Chapter 56
The internet absolutely exploded.
“No–limit bid–is that what I think it is? Unlimited pricing!”
“Yeah, exactly that!”
“Holy shit, this is basically them going public! Nathan went this far for Vivian–completely ignoring Amelia, not giving a damn about her!”
“That tanzanite he bought can’t be worn immediately either. Making it into jewelry takes time, but she’s dying soon, so Vivian bidding on it was purely for charity.”
“I can’t imagine how heartbroken Nathan will be looking at that tanzanite after Vivian’s gone.”
“They should embed the tanzanite in Vivian’s urn, sob…”
“Vivian’s had such a packed schedule lately, she’s exhausted to the point of collapsing, but she’s so graceful. Even before fainting, she told the media not to speculate too much–basically telling them not to badmouth Amelia.”
“She’s so good, I’m crying.”
“How can someone be this kind?”
“Amelia, are you watching? If you are, get the hell out and divorce him yourself!”
“What can Amelia, some pampered wife who can’t even walk independently, compete with Vivian on!”
Behind the scenes, Owen Kim had his people jump into action immediately.
A post went viral instantly: The kind–hearted become angels to protect you–the term “saint” should never be stigmatized
The post detailed the beautiful love between the two and Vivian’s various good deeds.
Like: Vivian could be resting while sick, but chose to drag her terminal cancer body around for sick children.
Like: When Vivian could have used her illness to threaten and attack Amelia, she chose kindness instead.
Like: When Elena’s bidding forced Nathan to pay 25x the price, Vivian chose to defend Elena instead of attacking her.
It even threw in some female empowerment messaging, building Vivian’s image as non–traditional but kind and strong.
The post immediately caused a sensation.
Netizens cried over Vivian’s kindness.
So #Saint Vivian became a trending topic again.
Meanwhile, rumors started circulating online from unknown sources that Elena had attended the charity gala but made no donations.
The charity gala rules stated that while it was invitation–only, anyone who attended had to show heart (since there were items like sick children’s artwork and diaries that weren’t expensive). Otherwise, you were freeloading for publicity–and charity publicity at that. Extreme interpretation: donation fraud.
Showing heart could be done three ways:
1.Donor contributions–most auction items at this gala had donors contributing 70% of proceeds to charity.
2.Bidders buying items–though they got something, it still counted as contribution, not freeloading
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Chapter 56
3.Direct donations.
Usually, bidders would also do direct donations.
Nathan had bid on two items and made additional donations.
Of course, just donating without bidding, or just bidding without extra donations, was also fine.
If you did none of these three, you were pure freeloading.
However, this was just a rumor that circulated briefly without gaining much traction.
Most attention stayed on Vivian and Nathan.
Even when inside reporters published their stories later, netizens‘ focus remained on the couple.
On New York’s First Avenue, the Bugatti Centodieci roared past.
In the passenger seat, Vivian checked her phone messages with satisfaction.
Thinking, she texted Owen back:
Perfect. Keep the Elena donation fraud rumors small–scale for now, don’t blow it up. I want to use this against Elena later.
After receiving confirmation, Vivian put her phone away.
By now, Vivian felt like everything was under her control–she was unstoppable.
She kept replaying her recent moves, every step methodical and planned.
Her ego was through the roof.
Just then, the car reached Vivian’s apartment building.
The car stopped, but Nathan didn’t immediately get out.
Vivian didn’t move either, just looked at him.
Nathan paused briefly, then reached for the case Cavendish Group had delivered.
Vivian’s eyes lit up slightly. She immediately looked down so Nathan wouldn’t catch her reaction.
Nathan also bought that 6–carat Burmese pigeon blood ruby pendant. Will he give me that too? Vivian wondered.
Though everyone knew the tanzanite sold for 25 million, its actual value was only 1 million.
Compared to the tanzanite, Vivian wanted the pigeon blood ruby pendant more,
Not only was it expensive, it was finished jewelry she could wear immediately
Of course, getting both would be ideal.
But now that Nathan was making moves, she couldn’t just sit there.
Thinking this, Vivian pulled out her phone to transfer money to Nathan.
While operating it, she said: “Nathan, I only have 1.2 million on hand right now Let me transfer this first, I’ll figure out the rest later.”
That one sentence snapped Nathan back to reality.
His finger gently traced over the deep blue tanzanite, then he pulled out the pigeon blood ruby pendant.
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Chapter 56
“No need,” he said, handing Vivian the pendant.
“But Nathan, we agreed I’d buy…” Vivian looked anxious, like she was desperately trying to prove herself. “Plus I wanted the tanzanite, not this ruby.”
She paused, pushing the box back toward Nathan and refusing: “Nathan,‘ I can accept this. It’s too expensive.”
Nathan didn’t look at Vivian or the ruby pendant, just stared quietly at the tanzanite.
“The tanzanite is raw stone, unworked and inconvenient to wear.”
For some reason, Nathan lied.
He closed the case: “I think this ruby pendant suits you better.”
“Really?” Vivian’s eyes sparkled.
But Nathan’s gaze dropped slightly.
“Yeah,” he replied.
“So,” Vivian felt completely satisfied, her eyes glued to the pigeon blood ruby pendant, “did you bid on this pendant specifically for me, Nathan?”
Nathan still didn’t look at Vivian.
He looked out the car window.
Outside was the quiet night of the residential area, dim streetlights stretching tree shadows long.
In this scenery, everything seemed somewhat lonely.
“Yeah,” Nathan replied softly again.
In that instant, he suddenly understood.
Suddenly understood why Amelia had been angry over a month ago, when he’d said-“Nathan Harrison’s child deserves the most expensive diamonds.”
(18)
