The True Heiress's Return

Xanthe picked at her ear. "Are you dumb? Yvette's necklace had a starting bid of just 150 thousand dollars, while Shakira's started at 300 thousand. You are such fools, overpricing a cheap trinket and thinking you got a treasure!" Aaron's face was contorted in anger. "You-" At that moment, Philip approached with the auctioneer in tow.

Yvette and Jayden knew that the host of today's auction was someone of considerable status. Seeing Philip and the auctioneer approach, they assumed the two people were there to make connections with them. Yvette even flashed a flattering smile. "Today's auction was spectacular..."

But the two walked past them without a glance. The smile froze on Yvette's face.

They stopped in front of Shakira. The auctioneer, who had seemed serious and formal on stage, was now lively and cheerful. She winked at Shakira and said, "Congratulations, Ms. Nelson, on winning the ruby necklace." Shakira returned a slight smile. "Thank you."

Most of the members had already left. With a cheerful expression, the auctioneer said, "Ms. Nelson, you might not know this, but the last item was actually an addition.

"It was privately owned by the host and wasn't meant for auction But when he found out you liked pearls, he included it at the last minute."

She glanced at Philip, who didn't interrupt and continued, "The actual value of the necklace is at least this amount. You're quite lucky, Ms. Nelson." She made a hand gesture with a number.

Shakira was surprised. Xanthe exclaimed in shock, "Two million! Oh my gosh, Shakira, you bought a two-million-dollar treasure for just 600 thousand dollars! You scored big!"

With the plush velvet box in her hands, Shakira, feeling the jealous glares from not too far away, smirked and said, "I was indeed lucky."

"Of course! Shakira is a true lucky charm, unlike someone who merely pretends to be one. That person is nothing but a misfortune magnate, always getting into trouble, but she claims to be a lucky charm," Xanthe said loudly.

Then she suddenly looked at Yvette and covered her mouth in mock surprise. "Oh dear, I wasn't talking about you, Yvette. Surely you won't take that personally, right?"

A surge of fury darkened Yvette's gaze as she thought, 'She is such a nasty piece of work!"

Ever the defender of damsels in distress, Aaron clenched his fists, storming toward them. Pointing a finger at Shakira, he shouted, his face contorted with anger, "You're lucky I haven't settled the score yet, but here you are provoking us. Don't think I won't hit a woman-"

Philip and the others tensed, preparing to intervene. But before they could, Shakira pulled Xanthe back and stepped forward herself, grabbing Aaron's wrist as he pointed at her.

Aaron was stunned, and before he could react, he suddenly lost his balance. In one swift motion, Shakira flipped him over her shoulder, slamming him hard to the ground with a loud thud.

Jayden's expression changed as he rushed over to Shakira. "Shakira!"

"What?" Shakira met his furious, stunned gaze without fear. "You can't keep your own people in check, yet you have time to lecture others?"

Jayden caught the underlying meaning in her words and pressed his lips into a tight line, his whole-body tense.

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12.11 Tue, Nov 12 b.

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Aaron was stunned, his back throbbing from the impact against the pale marble floor. But what shocked him even more was that a woman had flipped him over her shoulder and slammed Hun to the ground. Her movements had been so swift and fluid. Given his weight, not many women in the military could even manage that He lay there, too dumbfounded to move, staring directly at Shakira

Feeling his gaze, Shakira slightly lowered her head and said sternly. "The moment you decided to use such underhanded tactics against me, you lost any place in the force. Right is right, and wrong is wrong.

"If you still stubbornly believe you're not at fault, then even without me around, your arrogance will eventually cause your downfall!"

With that, Shakira turned away, heading toward the exit with Xanthe by her side.

Aaron lay in stunned silence, unable to react for a long moment A sudden thought hit him, and he scrambled to his feet to run after Shakira.

But before he could get close, he was stopped by several men in black and a man with an imposing aura.

"It's Brian!" Berry recognized the man stopping Aaron, her face full of jealousy and frustration. "I knew it! How could Shakira possibly know the auction host? It has to be because of Mr. Lopez. She's clearly spending Mr. Lopez's money!" Yvette fixed her gaze where Shakira had disappeared, gripping the gift box so tightly that it warped in her hands, her mind swirling with hatred and dark thoughts.

Shakira saw Walter and his entourage after leaving the auction hall. "You're here too?"

Walter reached out his hand toward her and said to Benji beside him, "Take her back to the hotel." He was, of course, referring to Xanthe-the third wheel.Exclusive content from NôvelDrama.Org.

Benji was shocked. "Wait, weren't we supposed to meet our business partners for dinner?"

Walter, already leading Shakira to the Maybach, said without looking back, "Something came up."

His business partners watching from the back though, 'Mr. Lopez, could you at least come up with a better excuse to show us some respect? We're all watching!'

Inside the car, Shakira finally noticed the message Walter had sent her, containing a photo of the private suite. She stuck out her tongue playfully. "I just saw the picture you sent."

Walter gently squeezed her hand. "If I'd known you'd be there, I would've brought you with me."

Shakira's eyes sparkled with a playful smile. "I don't think that's a good idea-I would've missed out on some fun."

Walter assumed she was talking about her bidding war with Yvette and thought she had a point.

If Shakira'd been in the private room, even if she had bid agains Yvette, Yvette and her group wouldn't have known who they were up against or gotten nearly as riled up. Shakira wouldn't be so pleased, either.

Walter shook his head, amused, when a sudden thought occurred to him. His gaze locked onto Shakira with an intensity that caught her by surprise as if he'd seen through everything.

Shakira shrank back a bit, feeling inexplicably uneasy as countless possibilities flashed through her mind. "Wh-what is it?"

Walter held out his hand. "You..."

Shakira closed her eyes and decided to confess it all. "Are you going to ask about the money I used to buy the necklace? It was the money I saved up for Mrs. Nelson's medical bills. I never used it. I wasn't trying to avoid paying you back!" 1211 Tue, Nov 12 B.

Of course, there was one thing she didn't mention: she'd saved far more than just 600 thousand dollars. Walter was stunned.

Shakira rattled it all off in one breath, only to realize that Walter wasn't saying anything. She cracked open one eye, relieved to see he didn't appear upset, and slowly opened the other.

Holding her breath, she asked, "You're not mad, are you?"

The corner of Walter's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected her to be hung up on this. His hand, still suspended in midair, moved forward. Then he pressed his fingertips on her cheek and gave it a firm rub. "Actually," he said, half-exasperated, "I was going to say Xanthe kissed you here."

Shakira froze. "What?"

Then she thought, 'So... one casual question somehow made me spill my big secret? I really need to stop being so submissive to him! It only puts me at a disadvantage.