The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 246

Meanwhile.

As Vivienne zoomed past Carl, Darren hollered in excitement. "Holy moly! Our little cousin just gave Carl a run for his money!"

"Are you for real?" Ashley retorted while rolling her eyes at her brother. "Carl's defeat is Vivienne's victory, not yours."

"And..." She pointed at the music player. "How on earth did you manage to make it through American Idol with this kind of taste in music?"

"What do you know?" Darren ran his fingers through his silver hair. "I made it thanks to my personal charm."

"No wonder you immediately switched to acting, even though you got your break through a singing competition." Ashley snorted. "You must have realized early on that you lacked the talent." "You..." Darren gritted his teeth. "I won't stoop to your level!"

While the siblings were bickering, Vivienne had already driven into River Village.

The private gemstone auction, held by MT Corporation, was an annual event, and this wasn't Vivienne's first time attending.

She parked the car in front of the auction house like a pro and waited for Carl to arrive.

"Were you driving just now?" Carl asked Darren with a stern look as soon as he got out of the car. He was not able to see the driver because of Vivienne's speed just now.

"Yeah, I was. Got a problem with that?" Darren replied with a smug look.

Vivienne raised an eyebrow, while Ashley and Ronald rolled their eyes. They couldn't believe how shameless Darren could be.

Carl was skeptical, but after observing Vivienne and the others, he didn't say anything more, as he knew that Ronald was always cautious when driving and would never pull a stunt like that. Ashley, on the other hand, was notorious for her awful driving skills. She had already wrecked the gate of the Brooks Mansion four times. As for Vivienne, he completely overlooked her.

"Let's go in." Calista beckoned everyone to follow her into the auction house while holding Mila's hand.

Paula and Eddy walked beside them, while the others followed.

Vivienne walked next to Ronald, trailing behind the others.

"If you see anything you like, let me know. I'll get it for you." Ronald whispered to Vivienne. "I didn't have time to prepare a gift for you since Scott brought you back so suddenly."

He glanced at Ashley and chuckled. "But don't let Ashley know. She'll bleed my wallet dry. I'm a bit short on cash these days."

Vivienne smiled faintly. She had a good impression of Ronald.

As they entered the auction house, they noticed two pieces of gemstone, which were obviously cut from the same stone, placed at the entrance. They were both of the ice type, each weighing around seven to eight hundred kilograms.

The corridor near the entrance was filled with these sorts of low-quality gemstones.

Vivienne and the others didn't pay them any attention and headed straight for the high-quality gemstones.

Since Calista was an invited guest, unlike the other buyers who paid to attend, Barret from MT Corporation personally came to greet them.

"Calista, our CEO specifically instructed me to take good care of you today. Feel free to choose anything you like." He said with a smile.

Calista pointed to Vivienne and Ashley. "I'm here just to browse around, but my two friends are not familiar with gemstones. Could you arrange for someone to assist them?"

"Of course." Barret instructed his assistant to help Calista's party.

Soon, two staff members came over to assist Vivienne and Ashley. They were given powerful flashlights to inspect the quality of the gemstones.

Ronald and the others were familiar with jade and didn't need any assistance. They grabbed flashlights and began looking around.

Ashley initially intended to replace a jade bracelet similar to the one Judith had gifted Vivienne. However, such pieces were hard to come by. After searching for a while and replaceing nothing satisfactory, she finally purchased a cut piece of sky-blue gemstone for half million dollars. She planned to make a pair of bracelets from it and use the leftover material for smaller pieces of jewelry. It seemed like a good deal. Mila and Paula also purchased some gemstones to be made into jewelry.

Vivienne had intended to pick a few top-quality gemstones, but the staff member named Jacob who was assigned to her was constantly making irrelevant comments. He tried to dissuade her from buying good pieces and coax her into buying inferior ones. She couldn't help but wonder if he thought she was a fool.

In contrast, the staff member assisting Ashley was much more professional.

Curious, Vivienne glanced over at Calista, who was being fawned over by Eddy and Carl.

Jacob was still jabbering away, pointing at a piece of green gemstone on the table.

"Ms. Brooks, this piece is excellent. It hardly has any cracks. If you purchase the whole piece, you could make over a dozen bracelets." He explained. "The bidding price is just 10 million dollars, and it's guaranteed to appreciate in value."

Vivienne barely glanced at the piece. Even without a flashlight, she could tell from its surface that, aside from the open window, the rest of the piece was of inferior quality. It might yield two bracelets at best. Jacob was trying to sell her a piece worth only a few thousand dollars for 10 million. Did she look like a sucker?

She decided to wait and see what Calista was planning by having such a person assist her.

With a look of disinterest, she shoved her flashlight back into her pocket. "I'm not really into this stuff. Don't you have anything better?"

Seeing this, Jacob's eyes lit up, and he was about to say something when Eddy, not far from them, spoke up first. "These common gems are boring. Didn't you mention something about uncut, raw gemstones that we could have a look at?"

After exchanging a glance, Calista and Barret burst into laughter.

"Of course, we do." Leading the group through a back door, Barret revealed another part of the venue.

Only then did the group realize that there was more to this venue than initially met the eye.

Compared to the rough setup in the front, this area was far more exquisite.

The table that displayed the raw gemstones was draped with a dark red velvet cloth. Dozens of uncut gemstones were neatly arranged on it, each labeled with a number, the gemstone's weight, and its starting bid.

Inside the venue, servers were carrying around various drinks, and there was a self-serve snack bar, making the place feel more like a cozy lounge.