Matteo Montgomery hadn't been joking when he said that he had a new dress prepared for Amelia. She had considered that he would be, or at least, perhaps he would've borrowed a last-minute dress for her so that he wouldn't lose his face because of her, but she hadn't expected to see something like that.
"See if it's your size," Matteo calmly said once the door was pushed open and Amelia walked in. He tucked one hand into his pocket, the other on the door handle. "If you need any adjustments, I'll call for the seamstress to come over."
To call it a champagne dress would be a severe understatement. It would probably even work as a wedding dress! It was an off-shoulder dress that had a fitted bodice and a mermaid tail flare. The bodice had a low cut and was fitted with chiffon and shimmering beads, while the flare of the skirts had layers upon layers of fabric to create a full body.
It was a light gold color, similar to the sparkling alcoholic beverage, and Amelia wondered if the wine had somehow seeped into her system for she must be hallucinating this entire thing.
"I… I can't possibly wear this!" Amelia all but yelled, panicked.
It was beautiful, but if Kelsie Friesent destroyed this dress like she did Amelia's original outfit, Matteo Montgomery was going to have her head for it! There was no way she could pay him back if this dress was ruined. It didn't seem like something within her payroll, even with the ridiculously high salary her new employer was offering.
"Why not?" Matteo asked, looking genuinely confused. His head tilted slightly to the left as he stared at Amelia. "I am sure the measurements wouldn't be too far off."
"M-Measurements―" Amelia had to stop herself from screaming. How did he even know her measurements?
"I will be outside if you need me," he curtly said, ignoring the way Amelia's face was changing colors as though she was a chameleon. With that said, he left the room and clicked it shut.
Left alone with the stunning new dress, Amelia had all the time to gawk. She had only seen such a masterpiece off runways and magazines. She hadn't even dared to look into the fancy boutiques down the city central, knowing that those weren't pieces she could afford back then.
Reaching out, her fingers grazed the beads. The cold stone caused her hand to shiver. Goodness. These crystals felt strangely like diamonds.
Truth be told, Amelia was worried but at the same time, insanely excited. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! When else would she be able to try on a dress like this?
Wasting no time, she quickly locked the door and slipped out of her stained dress before donning the new one. The zipper was an issue but she managed to pull it all the way up before opening the door.
"Mr. Montgomery?" she called out, poking her head out the door.
She pressed her hand against the low cut of her dress― it didn't cause anything that shouldn't show to show, but Amelia wasn't comfortable with showing this much skin. All of her clothing pieces prior to this had been conservative, and the most scandalous clothes she had would be lingerie that never saw daylight past her bedroom doors.
Granted, there was a thin translucent veil that covered her cleavage, but it was much more fleshy than normal. It did, however, hug her curves perfectly as though the dress was made just for her.
Matteo had been leaning against the wall, his eyes glued to his phone screen. When he heard Amelia's voice, he quickly locked his phone and stuffed it into his pocket before turning to look.
When his eyes landed on her, they widened. It wasn't an obvious movement, but when paired with the roll of his Adam's apple as he swallowed and the slight dilation of his pupils, Amelia shifted uncomfortably in his gaze.
They weren't standing too far apart, and all these minuscule movements weren't hard to spot. Matteo's lips parted slightly before he lightly cleared his throat.
"It fits you wonderfully," he said. He then held out his arm for her to take. "Shall we?"
Amelia hesitated only for a fraction of a second before she took Matteo's arm. Following his lead, they re-entered the main hall where the charity auction was held.
"They will be conducting the bids soon," Matteo said as they made their way through the crowd. It parted for them like the Red Sea, and Amelia could feel the hot gazes of the onlookers watching them. "Let me know if anything catches your eye."
"My eye?" Amelia squeaked, confused. Why would her likes and dislikes matter here at the auction? She wasn't capable of buying anything!
They found their seats and Matteo helped her settle down before sitting right beside her. He adjusted his suit before he turned to look at her. A small smile danced upon his lips, and now it was Amelia's turn to be awed by him.
"Consider this as an onboarding gift from me to you," he said before turning back to the stage, ignoring the way Amelia practically gawked at his words.
At that time, Amelia had yet to understand the severity of the situation. It was only when the first item was listed, then the second, did Amelia's face turned paler and paler.
"Going once, going twice… Sold at thirteen million dollars to Mrs. Rutherford!"
"Thirteen… million…" Amelia swallowed, trying to regain some moisture in her mouth. Her throat had gone dry, and by the time the fifth item was shown, she thought she might pass out. Every item that was brought out easily cost more than her annual salary, and none of them seemed as though they were worth that much.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce this wonderful new piece of art that had traversed decades before landing in our hands," the auctioneer eagerly said as his assistants wheeled out a small table behind him.
With a flick, he revealed the item, causing Amelia's eyes to widen and her heart to stop. Her breath was caught in her throat, and at that moment, the world truly began to spin rounds and rounds to the point where Amelia wasn't able to focus on anything but what was on that stage. It had been years since she had last seen it― and at that time, she hadn't expected to see it here of all places.
She sold it, she remembered it clearly, and not for a price that would warrant its appearance at this charity auction. There was no way she would have recognized the item wrongly. True enough, she quickly reached for the pamphlet and haphazardly flipped through it until she found the item she was searching for. The photo detailed the item clearly, and it was just as she remembered it to be, down to the tiny stamp that bore their family crest.
"My flute…"
"But… how?" she muttered to herself, not realizing that Matteo was watching her every movement.
