Rebirth Revenge Is Everything (Ariana) novel Chapter 163

Livid with jealousy, Quinn watched as the elegant figure of Ariana passed by and noticed her husband's gaze was still fixed on her. Annoyed, she snapped, "I'm right here, who are you looking at?"

President Xerxes looked at his wife's envious facade, and comforted his young wife, saying, "There's no need for you to compete with her. She came to this banquet alone, and probably can't handle those cunning and sly people. Just observe and you'll feel better."

"Let's go in and see what goodies are being auctioned today. I'll get it all for you!"

After hearing what President Xerxes had said, Quinn finally appeared somewhat satisfied. "Really?"

President Xerxes grinned, "Of course!"

After receiving a definitive answer, Quinn smiled and hooked her arm around his.

However, upon entering, she didn't find Ariana struggling against those cunning figures as she had imagined. On the contrary, she was conversing seamlessly with several business magnates, which enraged Quinn so much that she almost fumed.

At this time, the host on stage began to announce, "Thank you all dear gentlemen and ladies for attending, tonight is the 16th Charity Banquet in A city's business community..."

Towards the end of the auction, a painting caught Ariana's eye.

The artist, she knew, was a deaf-mute child from a decade ago, who had made a reproduction of a van Gogh painting. Due to his distinctive identity and exceptional artistic talent, the painting was appreciated and its value rose to more than 130,000.

The host said, "The starting bid for this item is 200,000."

Ariana raised her hand, "200,000!"

The host appeared slightly surprised as he looked at her, "200,000, do we have any more bids?"

"300,000!"

At that moment, Quinn's voice rang out from Ariana's left side.

Ariana glanced at Quinn in surprise, only to see her looking quite self-satisfied.

Ariana quirked an eyebrow, flashing a light smile as she upped the bid. "Three hundred and fifty thousand!"

Quinn retaliated, "Four hundred thousand!"

Ariana continued to raise, "Six hundred thousand!"

She then gave Quinn a triumphant smirk. Quinn was infuriated, her face turning an ashen blue. She couldn't believe Ariana lifted the bid drastically all of a sudden but refused to admit defeat. She could only continue, "Seven hundred thousand!"

The crowd was taken aback—they hadn't expected the price to surge from two hundred thousand to seven hundred thousand. The increase was truly astonishing.

Suddenly, a gentle and pleasant voice resonated, "Eight hundred thousand!"

Both Ariana and Quinn turned in surprise towards the direction of the voice. Ariana hadn’t expected to meet Griffin's warm gaze. She slightly hesitated, not expecting him to appear at the scene.

She frowned subtly, unsure whether Griffin was intentionally helping her inflate the price, or genuinely trying to buy it for her because he thought she liked it.

Seeing Ariana hesitant, Quinn couldn't help but feel smug. She called out, "Eight hundred and ten thousand!"

Ariana gave Quinn a subtle smile. "Mrs. Xerxes, I am quite fond of this painting. I wonder if you could let me have it?"

Quinn scornfully replied, "Miss White, you must be joking. I’m also quite enamored with this piece. Giving it to you is highly unlikely."

President Xerxes standing nearby, had the urge to caution his wife, "If Mrs. Stone likes it so much..."

In reality, Quinn didn't like the painting, she just couldn't stand Ariana and desired to outbid her.

"Indeed, although this necklace was given to charity by my mother, its story is much more mundane than that painting," Ariana feigned sudden realization, "I wonder if Mrs. Xerxes knows the story behind that painting?"

Quinn was stunned, she had not expected that the necklace was Ariana's.

Her expression turned somewhat ugly. She asked, "What story?"

Ariana smiled slightly and said, "A highly talented child artist produced this painting. His imitation of a Van Gogh piece became popular due to its uncanny resemblance. Moreover, as he is one of the deaf-mute children who benefit from the charity auction, the estimated price for this painting is about 100,000."

Feeling like something stuck in her chest, Quinn did not expect to pay 1.01 million for a piece worth only a bit more than 100,000. She was so angry her face was turning green!

"You!"

No wonder there were so many surprised looks at her at the time. It turned out that quite a few knew the painting was only worth over 100,000!

Today Ariana not only teased her but successfully stole everyone's attention with that ruby necklace. And she, Quinn, had become the joke!

Seeing her this angry, Ariana's smile only grew wider. "It's getting late, so I'll take my leave first!"

When Ariana left, she ran into Griffin at the entrance. He was waiting purposely for her.

Thinking of how Griffin deliberately bid higher to assist her, she thanked him, "Thank you for helping me just now."

Griffin half-joking raised an eyebrow, "What exactly did I help you with?"

She chuckled, "I don't believe you could see that the painting was not worth that much."

Ariana was also surprised that even Quinn could not recognize the true value of the painting, thus letting her play this prank.