Bogus Billionaire by Shining Riviera

Chapter 37
Even Gwen couldn’t help herself as she tugged Caroline’s sleeve and whispered to her, “Carol, have you gene mute? You shouldn’t be bidding this much, even if you like this painting.”
Where did Caroline get that much money from?
jowever, Caroline calmly tuned to look at Brie, who looked like an angry tomato. She gently patted the back of Gwen’s hand and assured her, “Don’t fret. Someone’s paying for it.”
Gwen was more confused than reassured She was about to ask Caroline what she meant but heard Brie call, ’90 million dollars!”
How, Brie could finally let go of the breath she’d been holding. She glanced sideways at Caroline, her chin jilted upward. She was clearly pleased with herself
Caroline smiled in response Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she placed one hand over her paddle but didn’t raise it in the all
On stage, the host waited for about a minute to make sure that no one was making another bid and then announced, “Going at 20 million dollars!”
“20 million dollars twicel”
“20 million dollars thrice!”
The hammer fell The bid had been won, and Brie bad taken the painting by Zach Zimmer for 20

million dollars
The crowd stared at her like she was an idiot. Brie was triumphant at first, but when the staff finally brought the painting to her, she realized that she’d taken the bait. She turned to look at Caroline, who shot her a smile
Brie was so furious that she shot up from her seat, but her friend beside her pulled her back down. All she could do now was glare daggers at Caroline
Still, her glare had absolutely no effect on Caroline.
The sight of it all made Gwen want to laugh out loud. She could hardly stifle her laughter.
“This is hilarious! She spent 20 million dollars for something that costs a million dollars at most! Brie Collins is surely going to become the laughingstock of the town after this!”
Caroline merely smiled and carried on scrolling her phone to look for her next target. She’d never been a calculative person who’d haggle over something, partially because she’d been too
preoccupied with Eddy,
Lately, though, she’d realized that the kinder one was, the more they’d get bullied. Besides, it
1/2
Still, this was the only painting by Zach Zimmer that was being auctioned today. The other
paintings weren’t to Jude’s liking. In the end, Caroline left empty-handed. She sighed. “It seems like I have to come here again next time.”
Gwen felt that it was a shame too, so she asked, “What’s being auctioned next time?”
“Antiques.” Caroline sighed again. “A million-dollar antique surely won’t be good enough for Mr.
Morrison Senior.”
“He’ll like anything you give him.” Gwen tried to console her.
Caroline smiled and started to stand when Brie and a few others blocked her path. Upstairs, Eddy saw this, and his interest was immediately piqued. He gestured for Eddy to come over. “Uncle Kirk, a good show is coming up!” he said with enthusiasm.
Lazily, Kirk looked over, only to see Caroline being surrounded by Brie and her cronies. A shadow fell across his eyes. He wanted to head downstairs immediately but suddenly remembered what