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.

a half million from bidder

audience was once again astonished to see such a bid, and they

to count, “One and a half million going

before he struck the gavel and uttered the word ‘sold’, Tommy

spoke in a more excited tone compared to before. “Three million from

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

wondered why Jeremy was

the world

ordered calmly,

“Right!”

bid of four million by buyer

we do! Here comes the five-million

going even higher! We now have

for seven and a half million! Any further bids from the floor? No? Alright then. Seven and

was annoyed at the development. Her main issue at that

“Since this painting is very important to you, perhaps we can shift

her hand and shook her head. “No, I can’t just divert the company’s capital to my personal affairs. I’ll find another way to get it. We can let

had no choice but

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 a

buy that painting at several times more than its

Her mother had only painted under the pseudonym Nellie Nymphaea in her spare time. Despite being 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

the auction house came

even get to sit in this room?” one of the female

as Zoey, who had apparently taken up a job as a receptionist at the auction

side. She gritted her teeth in envy and yelled, “Bravo, Corinne! You made

Jeremy had just walked out of the room and was about to leave when he heard Zoey’s screech. He halted his footsteps at once and glanced coldly at

probationary period, but she was already speaking rudely to

personnel. He had

almost certainly heading for the sack that day, so she let all hell loose when she was taken away by the security guards and yelled out loud, “You’re a b*tch, Corinne! F*ck you! You made me lose my job twice now! It won’t be long before your man

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

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

there a Corinne here?” Jeremy shot Aaron

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

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