Farewell to Love: The CEO's Desperate Chase novel Chapter 98

Ten million!

Ten times!

The bidding had skyrocketed tenfold!

Everyone froze in disbelief. For two whole seconds, the room was silent—then chaos erupted as the crowd broke into frantic discussion.

"I'm still in!"

"Number 823 is really going for it—she's pushing Tyler to the limit!"

"My God, this is insane!"

"Am I witnessing history right now?"

"In all these years, no one's ever had the guts to challenge Tyler like this!"

The collective buzz was so loud it nearly shook the ceiling.

Vivienne glanced toward seat 823, grinding her teeth so hard she thought they might crack. She couldn't figure out what Serena, that mysterious woman, was playing at. Calculation flickered in her eyes. Turning her back to the room, careful to stay out of Tyler's line of sight, she pulled out her phone and quickly sent a message to someone unseen.

Meanwhile, Tyler raised his hand again.

"Bidder number 888 raises to twelve million!" the auctioneer announced in a booming voice.

"Twelve million! That's twelve times the starting price!"

"Twelve times! My God, how high will this go? Will 823 keep bidding?"

It was just a single tanzanite stone, yet the price had soared to twelve million. The room was in uproar, lights flashing as all eyes focused on the two seats on the second floor.

As the crowd buzzed with speculation, suddenly—

"This is price manipulation! This auction isn't fair at all!"

A voice rang out from the throng.

Price manipulation—deliberately driving up the price of an auction item, either through collusion or other abnormal means, to gain illicit advantage or harm someone else's interests.

The room fell abruptly silent, then exploded into fresh uproar as people craned their necks to find the culprit—but whoever had called out had already slipped away.

Spotlights swung toward the upper mezzanine.

A wheelchair was slowly rolled into view.

Seated in it was the unmistakable figure of Alexander Alexander.

He took the microphone.

"Everyone, may I have a moment?" His voice, though old, carried strength and authority.

Instantly, the uproar faded to a watchful hush.

"Bidder number 888," Alexander intoned.

Tyler looked up at him and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Bidder number 823," Alexander continued.

Emilia rose at the sound of her number. Under the gaze of the entire room, she stepped out of the shadows, moving to stand at the railing opposite Tyler—two figures, side by side, suspended above the crowd.