Farewell to Love: The CEO's Desperate Chase novel Chapter 104

The charity auction gala carried on.

More items came up for bidding—artwork, jewelry, rare wines—and the crowd kept raising their paddles, but the excitement never quite matched the earlier frenzy.

Emilia waited quietly.

Her fingertip traced down the list of auction items until she paused on one in particular.

And then—

"Our next item is a six-carat Burmese pigeon blood ruby pendant…"

It was Tyler's second bid of the night.

In the end, he won the ruby pendant for $2.8 million.

Emilia couldn't help a wry smile.

He hadn't changed a bit.

She remembered, just over a month ago, the things he'd said after learning the supposed meanings behind birthstones—tanzanite and turquoise. He'd looked her dead in the eye and declared, "It doesn't matter. My child deserves only the finest diamonds—like the Pink Promise."

She could almost read his mind now: *My woman is worth the most expensive gems. I wouldn't be caught dead giving her a measly $100,000 tanzanite. If she wore that out, it'd be my reputation on the line.*

Time slid by, and at last they reached the grand finale.

"This isn't a traditional auction item," the auctioneer announced. "These are twenty paintings created by children in need. You may bid on one or several. All proceeds will go directly to charity."

At a typical auction, the final item would be something rare and dazzling. But tonight was about giving back, so these simple paintings had taken center stage. Priceless or not, their meaning was what mattered.

Emilia studied the paintings but didn't raise her paddle—number 823.

Instead, she glanced at Christian beside her.

He understood at once. "See something you like?"

Emilia smiled and tapped one of the images on her tablet. "This one. By little Bella."

It was a picture of a cactus in the sunlight—simple, but for some reason, she loved it.

"Let's do one more! One, two, three!"

During the second shot, Tyler grew impatient. For some reason, his eyes drifted toward the far end of the line—toward Emilia and Christian.

The masked woman was leaning in, murmuring something to Christian, her lips curled in a gentle smile. It was a different expression entirely from the one she'd given Tyler earlier—softer, almost glowing.

*Christian's taste has improved,* Tyler thought, *This one's a lot better than the last.*

*Click!*

The second photo was done.

Hearing the shutter, Tyler turned his attention back to Vivienne standing beside him.

Vivienne, oblivious to Tyler's wandering gaze, was still busy striking poses for the camera.

"Last one! Eyes on me!"

Emilia, meanwhile, felt oddly cheerful.