Chapter 4

Black Gold Auction House.

The moment I entered, I spotted Antonio in a prime seat in the front row.

Isabella sat beside him, looking equally arrogant.

Without drawing anyone’s attention, I followed Federico to a private box on the second floor.

The auction began soon afterward.

Bidding for the Medusa route opened at fifty million euros.

Antonio was clearly determined to win. Each time he raised his paddle, he increased the bid by five million euros.

Upstairs, I reviewed the report Federico had compiled.

To acquire the route, Antonio had emptied every overseas account he owned.

He had even persuaded Isabella’s father to mortgage three Capello family ports in North Africa.

He had five hundred million euros to play with that day.

The price soared, soon passing four hundred million.

Cassano was the only one still bidding against him in the room.

Following my instructions, Cassano waited until Antonio thought victory was assured, then casually added another million.

The drawn-out game of cat and mouse nearly drove Antonio to the breaking point.

"Five hundred million euros!" His face cold, Antonio raised his paddle through gritted teeth.

I watched the asset warning on the screen turn red. Antonio had reached his limit.

I raised my hand and replaced the yellow flag at the window with a white one.

Cassano caught the signal, lowered his paddle, and smiled mockingly. "You win, Antonio. I hope you can stomach what you’ve just bought."

"Five hundred million, going once, going twice… sold!"

Applause thundered through the room, and Antonio smiled in triumph.

He strode toward the stage to sign the transfer agreement.

"Wait." I opened the private-box door, amusement threading through my voice. "According to the rules, the seller may reclaim the lot for twice the winning bid before the transfer is signed. Correct?"

I stepped onto the stage and, beneath Antonio’s stunned gaze, snatched the document from the auctioneer. "In that case, I’m withdrawing the lot."

"Have you lost your mind, Ophelia? Twice the bid is one billion euros! Where would you get that kind of money?" Antonio stared at me in disbelief.

Five hundred million was everything he possessed.

But to the Moretti family as it stood now, one billion was only three days’ revenue.

I ignored them. From my purse, I drew a check bearing the wax seal of a Swiss private bank and placed it on the auctioneer’s tray. "One billion euros. The penalty is paid. The lot is withdrawn."

The room fell deathly silent.

The auctioneer accepted the check with trembling hands. After multiple layers of encrypted verification backstage, he drew a deep breath. Extreme shock sharpened his voice. "The check… is valid! The funds have cleared through the global real-time settlement system!"

Antonio’s expression changed, and he staggered backward. "No… that's impossible! The Moretti are ruined—the base was blown up! Where would you get that money?"

"Because everything you saw was staged. Nothing ever happened to the Moretti family." I stepped in front of him and looked down at him with pity. "Get ready to find out what the Morettis do to traitors, Antonio."