Rebirth of the Deadly Beauty novel Chapter 260

After the host finished speaking, the hall erupted with enthusiastic applause.

Among those present that day were some of Riverdale's top families and business elites. Some were emerald collectors, others were purely here for charity, and a portion saw this as a stepping stone to connect with other influential families.

Everyone had their own motives, but they all shared the same goal—to bid for items they fancied at this auction.

Queenie attended because she had angered her grandfather, Oliver Thompson, during a previous banquet when she offended Gavin. This resulted in her shares in the subsidiary company being taken back.

Oliver had always been fond of emeralds and antiques, so Queenie saw this charity auction as the perfect opportunity to buy an emerald piece and present it to Oliver to appease him and regain her standing in his eyes.

"Today's first auction item is a Mother Mary statue carved from AAA-grade emerald. The raw stone was sourced from the Longhern emerald mine in Myaten and was meticulously crafted by the renowned Havarian emerald carver, Mr. Seinfield.

"It holds significant value as a collector's item. The starting bid is set at one million dollars."

The first item set the tone for the entire auction's price range. The subsequent items would certainly not have starting bids lower than one million dollars, so those who had planned to casually bid on something inexpensive quickly scrambled to make offers the moment the host finished speaking.

"1.2 million dollars!"

"I bid 1.3 million dollars!"

"I offer 1.35 million dollars!"

Queenie wanted to join in the bidding but felt that giving Oliver an emerald Mother Mary was somewhat lacking, so she refrained.

"Is there anything you like? I can bid on it for you," Gavin asked in a soft voice, leaning slightly toward Yolanda.

Although the host praised the necklace highly, no one placed a bid right away.

The necklace was indeed a rare and valuable piece, but most of the guests present tonight were middle-aged. Night Emerald's design was a bold, modern departure that appealed to younger tastes and differed greatly from the traditional emerald necklaces.

Thus, neither the successful businessmen who wanted to buy something to please their wives nor the wealthy ladies who loved collecting jewelry were interested in such a piece.

The only ones who might be tempted to bid for this necklace were most likely sleazy businessmen looking to buy it for their mistresses. But even if there were people like that in attendance, they wouldn't want to reveal themselves in such a public setting.

Hence, Yolanda, Gavin, and Queenie were the only present who were genuinely interested in Night Emerald.

Gavin, having already heard Yolanda mention this necklace earlier, had a pretty good idea of what she planned to do.