The Day I Kissed An Older Man by Cher the Cherished

“Boss? Aren’t we going in?” Aaron asked.

Corinne was rooted to the ground as she watched Jeremy get out of the car and walk into Peakrise Auction House. With a frown, she said, “I saw someone I’d rather not see. Let’s wait a while before going in.”

Aaron looked in the direction of Corinne’s gaze. “That seems to be Jeremy from the Holdens. Do you know him?”

Corinne looked disgusted. “Not really.”

…

The auction hall was divided into upper and lower floors. The first floor was for ordinary buyers, while the second floor was for VIP buyers who did not wish to show their identity. They were granted excellent privacy and were identifiable by their room numbers.

Jeremy was in room one, while Corinne was in room seven.

After several unremarkable artifacts were auctioned off, a set of bronze pieces from this auction were carried to the display stand. Once the auctioneer gave a brief lecture on the background and value of the artifacts, bidding commenced at 1.5 million dollars.

“Two million!”

“Three million!”

“Four million!”

…

Eventually, the mysterious bidder from Room One managed to bid for the set of bronze artifacts at a high price of four million, which elicited gasps of awe from the audience.

Inside room seven, Corinne leaned lazily on the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief. Jeremy seemed to have been eyeing the set of bronze artifacts, and judging from the fact that he had already secured it, he would probably leave soon since there was no reason for him to remain there.

“The next piece is a posthumously published painting titled ‘Geese in Late Autumn’ by the famous impressionist painter Nellie Nymphaea. The starting price is seven hundred and fifty thousand!”

“We have a bid of eight hundred thousand from bidder number three!

“Bidder number eleven, nine hundred thousand!

“And now bidder number five, nine hundred and fifty thousand!”

Corinne raised her chin to give Aaron the signal that he could start raising his placard.

half million

see such a bid, and they began wondering who

count, “One and a half million going once! Going twice! Going thrice, and…”

the gavel and uttered the word ‘sold’, Tommy raised his placard from room

caught the auctioneer by surprise, and he spoke in a more

an

why Jeremy was still there.

just as upset as her. “What in the world is

ordered calmly, “Bid

“Right!”

buyer number seven. Do we have a higher

we do! Here comes the five-million bid from bidder number

is going even higher! We now have six million from

and a half million!

at the development. Her main issue at

suggested, “Since this painting is very important to you, perhaps we can shift the

capital to my personal

no choice but to heed

deal with a knock of the gavel, and it was soon announced that bidder number one had secured ‘Geese in Late Autumn’ with a final price

astonished to see bidder number one spending six million to buy that painting at several times more than its original value. This merely showed that rich people could do whatever they want with their money.

Corinne was lost in thought. Her mother had only painted under the pseudonym Nellie Nymphaea in her spare time. Despite being relatively well-known, she was not a particularly mainstream painter, and her works were not very popular either. Jeremy’s reasons for bidding such a high price for ‘Geese in Late Autumn’ could point to two possibilities: Corinne’s mother was either someone he knew personally or someone he had connections to.

from the auction house came into their room

How did you even get to sit in

and recognized the person as Zoey, who had apparently taken up a job as a receptionist

well-dressed Aaron in a designer suit sitting to one side. She gritted her teeth in envy and yelled,

it. Over at room one, Jeremy had just walked out of the room and was about to leave when he heard Zoey’s screech.

day ago and had just started her probationary period, but she was already speaking rudely to

the auction house rushed over with several security personnel. He had Zoey dragged out while

out loud, “You’re a b*tch, Corinne! F*ck

there. ‘That girl… She’s here? And she was the one

receiving an apology from the latter, and he was about to close

there a Corinne here?” Jeremy shot Aaron

for a moment, then nodded with a smile. “Is there

said in a cold voice,

he turned his head to the room and

in overalls came out from room seven and stared curiously at Jeremy. “Can I help you, sir?”