Chapter 331: Chapter 331: Making Things Difficult

The auctioneer replied, looking troubled, "Our people tried to persuade Mr. Miles Howell for a long time, but he refuses to budge..."

Winnie Summers sighed with regret upon hearing this.

It had been so hard to find this jade pendant, only for the owner to go back on his word. The feeling of having something within her grasp only to lose it was awful.

Seeing her mother’s disappointment, Melody Summers said to the auctioneer, "Could you please see if there’s anything else you can do? Mr. Howell can name his price; we can afford it."

The auctioneer thought for a moment before proposing, "How about this? Mr. Miles Howell himself is in the VIP lounge right now. If you’re amenable, perhaps you could meet with him and discuss it directly?"

Melody Summers and Winnie Summers exchanged a look and nodded in agreement. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

...

Inside the VIP lounge, Kylie Walsh held a glass of champagne and smiled at Miles Howell. "Miles, thank you for your help."

Miles Howell waved his hand and replied nonchalantly, "Don’t mention it. It was the least I could do. When Miss Walsh asks for a favor, of course I’m happy to help."

Kylie Walsh offered a small smile, raising her champagne glass to Miles Howell. "To you," she said with a soft laugh.

Miles Howell also smiled and took a sip of champagne. He then leaned back lazily against the sofa, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Still... I’m curious. How exactly did that woman manage to provoke Miss Walsh?"

Kylie Walsh lowered her eyes slightly. "Don’t even get me started," she replied. "She’s just some country bumpkin who’s never seen the world—arrogant, domineering, and utterly disrespectful. She actually had the nerve to bully my niece, Zara... You have no idea, she drove Zara to tears..."

Earlier, Zara Walsh had been physically escorted out of the banquet hall by hotel security. She had never been so humiliated in her entire life. The moment she was out of the hotel, she tearfully called her aunt, Kylie Walsh.

Zara Walsh didn’t dare mention her own abuse of power for personal revenge or how she had withheld supplies from The Metropolis Residences. She only said that at the banquet, Supervisor Walsh and her subordinate, Ivan Warren, had had too much to drink and started an argument with Melody Summers.

Zara claimed that when she tried to defend Supervisor Walsh, Melody Summers slapped her. She added that even Ronan Rhodes, because of Sophie Thorne, sided with Melody and had security throw her out.

Kylie Walsh was both shocked and furious. She went straight to the banquet hall to find Ronan Rhodes and demand to know why he had disregarded the ties between the Rhodes and Walsh families to let Melody Summers bully Zara.

But she didn’t get to see Ronan. A manager from the Rhodes Corporation informed her that Ronan was with Mr. Rhodes and was not available to see her.

Kylie Walsh’s greatest ambition was to marry Roman Rhodes, so she absolutely could not leave a bad impression on Mr. Rhodes. She abandoned the idea of confronting Ronan and went to find the hotel’s owner, Carter Jennings, instead.

Carter Jennings received Kylie Walsh politely enough, but he immediately had the head of security produce the surveillance footage. It clearly showed that Zara Walsh had provoked Melody Summers first and that the hotel security had simply been following protocol.

To avoid any disputes, the guards who handled Zara were all female; no male staff had touched her.

In the end, Carter Jennings suggested that if the Walsh family could not accept the outcome, they were free to call the police. The Nimbus Hotel would, of course, comply with any legal judgment.

After watching the footage, Kylie Walsh knew Zara had started the fight, so she abandoned the idea of calling the police.

But she couldn’t stand the thought of letting Melody Summers get away with it!

’A low-class nobody like Melody Summers daring to strike a young lady of the Walsh family? I absolutely cannot swallow this insult!’

’So what if Zara was wrong first? A girl like Melody Summers should just take the abuse and keep her mouth shut! What right did she have to fight back?!’

Kylie Walsh was determined to get revenge on Melody Summers. But this was a Rhodes-hosted banquet, after all; she couldn’t make a move here. She could only plot in secret, planning to have someone ambush Melody and her mother on their way home.

While Kylie was mentally devising her plan for revenge, she happened to see Melody and her mother heading to the auction. She decided to follow.

When she saw Melody Summers win the bid for Miles Howell’s jade pendant, an idea came to her.

She contacted Miles Howell and told him to have the hotel reclaim the pendant and refuse to hand it over to Melody Summers.

Miles Howell was a friend of Kylie’s; he had designed quite a bit of jewelry for her in the past and was more than happy to help with such a small favor.

He agreed immediately after she told him about it.

Kylie thought with a smug satisfaction, ’This is the power of high society’s network. How could a girl from an ordinary family like Melody Summers possibly compete with us!’

’Anything Melody Summers wants, I’ll make sure she never gets it!’

’Of course, this is just a small lesson. Once Melody and her mother leave the hotel and get back to their neighborhood, I’ll find a way to send them a real ’parting gift’!’

Miles Howell scoffed. "You’re kidding. She dared to provoke our little Zara, and even made her cry? The nerve of her!"

Miles Howell crossed his legs, narrowed his eyes, and swirled the champagne in his glass. "Don’t you worry," he said contemptuously. "I’ll get revenge for you. When they get here, I’ll tear them a new one and then throw them right out!"

Kylie Walsh smiled, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Thank you, Miles. It’s a good thing I have you. Otherwise, that woman would have walked all over my niece and me."

Miles Howell swung his legs leisurely and scoffed, "Heh, you two are just too nice. That’s why people walk all over you. Let me tell you, you can’t be soft with these poor folks. Poverty breeds wickedness. The poorer people are, the more they’ll take advantage of any kindness you show them!"

"I don’t even know how they snuck into this auction. The whole family probably had to scrimp and save for an entire year, pinching every penny just to scrape together twelve thousand so they could pretend to be bidders... Hahaha, it’s hysterical! Offering such a paltry sum... That’s not even enough for us to open a bottle of wine!"

At his words, Kylie Walsh couldn’t help but break into a small smile.

She knew Miles Howell was arrogant about his talent and notorious for his sharp tongue and foul temper.

He’d even cuss out clients who paid him a fortune for his designs. When Melody and her mother arrived, he would undoubtedly give them a vicious tongue-lashing.

Kylie simply couldn’t wait to see him humiliate Melody Summers!

Just then, the auctioneer knocked on the door to Miles Howell’s lounge. "Mr. Howell, the two ladies by the name of Summers who won your jade pendant are here. May they come in now?"

At this, Miles Howell gestured for Kylie Walsh to hide on the balcony.

Once Kylie was hidden, Miles cleared his throat and called out in a loud voice, "Come in!"

The doorknob turned softly, and the door swung open.

The auctioneer led Melody Summers and her mother into the room.

Melody Summers frowned when she saw Miles Howell still lounging on the sofa with his feet up, not even bothering to glance at them, let alone get up to greet them.

’This Miles Howell doesn’t seem very easy to get along with,’ Melody thought. ’The rumors are probably true—he’s difficult to talk to and quick to insult people.’

’What if he just starts cussing me out the moment he opens his mouth...’

Melody didn’t dare let her guard down. She quickly marshaled her thoughts, preparing for a difficult conversation.

Winnie Summers approached Miles Howell and took the initiative to greet him. "Hello, I’m Winnie Summers. I’m the one who just won the bid for your jade pendant."

Hearing her voice, Miles Howell impatiently raised his eyelids and shot Winnie Summers an annoyed, sideways glance.

But in the next second, he bolted upright, springing to his feet from the sofa in a single, fluid motion!