Chapter 3

It wasn't long before the auction officially kicked off with an opening bid of seven million dollars.

Mason held up his paddle. "8.5 million dollars."

I raised my paddle without any hesitation. "11 million dollars."

Mason glared at me, clearly offended that someone he looked down on dared to challenge him. He gritted his teeth and raised his paddle, yelling, "14 million dollars!"

I put on a confident expression, as if I were certain to win, and called out loudly. "17 million dollars!"

I turned and flashed Mason a sharp, challenging glare after calling out the bid.

Mason took the bait instantly. He held his paddle high and looked down at me as if he had already won the bid. "21 million dollars!"

That bid was three times higher than market value, prompting the whole crowd to gasp and the auctioneer to freeze up.

I raised my glass toward Mason from across the room. "You've certainly got money to spare, Mr. Lund. Congratulations on buying such a great piece of land."

Hearing that, Mason thought I had given up because I couldn't outbid him. He raised his chin proudly and said, "There's a world of difference between our status, Caleb. How can you possibly compete with me?"

I remained silent and simply sipped my champagne with a smile.

…

Third-Person's POV

In the meantime, a cool breeze hit as the banquet wrapped up. Sierra was sitting in the back of her Maybach with the window rolled halfway down. She watched Caleb get into a cab and leave, staring blankly for a long while.

She realized that the Caleb from tonight was completely different from the one she remembered. He was no longer timid, and his eyes no longer held any warmth or affection, showing only cold contempt. She felt inexplicably irritated, so she impatiently pulled her scarf loose.

"Go run a check on him," Sierra ordered coldly, suppressing a flurry of anger and panic she hadn't yet registered. "Go find out who he's been in touch with lately and what he's been working on."

Her assistant, who was sitting in the front seat, nodded hurriedly. "Got it, Ms. Shepherd."

…

Caleb's POV

It was half a month later, and the bidding meeting for the Everstone Heavy Industries acquisition was held. Sierra walked into the conference room with Mason, suddenly stopping in her tracks the moment she reached the negotiation table.

I was sitting right across from the main seat at the negotiation table, with a nameplate reading "Skyforge Investment" placed right before me.

"What are you doing here?" Sierra asked, her expression hardening. She was stunned because she had been convinced that I had only left her to get her attention.

Her assistant quickly brought her information about my recent movements after the banquet. Her unaccountable frustration dissolved right away when she noticed that I had gone to Thea with that 4.5 million dollars.

She knew who Thea was, as the latter had also reached out to the Shepherd Group before. She lost her patience before even finishing the proposal and tossed it straight into the trash can.

She mused that a project that only consumed money with no clear returns was nothing but a bottomless pit and that only a fool would invest in it.

She was convinced that my investment in such a worthless project was just a desperate act to get her attention after I had hit rock bottom. She was certain that I would come back crying and begging her within half a month.

Yet here I was, sitting at the negotiation table instead, having become her biggest competitor.

Mason, following Sierra's line of sight, looked over and spotted me. He instantly yelled, "Get the security here right now! Why are you letting any random riffraff in here? Hurry up and throw this guy out!"

In that instant, two security guards immediately rushed in from outside the door.

Just then, Ms. Chase, the chairwoman of Everstone Heavy Industries, walked in flanked by a large crowd.

Hearing Mason's shouting, Ms. Chase's expression hardened. She pushed aside the security guards blocking her way and walked up to me with a warm, respectful smile replacing her usual stern expression. "It's an honor to have you join us today, Mr. Zimmer. Please have a seat!"

In that instant, everyone in the conference room fell silent.

Mason's smug expression stiffened right away. He looked at Ms. Chase strangely and asked, "Are you sure you've got the right person, Ms. Chase? He's just a nobody who clung to Sierra to scam her out of money back then! You shouldn't fall for his trickery, Ms. Chase!"

Ms. Chase turned around sharply with a cold look. "You have no right to talk down to Everstone Heavy Industries' esteemed guest, Mr. Lund! You can get out of here this instant if you dare disrespect Mr. Zimmer again!"

Mason was humiliated by the public rebuke and wished he could vanish on the spot. He turned around instinctively to seek Sierra's support, but Sierra couldn't care less about him at that moment. She kept her eyes fixed on me as a sense of dread surged inside her.