Meanwhile, the photos and videos of Nathan and Vivian from outside had already hit social media.]
Within minutes, #Nathan BringsVivianToGala was trending on Twitter-
“Holy shit, Nathan actually showed up, and he’s driving the Bugatti Centodieci!“]
“Called it–knew his date would be Vivian!“[]
“Exactly! Last time he went to ‘Voice of Heaven‘ was for Vivian. First gala in two years and he brings Vivian again–we all know what this means!”
“It’s all about Vivian!“]
“He’s showing her off to destroy Amelia! Hahaha, tell me I’m wrong!“]
“I’m totally shipping this… but did you guys see how stunning Vivian looked tonight?”
Soon another hashtag started trending:
#VivianBlackGothic Wedding Dress
“OMG, I almost forgot Vivian only has six months left. That dress she’s wearing is basically a wedding gown–a black wedding dress. I’m sobbing.”
“Right? Vivian probably dreams of marrying Nathan, but there’s still that roadblock in the way!“]
“Please, for real, Amelia needs to just disappear already. Didn’t you see Vivian collapsed last night from her crazy schedule? But she still wants to raise awareness for sick kids and donate. Amelia, how can you even compete with that?”
The Vivian worship went into overdrive, with endless sympathy posts flooding timelines.
…0
Inside the charity auction, Louie was doom–scrolling through the comments, absolutely furious.
“This is complete horseshit,” Louie told Amelia. “We never even invited Vivian!“[]
“A real charity gala like ours–why the fuck would we invite a mistress?”
“Look at the narrative she’s spinning out there! Wedding dress? I’m gonna puke! Our whole point is raising money for sick kids, bringing attention to their suffering, and now it’s all Nathan–Vivian drama!“]
Louie’s rage escalated with every word.]
Usually at these elite events, there was plenty of fashion competition and relationship drama, but as long as people actually donated, whatever.[]
Judge by actions, not motives.]
But Vivian’s stunt was absolutely revolting[]
Wedding dress bullshit, and Nathan–everyone’s acting like he’s breaking all his rules for Vivian.[]
What, is Amelia supposed to be dead?!]
“I’ve never seen someone be this brazen about being a homewrecker!”
Amelia appreciated Louie having her back, but they were powerless here.
Because Vivian had the ultimate trump card: Vivian only has six months to live.]
As long as she held that, everything was excusable.
Meanwhile, Nathan was also on his phone.
Scanning the trending topics, Nathan saw the media frenzy was reaching fever pitch.
He opened his messages. No new texts from her.[]
Nathan frowned. Signal issues?
Last time when he and Vivian left Harrison Group together, Amelia had staged that whole performance with Harper and Caspian.
This time, bringing Vivian to the charity gala–what would her reaction be?]
His message thread was still stuck on: Grandpa’s condition is bad. He wants to see you.
He scrolled up. Still nothing.
His finger hesitated for a moment. Nathan exited the chat, but immediately other notifications kept popping up.[]
Perfect signal. She just wasn’t texting him.
Nathan’s jaw tightened.[]
“Nathan?” Vivian noticed his mood shift. “Everything okay?“||]
Nathan closed his eyes, pocketed his phone, and when he looked up again, his face was neutral.]
He shook his head, but his hand clenched under the table.
…0
Time crawled as auction items were presented and sold one by one.
Donors set their own contribution percentages, and Cavendish Group liked to batch items by the same rate. So except for specially marked pieces, all donors tonight were giving 70%.
Besides the opening Ming Dynasty piece–at 50%, everything else was 70%.
This was a Cavendish auction–every item was serious money.
Vivian watched piece after piece go up but didn’t bid on anything because they were all expensive as hell.]
She wanted to maintain her “independent woman spending her own money” act for Nathan, but didn’t want to go broke doing it.[]
7
Chapter 42
Finally, near intermission, something caught her interest.[]
“Next up is a tanzanite gemstone. Specifications… After professional appraisal, this tanzanite is valued at minimum one million dollars…”
The auctioneer presented the deep blue stone.[]
Cavendish Group’s lighting setup was flawless, and this tanzanite immediately commanded everyone’s attention.[]
The stone was exceptional quality–absolutely gorgeous.
In “Titanic,” the Heart of the Ocean was supposed to be a blue diamond, but the movie used tanzanite for the prop.
Even uncut and unpolished, this tanzanite immediately evoked that iconic Heart of the Ocean.[]
As everyone stared, Amelia also looked over.
This was her gemstone. She’d sold it to Louie first so he could handle the paperwork before auctioning it.[]
From the moment she decided to attend, Amelia knew she had to contribute something. This was a charity event, after all.[]
If she just showed up empty–handed, winning over Grandpa Cavendish would be impossible.
That was her whole mission tonight.
This tanzanite wasn’t as pricey as most auction items, but it was respectable enough for an emerging artist.[]
And also…
Amelia’s expression darkened.[]
This had been the birthstone she’d chosen for the baby that no longer existed.]
When she’d acquired this tanzanite, she’d been so excited about the child’s arrival.]
But now…
After learning this charity was for sick children, she’d decided to auction the stone.
Consider it good karma for the lost baby. She hoped it was at peace.
Under the spotlights, the deep blue gem sparkled brilliantly.
“This tanzanite opens at 700K, with increments of…“]
As the auctioneer finished, a paddle shot up, followed by numbers on the digital display.
“Bidder 888 offers 800K.“]
Everyone turned toward bidder 888.
The 888 number wasn’t something just anyone could get.
Then they all saw Vivian holding that paddle.
Chapter 43
This was bidder 888’s first offer of the night.
Since Vivian was Nathan’s guest, bidder 888 was essentially Nathan himself.]
Amelia looked over too. Actually, almost everyone in the room was staring at Vivian.[]
The second floor had VIP seating with options–some seats were visible to everyone below, others hidden in shadows.]
Right now Vivian was in plain sight, while Nathan sat in the shadows. The crowd downstairs could only make out his silhouette, not his expression.[]
Louie knew this tanzanite was Amelia’s and why she’d donated it. Seeing Vivian bid on it made him want to tear her apart.]
Amelia’s eyes narrowed as she watched Vivian’s smug smile.
She’d planned to let this tanzanite go tonight, but it could go to anyone except Vivian!]
Meanwhile, at Nathan’s table, he glanced at Vivian holding up the paddle.
“Like it?” he asked calmly, his dark eyes unreadable.
Vivian nodded with a smile.
Nathan said nothing, just looked down at the sparkling tanzanite below.
He remembered seeing this stone before. It was early March when he and Amelia had spotted it together.
They’d just endured another round of his grandparents pressuring them for kids.
Driving home, their Aston Martin had passed New York’s biggest gem store, and she’d lingered on this tanzanite.[]
That early March night was still chilly outside, but warm inside the car.
He’d noticed her interest and asked the same question: “Like it?”
7
Amelia had just smiled. “I was thinking–Grandpa and Grandma are pushing so hard for us to have kids. If we got pregnant now, the due date would be December. December babies‘ birthstones are tanzanite or turquoise.”
“Seeing this tanzanite felt like a coincidence.“]
He’d looked at the stone again and asked, “What’s the significance?”
“Tanzanite represents love and eternity, turquoise means success and victory,” Amelia had answered. “If it were me, I’d lean toward tanzanite.”
She’d smiled at him: “Because I’d want to tell our baby that mommy and daddy will always love them.“]
He’d raised an eyebrow: “I’d rather they always succeed and win.”
Seeing her slight disappointment, he’d added: “Doesn’t matter. Nathan Harrison’s child deserves the most expensive diamonds–like the Pink Star“]
