章 21: The Auction (Part Three)
James sorted out his dinner suit as he looked over himself in the mirror. Just at this moment, the door of his room knocked over. After took a look for another moment, he walked toward the door and opened it.
"Brother, a woman is waiting for you in the living room. Who is she ?" Madison asked. Even though she couldn't intervene in her brother's life, but wasn't it inappropriate for another woman to come at this time?
"She is Amira, the Crown Princess of Qatar Royal Family. She will accompany me to a party tonight." James answered as he patted Madison's head.
"But... Why you don't bring Charlotte instead of this Amira ?" Madison quickly said.
"Emmm, there is a little problem between me and her right now. So, Amira will be the one to accompany tonight." James reluctantly explained.
"But..." Before Madison could finish her sentence, James already interrupted her.
"We will talk about this later as I will be late soon." James said as kissed Madison cheek. Then he quickly set off to the living room. Madison stood still for a moment before she quickly left to inform something.
As James arrived in the living room, he could see a gorgeous woman wore a black evening dress stood alone while admiring an oil painting.
"Good evening, Princess Amira." James said as he reached out for Amira's hand and kissed it.
"Good evening for you too, Your Highness. And oh yeah, you can call me just Amira if you want, so we will not get too awkward." Amira said as she slowly caressed James's hand.
"Then you can call me James." James said as he smiled. He then responded by caressed back Amira's palm. But soon, they stopped as someone approached.
"Your Majesty, the car is ready." Sherlock, James driver + bodyguard, said as he bowed his body.
As this was considered a private meeting, Amira only came with a driver and a female bodyguard. So quickly, James and Amira got out of the mansion and entered James modified Rolls Royce. They quickly set off toward the party location.
At this moment, on the second floor of the mansion, a pair of eyes stared at the direction where James's car left.
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<The Next Day, Christie Auction House, London>
Because of the successful yesterday auction, many people expected the auction for today would be hotter. Moreover, as the item that would be auctioned was more precious than yesterday, more people were coming.
James stepped out of his car while escorted by his two most powerful and private bodyguards, Xiao Li and Xiao Lin. They were a pair of twins, and both of them possessed 3.17 Life Intensity and 90 Loyalty each. Although James didn't know how could something like this happened, it didn't matter as long it beneficial to him.
As James entered the main hall, he could see many more people were present than yesterday. Also, all the sixteen VIP venues were filled compared to only eight yesterday.
James walked toward his VIP venues that already prepared before, it was the same place as yesterday. Coincidentally or not, Amira and her group also placed beside him. When Amira saw James in his venue, she quickly left her venues and walked toward James venues.
"Your Highness, do you mind if I join you ?" Amira said as she smiled toward James.
"You can come and sit beside me, Princess Amira." James said as he patted the chair beside him. Amira then quickly sat beside James. After last night's party, James sent Amira to her hotel, whereas he went back to his mansion.
After 30 minutes of waiting, the auction officially started. Robert walked toward the podium and tested the mic for a few times.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christie Special Auction. I see more new faces here compared to yesterday, which is a good thing." Robert said, which made the audience laughed.
"Okay, no more chit chat, every person time here is precious. Today, there is a total of 8 lot, which is a lot less compared to yesterday. But don't get me wrong, every item here guarantee to shoot over $100 Million, which I personally guarantee." Robert said as he immediately gained another wave of a laugh.
Then the wall behind Robert began to rotate and reveal a painting that was familiar to everyone present.
"Impossible, this painting must be fake!" An old man at VIP venues suddenly stood up and shouted, which immediately resonated with everyone present. The entire hall atmosphere suddenly went chaotic as everyone shouted.
"Everyone, please calm down! With regard to the authenticity of this painting, we, Christie, guarantee this painting is the work of the 16th century! Although we don't sure yet whether Da Vinci himself painted this, it was a huge likely by considering many factors. To proof this, everyone here can personally appraise it and see it yourself." Robert said.
Behind Robert, a painting with twelve people that were eating their food. A painting that was so familiar as its fame could be considered the same as Monalisa! It was the famous Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci! It was painted on a wooden canvas with a diameter more or less 1 m.
The reason why everyone so shocked was that the Last Supper was a mural, not a painting! Moreover, this painting wasn't included in the auction list of items, which made it more shocking.
As everyone that came for this auction more or less had a certain art capability, they quickly approached the painting which was protected by bulletproof glass. One by one, they carefully inspected each inch of the painting.
"James, is this painting yours? If yes, how can you get it ?" Amira asked curiously as this was too unbelievable.
"This painting was sat in my family collection for years, and I don't know how it comes. Anyway, it should be true." James explained.
"Then why you sell it? Do you know how hard it is if you want to buy it back ?" Amira asked.
"Although this painting and many others hold an extraordinary collection and art value, I need money now, much much money. Amira, you already know about the situation of my Kingdom, right ?" James said as he looked below where everyone gathered around the painting.
Amira then suddenly realized what James mean. Yes, his Kingdom was very backward, even more backward than many African country! Although she and him only exchanged for a short moment, she knew what kind of character James had.
"Then I can only say good luck to you. If you need any help later, you can contact me as long it's within my capability." Amira could only say this as she and James weren't that close yet.
The inspection lasted for 30 minutes, and it still under the insistence of the people. At this moment, everyone could already guess this painting should be a 16th century one, rather than counterfeit. Although the exact painter who painted it wasn't fully verified yet, it was 50-70% was Da Vinci that painted it.
"Now everyone already sees the painting and has your judgment. It's the time for the auction to begin. As this is priceless, super rare, and unprecedented art, it holds an extraordinary value! Although I don't dare to compare it with Mona Lisa, but it was close, everyone agrees to this.
This is the first time the art of this caliber appears on the market, and I trust there will be no second one anytime soon. And also...." Before Robert could finished his sentence, the old man that shouted earlier interrupted.
"Robert, cut your bullshit and immediately start the auction. Everyone here already knows your trick." The old man shouted impatiently. His eyes stared burningly toward the painting.
"Hahaha, then what can I say? The starting price is $500 Million, and each price increase must not less than $5 Million." Robert said. No one complained about the super high starting price as they even felt it was very low!
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