A Warm Marriage After Rebirth
Chapter 76: A Thrilling Auction
"Relax. You’re Mr. Gallagher’s son. I might swindle anyone else, but never you," Seraphina Sterling said, gesturing to the sports bag on her back.
For the better part of a year, she had been visiting the antique stalls in town at regular intervals. Tollan Town truly lived up to its name as a thousand-year-old historic town, and she had managed to find quite a few valuable items. She was bringing out a portion of them this time, partly to raise capital. Her money was all tied up in the stock market, and Philip Hale’s business empire had been reduced to a single antique shop. To grow this antique collecting venture, she needed a huge amount of capital. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Sanford held antique auctions periodically, but as a high school student, she had no standing to enter her own items. That’s why she had set her sights on Felix Gallagher.
This was the second small favor she had asked of Felix Gallagher. She hadn’t given up twenty million in profit on that priceless piece of Emperor Green for nothing. In return, she received her own reward.
With a guarantee from Felix Gallagher, the nation’s largest jeweler, getting four antiques into the auction was a piece of cake.
Wyatt Gallagher was Felix Gallagher’s son and, one might say, the future heir of the Gallagher Family. Seraphina Sterling hadn’t expected him to actually show up at this auction.
Wyatt Gallagher could say he’d been keeping an eye on her. His old man had said her eye was wickedly sharp, that she could tell which raw stone would yield jade with a single glance! And she’d never once missed at the stone-selling conventions! That was already surprising enough, but he never imagined she had so many antiques on her. Four pieces, just like that. Wyatt Gallagher couldn’t help but wonder, ’Does her family own an antique shop?’
In an office on the second floor, two female emcees were nearly dead from anxiety. The auction was starting in five minutes, and they were still missing four lots. Something like this had never happened before.
"Sir, if those four items don’t show up soon, we’ll have to cancel their lots!" the lead emcee said anxiously when she saw Wyatt Gallagher walk in.
"They’re here now. Relax, they won’t be canceled," Wyatt Gallagher said, looking as cool as a cucumber, as if he hadn’t been the one in a hurry just moments ago.
The emcees watched as Seraphina Sterling walked over to the desk, opened her enormous sports bag, and took out the four items for the upcoming auction one by one.
A *jue* ritual cup from the Shang Dynasty.
A blue-and-white porcelain from the Song Dynasty.
A snuff bottle from the Ming Dynasty.
A Purple Clay Teapot from the Early Dynasty.
None of them had a low market value, but they weren’t the most precious items either. In an auction, these four antiques would be considered upper-middle tier—not flashy, and their prices wouldn’t be high enough to steal the show. But when you added all four together, the total price would be quite substantial.
The emcee who had been so anxious moments before now stared at Seraphina Sterling as if she were an alien. ’These are antiques! Antiques! ANTIQUES! And she just stuffed them into a sports bag and carried them on her back? Each one has to be worth millions! Together, that’s nearly ten million! Isn’t she afraid of being robbed? Or that she might bump into something and shatter them?!’
"I’ll leave these with you, ma’am. I hope they fetch a good price at the auction!" Seraphina Sterling said, ignoring the woman’s stunned expression. All she wanted to do now was find a quiet place to watch the auction and see how much her four items would sell for. ’Of course,’ she thought, ’the most important thing is to make sure that arrogant young master, Terrence Grant, doesn’t spot me. Otherwise, it’ll be endless trouble.’
"You should go down and get ready. Miss Sterling, this way please!" Wyatt Gallagher had seen right through her and led her to an office on the third floor. The office wasn’t large, but the view was fantastic. The third floor was all VIP rooms, and only people of significant status were invited to use them.
"I’m not really used to being called Miss Sterling. You can just call me Seraphina Sterling." ’That name reminds me that I’m part of the Sterling Family!’
"Alright," Wyatt Gallagher replied. He prepared some tea for her and brought over a plate of fruits and pastries, a faint smile constantly on his face.
"It’s starting!" Wyatt Gallagher said. Seraphina Sterling immediately looked down at the floor below. Suddenly, a bright flash of light glinted toward her.
’A sniper!’