The Day I Kissed An Older Man
Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“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 PeakriseAuction House. With a frown, she said, “I saw someone I’d rather not see. Let’s wait a while beforegoing in.”

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

Corinne looked disgusted. “Not really.”

…

The auction hall was divided into upper and lower floors. The first floor was for ordinary buyers, whilethe second floor was for VIP buyers who did not wish to show their identity. They were grantedexcellent 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 werecarried to the display stand. Once the auctioneer gave a brief lecture on the background and value ofthe 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 ahigh 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 tohave 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 famousimpressionist 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.

“One and a half million from bidder number seven!”

The audience was once again astonished to see such a bid, and they began wondering who thepowerhouse behind the ‘number seven’ placard was.

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

A second before he struck the gavel and uttered the word ‘sold’, Tommy raised his placard from roomone.

The bid caught the auctioneer by surprise, and he spoke in a more excited tone compared to before.“Three million from bidder number one!”

Another round of shocked gasps resonated through the hall when bidder number one raised the bid bythat big an amount. Everyone wondered if the painting would spark a bidding war between biddernumber one and bidder number seven.

Corinne frowned and wondered why Jeremy was still there.

Aaron was just as upset as her. “What in the world is Mister Jeremy’s problem? He’s just trying to flaunthis wealth!”

Corinne ordered calmly, “Bid higher, Aaron!”

“Right!”

“We have a bid of four million by buyer number seven. Do we have a higher bid?

“Yes, we do! Here comes the five-million bid from bidder number one!

“Oh, bidder number seven is going even higher! We now have six million from bidder number seven!”

“Do we have seven million? Oh, it’s higher than that! Bidder number one goes for seven and a halfmillion! Any further bids from the floor? No? Alright then. Seven and a half million, going once, goingtwice…”

Corinne was annoyed at the development. Her main issue at that juncture was a lack of money.

Aaron suggested, “Since this painting is very important to you, perhaps we can shift the project funds toit for now.”

Corinne raised her hand and shook her head. “No, I can’t just divert the company’s capital to mypersonal affairs. I’ll replace another way to get it. We can let Jeremy keep it for now.”

Aaron had no choice but to heed her words.

The auctioneer sealed the deal with a knock of the gavel, and it was soon announced that biddernumber one had secured ‘Geese in Late Autumn’ with a final price of six million.

Everyone was astonished to see bidder number one spending six million to buy that painting at severaltimes more than its original value. This merely showed that rich people could do whatever they wantwith their money.

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

“Hi there.” Two beautiful receptionists from the auction house came into their room to serve coffee anddessert.

“Corinne? Why are you here? How did you even get to sit in this room?” one of the female receptionistssuddenly exclaimed.

Corinne looked up and recognized the person as Zoey, who had apparently taken up a job as areceptionist at the auction house after being fired by Alpha Enterprises.

Zoey stared at Corinne in shock, and before long, she spotted the handsome, well-dressed Aaron in adesigner suit sitting to one side. She gritted her teeth in envy and yelled, “Bravo, Corinne! You mademe lose my job, while you’re living the good life with a sugar daddy!”

Her high-pitched voice was so frantic and loud that the entire auction hall could hear it. Over at roomone, Jeremy had just walked out of the room and was about to leave when he heard Zoey’s screech.He halted his footsteps at once and glanced coldly at room seven.

Zoey had just applied for the job a day ago and had just started her probationary period, but she wasalready speaking rudely to the VIP buyers! Her actions startled everyone at the venue and left anextremely bad impression on the patrons.

The manager of the auction house rushed over with several security personnel. He had Zoey draggedout while he apologized profusely to the bidder in room seven.

Zoey knew that she was almost certainly heading for the sack that day, so she let all hell loose whenshe was taken away by the security guards and yelled out loud, “You’re a b*tch, Corinne! F*ck you! Youmade me lose my job twice now! It won’t be long before your man gets tired of f*cking your sick *ss anddumps you!”

Jeremy heard her crystal clear on that occasion—there was no doubt that someone named Corinnewas there. ‘That girl… She’s here? And she was the one bidding in room seven?’ He narrowed hiseyes coldly and turned around to walk toward room seven.

Aaron had just sent the auction house manager away after receiving an apology from the latter, and hewas about to close the door when Jeremy’s tall figure appeared right in front of him.

“Is there a Corinne here?” Jeremy shot Aaron a hostile look.

Aaron was taken aback for a moment, then nodded with a smile. “Is there anything you’d like to talk toher about?”

Jeremy’s handsome eyes narrowed slightly as he said in a cold voice, “Tell her to come out, please.”

Aaron did not hesitate at all as he turned his head to the room and said, “Hey, someone’s looking foryou!”

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

Jeremy looked down at the unknown woman in front of him and frowned, “You’re Corinne?”

The female receptionist said, “Yes. Corynne with a ‘Y’.”

Jeremy’s gaze turned cold, and his interest disappeared into thin air.

He looked at Aaron, nodded subtly, and said, “Sorry for bothering you.”

As Jeremy turned to leave, Tommy followed respectfully behind him.

When Aaron saw that Jeremy had walked far enough away, he reached into his wallet, took out aplatinum shopping card from a luxury brand, and handed it to ‘Corynne’.

“Excellent acting. Now go and get your name legally changed. You’ll be known as Corynne from nowon.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!” The female receptionist happily took the card and recused herself politely.

Aaron closed the door and said, “He’s gone! How did you even meet Jeremy, though? And why are youavoiding him?”

Corinne said disgruntledly, “Well… I married him a few days ago.”

Aaron spat out the coffee he had just sipped and coughed violently. “What did you just say?!”

Corinne calmly explained everything that happened to Aaron, and he was surprised at first, but thatlook of surprise soon morphed into a wicked smile. “So… Did he live up to his name as the city’s PrinceCharming on your wedding night? Mature men happen to be particularly loving toward their partners. Atleast, that’s what I’m told!”

Corinne rolled her eyes at him. “Do you want me to beat you to a pulp?”

She was never one to joke about beating people up, so Aaron hurriedly ran off. “I, uh… I’m going to thebathroom!”

Corinne got up from her seat and tagged along too. She went to wash her hands at the common sinkwhile waiting for Aaron to come out, but as soon as she looked up, the reflection in the mirror causedher to turn stiff.

Jeremy had been standing behind her with his hands in his trouser pockets, and she could not tell if hewas happy or angry to see her.

Just because she managed to escape once did not mean that she would escape all the time.

Jeremy walked up slowly to her. He had a lofty aura to him, and his unfeeling gaze seemed to bebrimming with suspicion over who she really was. “What are you doing here?”

Corinne did not answer.

At that moment, Aaron was taking his sweet time coming out of the men’s bathroom. “Boss, the more Ithink about it, the more I feel annoyed at him! That man has enough money to choose whatever world-class painting he wanted, so why does he have to snatch ‘Geese in Late Autumn’ from us? It’s so irrit—” He did not have the chance to finish his sentence when he saw Jeremy standing in front of Corinne.

Jeremy turned his head to look at Aaron, then at Corinne. He narrowed his eyes and staredscrutinizingly at them both. “Boss?”