The Day I Kissed An Older Man

“Boss? Aren’t we going in?” Aaron asked.

Corinne was rooted to the ground as she watched Jeremy get out of the car and walk into Peakrise Auction House. With a frown, she said, “I saw someone I’d rather not see. Let’s wait a while before going in.”

Aaron looked in the direction of Corinne’s gaze. “That seems to be Jeremy from the Holdens. Do you know him?”

Corinne looked disgusted. “Not really.”

…

The auction hall was divided into upper and lower floors. The first floor was for ordinary buyers, while the second floor was for VIP buyers who did not wish to show their identity. They were granted excellent privacy and were identifiable by their room numbers.

Jeremy was in room one, while Corinne was in room seven.

After several unremarkable artifacts were auctioned off, a set of bronze pieces from this auction were carried to the display stand. Once the auctioneer gave a brief lecture on the background and value of the artifacts, bidding commenced at 1.5 million dollars.

“Two million!”

“Three million!”

“Four million!”

…

Eventually, the mysterious bidder from Room One managed to bid for the set of bronze artifacts at a high price of four million, which elicited gasps of awe from the audience.

Inside room seven, Corinne leaned lazily on the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief. Jeremy seemed to have been eyeing the set of bronze artifacts, and judging from the fact that he had already secured it, he would probably leave soon since there was no reason for him to remain there.

“The next piece is a posthumously published painting titled ‘Geese in Late Autumn’ by the famous impressionist painter Nellie Nymphaea. The starting price is seven hundred and fifty thousand!”

“We have a bid of eight hundred thousand from bidder number three!

“Bidder number eleven, nine hundred thousand!

“And now bidder number five, nine hundred and fifty thousand!”

Corinne raised her chin to give Aaron the signal that he could start raising his placard.

and a half million from bidder number

astonished to see such a bid, and they began wondering who the powerhouse behind the

half million going once!

and uttered the word ‘sold’, Tommy raised

bid caught the auctioneer by surprise, and he spoke in a more excited tone compared to before. “Three

number one raised the bid by that big an amount. Everyone wondered if the painting would spark a bidding war between bidder number one and

and wondered why

as her. “What in the world is

ordered calmly, “Bid

“Right!”

bid of four million by buyer number

do! Here comes the five-million bid from

is going even higher! We now have six million from

and a half

at the development. Her main issue at that juncture was a

painting is very important to you, perhaps we can shift the project funds to

shook her head. “No, I can’t just divert the company’s capital to my personal affairs. I’ll find another

had no choice but to heed

auctioneer sealed the deal with a knock of the gavel, and it was soon announced that bidder number one had secured ‘Geese in Late Autumn’ with

to see bidder number one spending six million to buy that painting at several times more than its original value. This

relatively well-known, she was not a particularly mainstream painter, and her works were not very popular either. Jeremy’s reasons for bidding such a high price for ‘Geese in Late Autumn’ could point to two possibilities: Corinne’s mother was either someone he

auction house

How did you even get to sit in this room?” one of

had apparently taken up a job as a receptionist

she spotted the handsome, well-dressed Aaron in a designer suit sitting to one side. She gritted her teeth in envy and yelled, “Bravo, Corinne! You made me lose my job, while

was so frantic and loud that the entire auction hall could hear it. Over at room one, Jeremy had just walked out of the room and was about to leave when

was already speaking rudely to the VIP buyers! Her actions startled everyone at the venue and left an extremely bad

over with several security personnel. He had

out loud, “You’re

Corinne was there. ‘That girl… She’s here? And she was the one bidding in room seven?’ He narrowed his eyes coldly and

house manager away after receiving an apology from the latter, and he was about to close the door when Jeremy’s tall figure

there a Corinne here?” Jeremy shot

was taken aback for a moment, then nodded with a smile. “Is

eyes narrowed slightly as he said in a cold voice, “Tell her