The Killer Queen by Noella Briony

Chapter 14

The auctioneer was all chuckles as he wielded the tiny gavel.

“Up next, an open piece of Intel: Cerulean Whale’s launching a crackdown on Obelisk Organization and Abyssal Organization, and they’re stirring the pot in Imperial City.

Starting bid: three million dollars.

Sure, the headline was on the house, but if they wanted the nitty–gritty, they got to bid.

Noella couldn’t care less about Cerulean Whale gunning for her crew. Bring it on, who’s eating who was still up in the air.

She had been knee–deep in the gem gambling biz for the past couple of years, letting her hitman outfit grow like wildfire, and without much fuss, it became one of the deep web’s big three.

What piqued her interest was Cerulean Whale’s shenanigans in Imperial City, and if she wasn’t barking up the wrong tree, it likely involved Marcel.

She had to snag this info!

Cerulean Whale attacked Marcel right under her nose, could she even show her face around?

Noella raised her paddle. “Three million and ten grand, name’s Wise Fool.”

The crowd was like, “Say what now?”

Three million and ten grand was chump change, but that moniker made everyone else put their paddles down!

Even the auctioneer was speechless.

They were hoping to rake in tens of millions for this juicy tidbit, but with Wise Fool in the house, who would dare to bid against her?

In VIP Room No. 9, Palmer was taken aback, setting his paddle aside,as well.

Looked like it was her he was up against earlier. Since she was interested in that last piece of intel, his three million wasn’t spent in vain.

With that thought, Palmer leaned back, a sly grin spreading across his face.

He had scoured every nook and cranny of the Radi Building for Noella to no avail. Wise Fool wasn’t one to be easily tracked down.

With Wise Fool throwing her hat in the ring, the room went quiet as a mouse, letting her walk away with the news.

“Congrats to Wise Fool. Sold for three million and ten grand!”

The auctioneer was grinning from ear to ear. “Up next, a little freebie for y’all: Gemstone

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Chapter 14

Gambling King is teaming up with some families for a public gem gamble next month. Don’t

miss out.”

Noella was confused.

in a mystery, whose casual toss of a rock always turned out to

appearance? News to

to the message center, swiped her card,

Whale is sending a hitman after General Marcel again tomorrow, the price

a squeaky–clean yet beat–up Volkswagen was about as low–profile as it gets, clearly showing its

as soon as she

over, his refined and handsome face all lit up with a welcoming

bit surprised, Noella approached and quipped, “What, you moonlighting as

was momentarily frozen, his smile stiffening before meeting Noella’s skeptical gaze. Those eyes of his

his ride, recalling the info she had

tangled in

well to survive the cutthroat underworld

if I give you a

ride, and it would be a nice gesture to support Palmer’s “side hustle“,

got a welcome gift for you, in case you

not know how to

would give welcome gifts after they had already met a few

box with the intel. “Take a

all that cash on this? How many Ubers do you need to drive

new. Palmer felt a mixed bag of emotions, hinting, “I’ve got

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Chapter 14

head honcho of Abyssal Organization. He could make a killing with just one job on the

me? What if I don’t want to

brings. If it makes you happy, that’s its true value. Everything else is just

just to

hands holding the box

splurge like this

I never gave gifts to

hadn’t meant to stir up sad memories and quickly

fine. So, does my gift

Noella was dumbstruck.

asks that kind of thing

got presents

from the slums didn’t get the concept of subtlety? Did they have to wear all their emotions

were straight shooters, always fearing they might not get

stifled the oddly exhilarating flutter in

“Yeah, happy.”

Noella, feeling her face heat up, quickly looked

it’s getting hot in

her message box right

person who had dealings