Switching Vows

After our honeymoon, I wasn’t ready for the fun to end, so I dragged my husband to an auction.

Miss Zimmer, who always had it out for me, kept raising the bid. Not one to back down, I got caught up in the competition and pushed it all the way to 12 million, eventually winning the queen’s crown.

The room fell silent, and no one else placed a bid. Yet, the auctioneer kept staring in my direction, hesitating to bring down the gavel.

I glanced at her and realized she was a new face. I didn’t think much of it, assuming she was just nervous.

When I happily walked onto the stage, eager to see the crown up close, the auctioneer suddenly bit her lip and stepped back.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t take this item,” she said firmly.

I froze, stunned, my mind filled with questions. “I placed the highest bid. Why can’t I take it?”

Her eyes filled with tears, but her gaze was resolute as she looked past me.

“Mr. Quinn,” she said, her voice trembling, “you once helped me. This time, even if it means breaking the rules, I must return the favor!”

I turned around, confused, only to see her and my husband, Zac Quinn, locking eyes.

“Zac, what’s going on?” I asked, my voice sharp.

Zac quickly averted his gaze and wrapped a protective arm around me. His tone turned cold as he addressed the auctioneer.

“This is my wife,” he said. “Miss Smith, I suggest you watch your words.”

The woman, whose name tag read Jamie Smith, widened her eyes in shock.

“You actually married her?” she exclaimed.

Sensing something was off, I narrowed my eyes and looked at her.

“Miss Smith, you’re the auctioneer, and I’m the buyer. I just won this crown, yet you’re refusing to finalize the sale and are questioning my relationship with my husband. Care to explain what’s going on?”

Jamie gritted her teeth and tilted her head slightly, as if trying to hold back tears.

“Mr. Quinn,” she said shakily, “you once helped me, and no matter what, I have to repay that kindness.

“Your wife, Miss Green, has brought different men to our auction house multiple times, spending millions. I can’t, in good conscience, keep this from you.”

Her voice cracked as she began to cry, looking as though she had been deeply wronged.

I was completely dumbfounded.

Yes, I had been to this auction house many times, but the people who accompanied me were either business partners who needed my help or older mentors who had watched me grow up.

How had she twisted the narrative into this?

I pressed my lips together, suppressing my frustration, just about to speak up, when Miss Zimmer’s mocking voice rang out from the crowd.

“Well, well, Ria Green, I never thought I’d see the day you’d sink this low, dragging some old man along to pay your bills. This is hilarious!

“Back then, you strutted around like royalty, flaunting your family’s wealth and power, treating everyone else like dirt. And now? You’ve been kicked out of your house, your family’s bankrupt, and you’ve turned to selling yourself for money?”

Her voice was loud enough to stir the crowd into a buzz of murmurs.

“I heard the Green family laid off a huge number of employees. So it’s true they went bankrupt?

“Of course! If even their daughter has resorted to gold-digging, it can’t be a lie!”

I rolled my eyes and turned to a nearby staff member.

“Your auctioneer has maliciously slandered me and ruined my reputation,” I said flatly. “Call your boss over right now. I’d love to ask where you find employees like her.”