"Fifty-five million," Charlotte's voice rang out through the hushed auction room, her paddle raised high.
The crowd gasped collectively. The auctioneer's professional mask slipped for a moment, revealing genuine shock before he composed himself.
"Fifty-five million to paddle seventy-one," he announced, his voice slightly unsteady. "Do I hear sixty million?"
I stood frozen, the blood draining from my face. Fifty million was all I had—all Sebastian had loaned me. The jade bracelet that had adorned my mother's wrist, the last physical connection to her memory, was slipping through my fingers right before my eyes.
Ivy's smile widened, no longer bothering to hide her satisfaction behind her façade of illness.
"What's wrong, Hazel?" she whispered, loud enough for only me to hear. "Can't afford it anymore? How sad."
Her words snapped something inside me. I wouldn't let her win. Not this time. Not with my mother's bracelet.