"This lavender jade flute has been passed down for generations before finally making its way here to us tonight," the auctioneer excitedly introduced. "The starting price will be five hundred thousand."
"Five… five hundred thousand…" Amelia repeated weakly, her entire world seemingly tilting on its axis.
She never knew the flute left behind by her mother was worth this much. To think that she had sold it for a measly five hundred dollars back when she was tight on cash. Now, after it had gone one round in the market, the same flute had returned to her a thousandfold.
And there was no way she could afford to buy it back. Not when Caleb had stolen every single cent from her. Her eyes watered, and she hurriedly blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall. This flute was her mother's prized possession― she had told Amelia that it was her gift from her own mother, and she had passed it on to Amelia despite Amelia's lack of musical prowess.
Then again, it wasn't as though Amelia's mother could have held onto it. Death was a cruel mistress.
And Caleb was crueler still, to force her to make such a sacrifice. He knew how much that flute meant to her! Amelia had told him about her bond with her mother, and how much she loved her. How it tore at her to sell away her flute.
Caleb had thanked her, but now she could see that it was nothing more than lip service. He wasn't in any financial trouble at all. If he truly loved her, he would have immediately come clean about his family's situation right there and then gotten the flute back.
Instead, the flute that was once cradled lovingly in Amelia's hands was now on the auction block, so far beyond her reach it might as well be in a whole other galaxy.
"I see that it has caught your interest," Matteo said. "Do you play?"
"...No." Amelia sucked in a shaky breath, willing herself to calm down. "I am not musically inclined, I'm afraid. How about you?"
Matteo nodded, "Someone I admired taught me how."
Then he raised his hand to make a bid for the flute.
"Five hundred thousand, offered by Mr. Montgomery here! Do we have another offer?"
Someone else raised their hand. Amelia's heart ran cold as she heard Caleb's voice echo through the air. He was seated at the other side of the room, Kelsie hanging off his arm in adoration.
"Seven hundred thousand." Caleb's voice was smug, and Amelia gritted her teeth. Other than pissing her off with the blatant display of his ostentatious wealth, Caleb was the only person to know how much this flute meant to her.
After all he had put her through, she would have to be delusional to believe he was trying to buy the flute back to give it to her. Knowing his cruelty, he would probably smash the flute in front of her face, just because he could.
Matteo calmly looked at Amelia's expression, then at Caleb's. Calmly, he put up his hand again, his expression stoic. "Eight hundred thousand."
Amelia's eyes bugged open as she stared at her boss. Wasn't this a little too much to spend on a flute? But Matteo's gaze was stony, a muscle twitching in his jaw. It was as though Caleb's actions and his very presence ticked him off immensely.
For a brief delusional moment, Amelia could almost imagine that it was because of her, that Matteo was upset because he saw how Caleb had hurt her so badly during their very first meeting.
Then she shook her head. This was not the time to daydream! It was more likely that Matteo was truly a music lover who could appreciate musical instruments if he was willing to spend so much on a flute.
Caleb's voice echoed through the air again, this time with a higher number. He clenched his jaw, gritting his teeth together before spitting out the number, "Eight hundred and fifty thousand."
Amelia hissed, wanting nothing more than to leap in his direction and tear him from limb to limb. As if he detected her hostility, Caleb turned towards her and shot her a mocking smirk, but his eyes widened as he caught sight of Matteo sitting next to her. Next to him, Kelsie had also peered over and her mouth fell open in blatant shock.
Matteo put up his hand. "One million dollars."
The crowd burst into excited murmurs; they had finally crossed the one million mark, and they were waiting for more.
The auctioneer was delighted. "One million dollars! Is there anyone else other than Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Walton who would like to make a bid?"
Amelia stared back faintly at her boss; this man certainly had an awful amount of money to burn!
Of course, there was no one who dared to compete with these two powerhouses. Even though the flute was beautiful and the jade was of high quality, even if they could afford the flute without a dent to their wealth, they couldn't afford to offend the Montgomerys or the Waltons.
It wasn't a matter of money any longer. It was a matter of dignity and pride!
"One million and―" Caleb's voice was abruptly halted when Kelsie pulled his hand down. She whispered something to him, and the two stared at Amelia and Matteo in shock. Caleb's nose wrinkled in determination before he stared fixated on the stage. "Two million!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Amelia immediately felt faint.
Two million!
She could easily afford a nice apartment in any first-world city with this amount of money. Or, if she wanted to escape to the countryside, this amount of money could let her tide by for a good few decades, maybe even the rest of her life!
At this point, Amelia was already breaking out in cold sweat. It was her beloved flute, yes, but was it worth two million dollars? Probably not.
She could live with just making Caleb fork out this ludicrous amount of money for nothing more than a slab of stone. To him, the flute was worth nothing as long as Amelia didn't react to him owning it. Just watching him waste money like that was already good enough revenge…
Or at least, that was what she tried to convince herself of.
She turned to Matteo and tugged at his sleeve. "Mr. Montgomery, maybe we should just―"
Matteo didn't even flinch.
"Five million."
ความคิดเห็นย่อย
คุณลักษณะความคิดเห็นย่อหน้าอยู่ในขณะนี้บนเว็บ! เลื่อนเมาส์ไปที่ย่อหน้าใดก็ได้แล้วคลิกไอคอนเพื่อเพิ่มความคิดเห็นของคุณ
นอกจากนี้คุณสามารถปิด / เปิดได้ตลอดเวลาในการตั้งค่า
เข้าใจแล้ว