Wed To The Forbidden Uncle

CH 17

Mercy glanced at Cathy and raised her paddle again. "Two and a half million."

A few others joined in the bidding, but when the price hit four million, it was just Mercy and Cathy left in the game.

Mercy declared, "Five million."

Esther looked at her hesitantly. "Mercy, if you don't have enough money, I can lend you some. But are you sure you want to keep going? Cathy clearly has bad intentions."

Mercy gave her a mischievous wink. "Don't worry, watch me."

Cathy was getting flustered. She hadn't expected Mercy to keep bidding. She only had five million in her account, and if things went south...

But seeing Mercy's confident demeanor made Cathy unwilling to back down. She couldn't believe it!

Gritting her teeth, Cathy raised her paddle again. "Six million."

Her friends, who had come with her, were stunned, nearly dropping their phones as they streamed the event live.

Cathy waited smugly for Mercy to bid again, anticipating her financial ruin or even being escorted out by the police for not being able to pay.

However, this time, no one else raised their paddle.

"Six million once... six million twice... six million three times."

The auctioneer finally brought down the gavel. "Congratulations to the lady with number 68 for winning the sapphire cufflinks at six million. Thank you for your generous contribution to the children in the mountain regions."

The room fell silent. A pair of cufflinks with a starting price of one million had gone for six million. People couldn't tell if the bidders had gone crazy or if they had lost their minds.

Cathy's smile froze on her face. Why did Mercy stop bidding? Did that mean she had to buy the cufflinks herself?

She turned to look at Mercy, who gave her a smile and mouthed, "Congratulations."

Darn it! She had been played!

Cathy felt like tearing Mercy apart, but with her fans watching the live stream, she had to swallow her anger and keep smiling.

Meanwhile, Mercy and Esther, who were watching the stream, couldn't stop laughing at Cathy's expression, which looked like she had just swallowed a fly.

Soon, it was time for the 44th auction item. Esther almost lost her composure when she saw a piece of deadwood lying silently on the red velvet. "What is that?"

"Chiba Chotanda, an ancient and rare flower," Mercy explained briefly, then focused intently on the bidding.

"Five million," someone bid.

Mercy raised her paddle, "Six million."

Seeing Mercy bidding again, Cathy sneered, "She's definitely just driving up the price again. Is she a shill? If this ends like last time, I'm reporting her!"

Mercy found the slow bidding tedious, so when the bids were almost done, she raised her paddle, "Ten million."

In the end, Mercy won the item.

Cathy's previously smug smile vanished, leaving her so angry that her chest hurt.

After the auction, Esther, who had won a beautiful brooch, went with Mercy to pay and collect their items.

In front of them was Cathy, who seemed to be short on her card balance. She had to scrape together some money from her friends to finally pay up.

Cathy took the cufflinks she had spent all her savings on from the staff with a sour expression. As she turned around, she spotted Mercy and her friend, and her face immediately fell.

She didn't rush to leave, instead choosing to stick around and watch Mercy's potential embarrassment. So what if Mercy was the daughter of the Rivers family? Zara had already told Cathy that Mercy wasn't favored in her family.

Cathy couldn't believe Mercy could come up with that much money. She was sure Mercy would have to borrow from Esther, giving Cathy another chance to mock her.

But to her surprise, the staff politely handed a rosewood box to Mercy, saying, "Mercy, here's your auction item. The payment has already been deducted from your account balance."

Cathy was stunned. Where did Mercy get that kind of money?

Then she thought, well, even if she has money, she's still a fool who treasures a stick!

Without seeing Mercy's downfall, Cathy stomped away in her high heels, frustrated.

Mercy, holding her auction win, walked out with Esther.

"What was it called again, Thousand Leaf...?" Esther looked at the box in Mercy's hands, unable to see how it could be worth a million.

"Thousand Leaf Bloom, its blooming period is unpredictable and lasts only an hour. When it blooms, it looks like it has a thousand layers and its fragrance spreads far."

More importantly, its stamens could be used as a crucial antidote for her uncle.

Mercy carefully held the wooden box. She had been searching for this flower for a long time and didn't expect to find it here today.

"Thousand Leaf, Thousand Leaf, I don't see a single leaf," Esther said, frowning in confusion.

"Haha, just wait, it'll grow," Mercy laughed, amused by Esther's puzzled look.

The two of them chatted and laughed as they headed towards the exit.

"Mercy."

In the hall, a handsome man maneuvered his wheelchair towards them. Esther glanced at him, then at Mercy.

"Is that your boyfriend? He's quite good-looking," Esther teased with a wink.

Seeing the man in a wheelchair, she didn't think much of it, assuming he had a broken leg or something.

Mercy's cheeks flushed a bit, and she nodded, leading Esther over.

"Uncle, this is my friend Esther. We were in the same class in high school."

Mercy introduced Esther to Dexter and Esther was pleased to be acknowledged as her friend.

"Hello, I'm Dexter," the man said, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Hi, hi," Esther replied, slightly bowing, overwhelmed by his presence.

After exchanging pleasantries, Esther was picked up by her family's driver. As she sat in the car, she couldn't shake the feeling that Dexter looked familiar.

Mercy remembered how respectful Esther had been and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Why is everyone so afraid of Uncle?" she wondered aloud. "He's so gentle."

"Is Mercy not afraid of me?" Dexter teased, putting on a mock stern face to scare her.

"Hehe, I'm not scared at all. Uncle is the best, it's definitely their eyes that have a problem," the girl's bright and warm smile seemed to chase away any gloom.

"Right, it's their problem," Dexter agreed, playing along with her little white lie.

Gavin, standing behind them, rolled his eyes silently. It wasn't like anyone else got to see the boss's gentlest side, only his wife did.

When Mercy got home, she found a flowerpot and planted the dry twig in it, mixing her own nutrient solution, hoping it would bloom someday.

...

The three-day holiday flew by and Mercy was back to her routine of shuttling between school and home. Uncle was busy too, but he would occasionally come to pick her up for a meal together.

She recalled how her high school teachers always said, "Once you get to college, it'll be easy."

Mercy glanced at the stack of thick textbooks on her desk, so heavy they could probably knock someone out. Ha, yeah, really easy.

Ding—

Her phone buzzed on the desk.