Underneath The Obsidian Veil

Chapter 8:The Price Of Pride

The crowd was stunned.

Ten million dollars?!

Nathan’s eyes landed on Justin, his body stiffened as he glared at him, anger and rage visibly written on his face. Clenching his jaw, he raised his bid.

“15 million dollars!”

Justin let out a conceited smile as all eyes were turned to him. “25 million dollars!” He said causally with a smirk.

The audience were baffled, no one spoke. This clearly was a battlefield with riches.

Nathan’s teeth gritted, he had a quota he couldn’t pass. Inwardly, he wished Justin would give up but it didn’t look like he was going to.

The numbers kept climbing higher, the crowd whispering excitedly amongst themselves. The two men were not backing down. Nathan looked agitated while Justin kept throwing the figures with a calm and well posed look.

Kate, on the other end, remained outwardly calm, watching the scene unfold in front of her although inside her, she was torn. She was amused by Nathan’s desperation yet secretly touched by Justin’s strong will of not backing out.

She leaned towards Nathan with a small smile on her face as she whispered, “Don’t let him win. You promised it to me, didn’t you? And if you back down now, you will become the laughing stock of the whole city.”

Nathan felt smug, knowing that with Kate by his side there’s no way he would lose. If he raised the bid slightly higher than he could afford, he could just ask Kate for money and she will most definitely give it to him after all the embarrassment will fall on the both of them.

“Of course darling. I promised you this and I will definitely get it for you,” He responded, tapping her hand in an affectionate manner that made Kate sick to her guts.

However, Kate seemed to be able to read within the lines. Nathan will most definitely ask her for money to redeem himself.

“50 million dollars!” Nathan sounded, looking at Justin with a prideful look. There was no way he could go beyond 50 million dollars now, he felt like he had won already.

The silence and tension was thick in the air as everyone waited to see if Justin would counter Nathan’s bid with an even staggering amount.

Justin, who still seemed unbothered, raised his card. “100 million dollars!”

The crowd went into an uproar.

“100 million dollars?! That was too much!” A man sounded.

A hundred million dollars was actually the networth of some of the families seated at the gala. Justin had raised the bid so high that most of them couldn’t reach it.

Kate couldn’t hide her surprise as well, this has gone way beyond what she had imagined. She glanced at Nathan, his face was flushed red. She could see the animosity in his eyes, a look she knew way too well.

Before she could speak, Nathan held her hands and said, “Kate, Justin raised a bid a little bit higher than what I had imagined. If I should raise mine higher than his, I won’t be able to afford it at all and we will both become the laughing stock of the city.”

“So you are saying that I should give you money to get a gift for me?” Kate’s brows were knitted, her voice slightly raised as she spoke.

The other guests sitting beside their table heard Kate’s words.

“What! Did you hear that?! Nathan is asking Kate for money!”

“Oh my! If he can’t raise the bid high enough he should back down. What kind of man asks his lady for money to get a gift for her?!”

“I am so ashamed of Nathan! He should back down!” This time it was a man who spoke, disgust written all over his face.

“Oh, I pity Kate. I thought that Nathan was the lucky match for her but it turns out that Nathan was just freeloading off her,” A woman said. She was one of those who was jealous of Kate bagging a rich and handsome man and now that she caught a whiff of Kate’s statement, her face was filled with disgust, inwardly happy.

Nathan hearing the side whispers was flabbergasted. He had only asked Kate for help but he didn’t expect her to answer him in a way that all the guests knew what he was saying. His eyes searched Kate’s face but she seemed oblivious like she didn’t hear a word the guests were saying.

Nathan felt embarrassed! If he was to raise his bid again, the guests would know that Kate was the one who gave him money and if word gets out, he and his family would be disgraced!

The announcer getting no other response from Nathan began the count down and the gravel was hit. Justin was declared the winner of the bid and the crowd cheered.

Nathan was outrightly humiliated!

As the woman walked up to his table with the necklace, Justin rose, accepted it and with a small smile, he walked up to Kate’s table and placed it on her hand in front of everyone!

“A woman like you deserves the rarest of treasures,” he says smoothly, his eyes lingering on hers for a second.

Kate’s face was visibly flushed but she managed to hold her cool and she muttered a ‘thank you.’ Justin glanced at Nathan, whose face was beyond filled with rage and he smirked and left.

Nathan clenched his fist, his jealousy barely contained. He whispered furiously to Kate, “ How could you accept the gift from him?!”

Kate gave out her sweetest smile and said, “You said you would get it for me but you didn’t so someone else kept the promise instead. There’s no way I would refuse such an expensive item.”

This remark cuts through Nathan deeply. Kate’s words made him feel like a failure and a loser!

Guests chatter excitedly about the scene, whispers spreading quickly about a “triangle” between Kate, Nathan, and Justin. While Justin's gaze was fixated on Kate, a frown etched on his face watching the exchange between her and Nathan.