Caleb stifled a laugh as he listened to Katherine"s astounding remarks against Lexi. He wanted to give her a slow clap but that would just attract a lot of attention — and he was definitely going to tell Damien about this.
Lexi Jin"s body shook in anger. She was so ready to slap Katherine but just as she stepped forward and raised her hand, Caleb strategically placed himself in front of Katherine. At the same time, William pulled Lexi to stop her from doing something more stupid just when Damien came back who glared at Lexi.
"What the h.e.l.l do you think you"re doing?" Damien asked under his breath, trying not to raise his voice.
Lexi lowered her hand and paled, "I… I wasn"t… I didn"t…"
"May I remind you, Ms. Jin, we are at a charity gala. We are here for a cause, so don"t bring your rubbish att.i.tude in here if you don"t want to humiliate yourself further. Take a look around you."
Just as Damien said those words, Lexi looked left and right and saw the stares of people around them in the VIP section.
"Excuse me, Ms. Jin, can you come with me to the backstage? The auction is about to start," said one of the event organizers.
Lexi shot a glare at Katherine who only looked at her with an emotionless expression before she left with the staff and headed towards the backstage.
William inched slightly closer and told Damien, "I apologize on behalf of Lexi"s behavior. That was rude of her, please don"t take it to heart. I will talk to her later."
Damien only spared him a glance before he turned to face Katherine. "Let"s go over there, the auction is about to start."
Nodding, Katherine hooked her arm in Damien"s and walked with him to the front of the runway where the auction was going to be held.
William watched as the three of them walked away and a knowing smile slowly appeared on his face as though he had something planned. Hearing what Katherine said to Lexi earlier, it made him like her more. She was such a headstrong person and he hadn"t met a lot of women like her. She was such a treasure. And he wanted to get his hands on her.
The main part of that night"s event was the auction, one which everyone was antic.i.p.ating for. In the brightly lit hall, guests crowded the center as they were excited to see their favorite items that were up for bid. There were varieties of items from apparel to antiques, and jewelry.
The host started his introduction by welcoming everyone who was present and informing them of how the auction would be carried out and where the proceeds would go to. When everyone who wanted to join the auction had taken their bidding paddles, they went to find their place in front of the runway and waited patiently for the auction to start.
"Have you set your eyes on something you want among the auctioned items?" Damien asked Katherine.
She shook her head, "I"m not very much fond of jewelry and I wouldn"t wear couture fas.h.i.+on as well."
Nodding, Damien placed his hand on the small of her back. "Okay, let"s just enjoy the auction. There were some pieces added earlier, maybe we"ll find something we will like then."
The two exchanged smiles and Katherine replied with a snort as she faced the auctioneer, "I doubt I will even find something that will cost within my salary."
Caleb slightly leaned in to b.u.t.t in, "Don"t worry, Katherine, the man standing next to you is Mr. Money Bags. All you have to do is say the word and he"ll buy anything and everything you want."
Heat crept up Katherine"s nape and she turned her head to Damien whose attention was now at the auctioneer.
Actually, Mr. Money Bags Damien Park heard Caleb loud and clear but he pretended that he didn"t. "He"s right though, Kitten."
Everyone"s attention was caught when the auctioneer started to chant in the bidding of the first item.
Sometime later, there were already 11 items auctioned. Some finished fast while others were quite an interesting battle.
"The next item we have for bidding is courtesy of Old Madame Park who graciously put up one of her treasured jewelry. A fine piece of necklace that has a gold chain with a series of circular-cut diamond snowflakes along the borders of the band..." the auctioneer described the details of the piece while Lexi Jin stood tall and proud on the stage with the necklace around her neck.
Lexi looked over where Katherine and Damien were and secretly wished that he would take notice of her — After all, the necklace belonged to his grandmother.
"The estimated price of this piece is around $1,050,000… The bidding starts at $500,000…" the auctioneer announced. And as he started to chant, paddles were raised from left and right, making Katherine feel out of place, seeing that a lot of people around her were willing to spend so much.
Katherine became even more surprised when Damien raised his paddle and said, "Six hundred thousand."
She coughed and cleared her throat, not knowing how to feel about the whole thing. Money was flying everywhere and she could only dream of having even just a tenth of those.
In Lexi"s eyes, Damien was not bidding for the necklace but rather "her". So whenever she saw Damien raising his paddle, her heart fluttered.
Together with Damien, William and a few other guests were bidding as well.
Just when the bid was at $900,000, Nana came to Damien"s side. "Are you really going to buy that c.r.a.p?"
Her words startled Damien. "Nana, why did you auction that? Wasn"t that one of your favorites?"
Nana snortled, "I hated that thing. I never liked wearing it. It was a gift from my old lover… that happened before your grandfather, of course."
Knitting his brows, Damien was bewildered, "Why would you keep wearing it if you don"t like it?"
Nana looked up to him and stared as if Damien was the weird one. "Why… to show off, of course! One look at it and you"d know it"s expensive. But that thing"s heavy, I feel like my neck would snap."
Damien was speechless.
"I"ve been wanting to get rid of it but only had the guts to do so now," she added.
The bidding reached $1,060,000, making everyone gasp in awe and that made Lexi feel so happy.
Hearing what Nana just told him, Damien lowered his paddle, withdrawing from the auction. The look on Lexi"s face drastically changed upon seeing that Damien had stopped bidding and her gaze landed on the trio talking.
"It is very pretty, Nana," Katherine complimented.
"Thank you, dear. It was pretty while it lasted on me," Nana chuckled.
"Seriously, Nana… first knitting, and now this jewelry." Damien shook his head, sometimes, he just couldn"t understand his Nana"s logic.
In the end, the bidding of Nana"s necklaced ended at $1,100,000, won by an old man from the other side of the room.
"Goodness. Who is that old schmuck who spent that much on that c.r.a.p?" Nana extended her neck to see who it was. "I"ll go over and see who it was, so I can laugh at his face. See you later love birds," she said as she slowly walked away.
Damien heard Katherine"s laugh. A sound that chimed in his ear and tickled his heart. "You look really beautiful when you laugh, Katherine. I hope you smile more often."
"Why are you being so cheesy all of a sudden?" She laughed some more.
He wanted to forget everything else and just kiss her right then and there but the sound from the speakers stopped him.
The auctioneer raised the mic to his mouth and started again, "We actually have one special piece that is up for bidding tonight. A few of you already know what this is because of the very recent rumor going on for this auction but for those of you who don"t know yet… why don"t I show you?"
"Oh, there"s another one?" Katherine turned to the stage in antic.i.p.ation.
Suddenly, the lights turned off and the entire hall became completely dark.
And in an instant, Katherine"s eyes landed on her gown and they widened in absolute shock. "H-Holy Sh-"
"Shhh… they can hear you," Damien whispered into her ear but Katherine was totally confused.
"Damien! Why is my dress glowing?!"
"Surprise..." Damien kissed her temple and the lights in the hall slowly turned into a dimmed one, allowing everyone to see each other under the faint, romantic lights.
Trying so hard not to yell, Katherine spoke under gritted teeth, "What do you mean surprise? This is… oh my G.o.d, I look like a glowing jellyfis.h.!.+ It"s literally glowing in the dark and everybody"s eyes are on me! Why am I glowing?!"
Katherine could not believe her eyes as she stared to take in the colors that lit in her gown: a combination of blue and green illuminated her skirt and it flowed nicely when she tried to slightly sway.
In the entire event hall, Katherine was the only one glowing.