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Chapter 7
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2026-07-31 21:10:20A quiet murmur moved through the room as several guests leaned forward, clearly interested in the necklace. The auctioneer allowed the silence to linger for a moment before finally announcing the starting price.
“The opening bid is two hundred thousand dollars.” A quiet murmur moved through the room as several guests leaned forward, clearly interested in the necklace, and the auctioneer allowed the silence to linger for a moment before announcing the starting price. “The opening bid is two hundred thousand dollars.” A man near the front immediately raised his card. “Two hundred and fifty.” Another voice followed. “Three hundred.” “Three-fifty.” The numbers continued to rise as people competed for the necklace, and Claire watched the auctioneer move from one bidder to another until Daniel suddenly lifted his card. “Five hundred thousand.” Claire turned toward him, but Daniel didn’t look at her, his attention remaining fixed on the stage as though spending half a million dollars on a necklace was nothing unusual. The auctioneer smiled. “Five hundred thousand. Do I hear five-fifty?” A card rose from somewhere across the room. “Five-fifty.” Claire’s eyes followed the movement, and her stomach tightened when she saw who had made the bid. Ethan. Daniel noticed him too, and for a brief moment, something passed across his face that Claire couldn’t quite understand; it wasn’t surprise or admiration, but something harder to read before he lifted his card again. “Six hundred thousand.” The auctioneer immediately repeated the bid. “Six hundred thousand. Do I hear six-fifty?” Ethan raised his card. “Six-fifty.” A few guests began whispering among themselves as Claire looked from Ethan to Daniel, suddenly more interested in the bidding than the necklace itself, because there was something strange about the way the two men were competing. It no longer felt like two men who simply wanted the same piece. Daniel raised his card again. “Seven hundred.” Ethan looked toward him, and their eyes met across the room for a brief moment before Ethan calmly lifted his card again. “Eight hundred thousand.” A quiet gasp escaped from somewhere behind Claire, and the auctioneer’s smile widened as he looked around the room. “Eight hundred thousand. Do I hear eight-fifty?” Daniel’s expression hardened, and Claire turned toward him, studying his face as he stared at Ethan, because she had known Daniel for five years and knew the way he smiled when he was pleased, the way he frowned when he was annoyed, and the way he looked when something had caught him completely off guard, but this was none of those things. This was different. Daniel slowly raised his card. “Nine hundred thousand.” The room fell almost completely silent as Claire’s eyes widened, while the auctioneer looked between the two men, clearly enjoying the sudden competition. “Nine hundred thousand,” he repeated. “Do I hear one million?” Ethan remained still for a moment as he looked at Daniel again, his expression calm and almost unreadable, before his hand finally moved and he lifted his bidding card. “One million.” For a moment, the entire room seemed to fall silent, as though everyone needed a second to understand what they had just heard. A few guests exchanged surprised looks, while quiet whispers spread through the hall, growing louder as people turned their attention toward Ethan and then back to Daniel, waiting to see whether the competition would continue. Claire sat completely still, her eyes fixed on Ethan. One million dollars. For a necklace. She glanced at Daniel, expecting him to raise his card again, especially after everything he had said to her only moments earlier about wanting to buy the necklace for her and how beautiful she would look wearing it, but Daniel remained silent, his eyes fixed on Ethan with an expression Claire had never seen on his face before. The auctioneer looked between the two men, waiting patiently for another bid. “Do I hear one million one hundred?” No one answered. Claire could hear the quiet movement of people around her, but her attention remained on Daniel, wondering why he had suddenly stopped when he had seemed so determined to win the necklace only moments earlier. The auctioneer lifted his hammer. “One million dollars. Going once.” The room remained quiet. “Going twice.” Daniel still didn’t move. The auctioneer smiled and brought the hammer down. “Sold to Mr. Ethan Sterling for one million dollars. Claire stared at Ethan, unable to understand why the man who had been a stranger to her only hours ago had just spent one million dollars on the necklace Daniel had promised to buy for her.
