain.

A slow, heavy kind of pain that spread through my chest and settled deep, refusing to move.

“Forty thousand,” Annie’s voice cut through my thoughts again, light and almost amused, like she was enjoying every second of this.

I drew in a slow breath, steadying myself, forcing the emotion back down where it couldn’t show on my face.

That pendant wasn’t just some random piece of jewelry.

It was mine, my heirloom.

Something that carried meaning far beyond its price, tied to memories I wasn’t ready to let go of. I wasn’t willing to lose, not like this, not to her, and not to anyone.

I was about to raise my paddle again, already forming the number in my mind, when suddenly the lights from the VIP box on the second floor flickered on, drawing everyone’s attention upward in unison.

And then a voice, calm and authoritative, cut cleanly through the room. “Two million dollars.”

For a second, I thought I had misheard, but the stunned silence that followed told me I hadn’t.

The entire hall froze, the air fluctuating instantly as whispers began to ripple through the crowd, disbelief written on every face. Only the elite, the truly powerful, had access to those VIP boxes, and anyone bidding from there wasn’t just wealthy, they were untouchable.

Whoever had just spoken wasn’t ordinary. I felt it without needing to see them.

“We both lost,” Annie said from behind me, her tone laced with amusement, like she found the whole thing entertaining.

My chest tightened again, but this time it wasn’t just pain, but something sharper, more focused.

Determination.

I didn’t care who was in that VIP box, didn’t care how powerful or untouchable they were supposed to be, I was going to find them, and one way or another, I was going to get that pendant back.

“Going once, going twice,” the MC’s voice rang out, pulling everyone’s attention back to the stage as the tension in the room thickened.

No one spoke.

No one dared to compete with that number.

“The jade pendant is sold for two million dollars.”

The finality of it echoed through the hall, sealing the outcome in a way that made my chest feel even heavier.

I watched as a waiter carefully lifted the pendant, placing it on a velvet pillow like it was some kind of prized trophy, and without hesitating, started moving.

Her heels clicked softly against the polished floor as she made her way toward the VIP section, my heartbeat loud in my ears, each step driven by a single, unwavering thought.

I needed that pendant back, needed to see who had taken it. But just as she got closer, something unexpected happened.

The waiter didn’t turn toward the stairs leading up to the VIP box.

Instead, she turned toward me, confusion knitting my brows as she approached, the pendant still resting on the pillow in her hands.

And then I saw him.

Tall, striking, dressed entirely in black, his presence commanding in a way that made everything else seem to fade into the background. His features were sharp, perfectly defined, the kind of face that didn’t just attract attention but held it effortlessly.

For the longest time, I had thought Ken was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

But standing there now, looking at this man, I realized just how wrong I had been.

Ken didn’t even come close.

“Congratulations, ma’am,” the waiter said, stopping in front of me.

I blinked, the words not quite registering at first, confusion settling deeper as I looked from the pendant to him, then past him to the man standing just behind.

My gaze lifted, meeting a pair of dark eyes that felt dangerous, intense, like they could see far more than they should.

Commanding, domineering, unyielding. I hesitated, my voice quieter now, uncertain despite myself. “There must be a mistake…”

The man stepped forward slightly, his presence immediately closing the distance between us in a way that made the air feel heavier, thicker.

Then he spoke, his voice low, smooth, and certain, leaving no room for doubt. “It’s for you.”

Instinctively, I swept my gaze towards Ken, and the darkness in there, was something I’d never seen before.