Page 43 of Thorns of Malice

Before I know it, the attendees are bidding on the necklace I designed for Ivy—the one Avery took credit for.

It's another thing I regret. I allowed my sister to give it to Ivy the night everything went down. It was a gift I put a lot of thought into and genuinely wanted to give her. Avery found it and challenged me to let her give it to Ivy the night of the party. I couldn't let Avery win, so I let her.

It was another dumb move on my part.

The bid quickly gets up to two million.

Ivy reaches across the table to Avery and grabs her hand, smirking. "It was the nicest gift anyone's given me. I will truly miss it."

Avery arches her brows, unsure what to say, speechless in a rare moment.

The bidding continues to go on. Bobby gets into the game, holding up his paddle. "Five million."

Murmurs are heard from around the room.

Dyer takes a swig of his drink, meeting my eye.

"Too bad you can't bid on it, you poor bastard," I taunt.

Lilly giggles. She holds up her paddle. "Ten million."

Gasps fill the air.

Avery holds up her paddle. She calls out, "Twenty million."

"That's it. Spend all your money," I encourage her.

Avery snaps her head toward me, glaring.

I finish my scotch, letting all of them fight for it for a while.

The bid gets up to fifty million between Bobby, Avery, and Lilly.

I finally hold up my paddle, calling out, "A hundred million."

Everyone in the room claps.

Bobby glares at me and holds his paddle up. "One hundred ten million."

"One hundred twenty," Lilly follows, then puts her hand on Ivy's thigh.

Ivy inhales sharply, then gives Lilly a look I can't decipher.

What the fuck is going on?

More panic hits me.

Avery moves her paddle up and then freezes.

"Come on, Avery. You know you want it," Dyer taunts, even though he doesn't know that she'll be broke if she does.

She stares at her empty champagne glass, breathing hard.

"Do I hear 130?" the auctioneer questions.

I hold my paddle up. "Two hundred million."

The room fills with louder gasps than before.

---