최신 챕터
The Wife He Lost to His Best Friend Chapter 6
Inside, the auction hall was breathtaking.Crystal lights hung from the high ceiling, casting a soft glow over the room, while elegant decorations filled every corner and guests moved from one conversation to another, speaking in low voices as they greeted old friends, business partners, and people whose names were known far beyond the walls of the estate. Everything about the place looked expensive, from the polished floors beneath their feet to the glasses carried by waiters dressed in perfectly pressed suits, and even the smiles on people’s faces seemed carefully practiced, as though everyone had come knowing exactly how they were expected to behave.Claire followed Daniel toward their seats, keeping her expression calm even though she could still feel the weight of everything that had happened since the previous night.She had told herself that coming here would be easier than staying at home, that being surrounded by people would keep her mind occupied, but the moment she stepped
The Wife He Lost to His Best Friend Chapter 1
On their fifth wedding anniversary, Daniel Hayes had publicly gifted Claire a diamond necklace engraved with her name, presenting it as a symbol of devotion so perfect that the world had no reason to question it, and for a moment social media had celebrated them like they were the definition of love itself, while Claire sat in silence at home that same night staring at the empty space beside her as though something about the celebration had already stopped feeling real.Scarlett called later that evening, her voice careful when Claire finally answered, as if she could already sense that something had shifted.“Claire… are you sure you want me to proceed with the divorce filing?”Claire stood by the window watching the city lights blur against the glass, her reflection faint and distant like someone she was slowly detaching from, and she answered without turning around.“Send it,” she said quietly, “there’s nothing left to hold onto.”There was a pause before Scarlett spoke again, her
The Wife He Lost to His Best Friend Chapter 2
Claire didn’t go anywhere after she returned home, she simply stayed where she was for a long time as if movement would make everything more real than she was ready for, and the silence around her felt strange now, not peaceful, but unfamiliar, like it no longer belonged to the version of life she had been living with Daniel. Her phone lay face down beside her, vibrating once in a while with messages she didn’t open, but her mind was no longer stuck on what she had seen, it was stuck on the fact that none of it had felt like an accident anymore, it felt arranged, intentional, like there was a part of Daniel’s life she had never been allowed to touch. She finally stood up after a while and walked into the bedroom without thinking, not because she needed something, but because her body needed movement to stay calm, and that was when she noticed something she hadn’t paid attention to before, a small envelope tucked inside one of the drawers that didn’t belong to her side of the space.
The Wife He Lost to His Best Friend Chapter 3
She didn’t go to the bar because she wanted to meet anyone or start anything new or even pretend she was okay, she went because she needed the noise, the kind of noise that doesn’t ask questions or remember your name, the kind that fills your head just enough so you don’t have to sit alone with your thoughts and the sound of Adrian still living somewhere inside them.She kept drinking because she wanted the ache in her chest to blur into something unrecognizable, something soft around the edges, something that didn’t feel like it was carving her open every time she breathed, and at some point she stopped counting the glasses because it didn’t really matter anymore, nothing did in that moment except the slow fading of everything she was trying not to feel.That was when she noticed them.The eyes.She remembers thinking she didn’t even have the strength to care anymore, so let them look, let them all look, let them see whatever version of her they wanted because she was too tired to co
The Wife He Lost to His Best Friend Chapter 4
She felt his finger on her waist, dragging her closer, pulling her onto his lap as he needed to feel every inch of her. Heat bloomed between them, intense and engulfing. They moved together, slowly stripping away their clothes, He lifted her in his arms, strong and sure, carrying her past the wall of windows into the warmth of his bedroom. The city lights spilled across the sheets, painting shadows on them. He laid her down gently, his body pressing against hers, and in a quiet, they found each other.It wasn’t about losing themselves, it was about connection. Fingertips tracing her skin, mouth tasting every breath, every moment. Her hand tangled in his hair, her body aching into his as they moved in rhythm, slow, deep, aching like something profound was unfolding between them.The room stayed still for a long time after that, not empty, not tense, just filled with the kind of quiet that follows when two people have crossed into something they can no longer pretend didn’t happen,
The Wife He Lost to His Best Friend Chapter 5
Morning came before Claire felt ready for it. She had barely finished getting dressed when Daniel walked into the room, adjusting the sleeve of his suit as his eyes found her almost immediately. For a brief moment, he simply stood there watching her, and then a small smile crossed his face. “You’ve been avoiding me,” he said as he walked over. Claire didn’t answer. She reached for her handbag instead, checking that she had everything she needed. Daniel stopped behind her and rested a hand lightly against her waist, leaning in just enough for his chin to almost brush her shoulder. “You’re still upset with me?” Claire quietly removed his hand and took a small step away before turning to face him. “We should leave,” she said. “We’ll be late if we don’t.” He searched her face for a moment, as though waiting for something more, but nothing came. The rest of the drive passed with very little conversation. The closer they got to the venue, the heavier the silence between them becam
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