Chapter 139 - Beginning Of The Auction

Jean shook his head, "We didn't have a wedding. We only signed the marriage certificate, which is why I didn't tell my uncle about this marriage." His answer was calm.

Felix raised his eyebrows and took turns looking at the young couple, "Ah, of course. Young people these days don't seem to like rigid and troublesome wedding parties!" Felix smiled and added, "I was thinking that our relationship was over when you didn't tell me about your marriage!"

Jean chuckled, "Uncle Felix must be kidding. I owe you a lot of gratitude, there's no way I could just forget about you."

Lilia, who was sitting beside Jean, listened to the two men talking silently. She could see how familiar Jean was with Felix, so she didn't want to interfere with their conversation.

After chatting for a while with Felix, Jean and Lilia returned to the auction room as the auction ceremony was about to begin. Lilia intended to separate herself from Jean to find her seat, but the man gripped her hand tightly.

"Um… Jean, I need to find my own seat…" Lilia protested as Jean half pulled her to the front row.

"I know." Jean replied calmly, "I've found where your seat is, so just follow me."

Lilia gave him a skeptical look, but she didn't ask any further. When they arrived at the front row, Lilia found that her seat was next to Jean's. She stifled a laugh while sitting there. It turned out that this man had arranged for Lilia to sit beside him! Otherwise, how could Lilia get a place in the front row?

Lilia gently squeezed Jean's hand as she asked, "Did you already know that I was going to attend this event?"

"So what?" Jean replied without actually answering Lilia's question.

Lilia frowned, "You know I'm going to attend the event tonight, so why did you just reply to my message earlier with 'OK'?!" Lilia protested.

Jean only smiled slightly while squeezing Lilia's hand back, "I just wanted to surprise you."

Lilia shook her head, "You're always full of surprises!" She exclaimed, "Where did you learn how to flirt like that?"

While Lilia was chatting with Jean, someone approached them and sat on the empty chair next to Jean. The person sat down slowly, as if to make sure that everyone noticed her presence.

Lilia's gaze shifted towards that person and she immediately closed her mouth tightly with an irritated expression. Sasha Hiroshi was completely shameless tonight! That chair was supposed to be occupied by Alex, but Sasha sat there without caring how others would judge her behavior.

Lilia secretly sighed. She didn't know if Sasha's obsession with Jean was caused by her love that was too strong, or because the man's attraction was too strong! Even after Sasha found out that she and Jean were married, that woman didn't stop trying to win over Jean. Having the ideal husband had its own difficulties!

Jean raised his eyebrows when he saw Lilia glaring at him, "Hm? What's wrong? Did I do something weird?"

Lilia noticed that she was glaring at Jean and hurriedly neutralized her expression, "Nothing, forget it." She said fast.

Sasha cleared her throat to get Jean's attention, "I'm going to Jakarta next week to visit my little sister. Do you have any message I need to convey to her? You haven't seen each other in a long time and I'm sure she must miss you." Sasha said while putting on a cute smile.

Lilia shifted her gaze to suppress laughter. Sasha deliberately said that to emphasize her position as Jean's childhood friend and make her remember the past. But Sasha should have chosen another reason that made more sense. If Jean needed to talk to Sasha's sister, he only needed to make a call!

"Next week, will you?" Lilia glanced at Sasha, "I'm also going to Jakarta next week. I hope I won't meet her there."

"No need." Jean replied briefly. The man didn't even glance at Sasha when he answered her.

But Sasha seemed oblivious to Jean's cold attitude towards her. The woman continued in a light voice, "I myself have not seen my sister for a long time. We have made an appointment to meet in Jakarta and exchange news!"

Lilia frowned. Increasingly, she felt that this was a strange coincidence. Why did Sasha suddenly go to Jakarta at the same time as her?

Lilia shook her head and told herself that a coincidence like that might happen. She started reading the catalog of items to be auctioned to distract herself. There would be 8 items in total being auctioned. All information about these objects was described in detail in the catalog.

When the auction had just started, Chris and Alex finally appeared. Chris sat on Lilia's right while Alex sat beside Sasha. Lilia's presence among those famous people provoked the other guests to gossip about her.

"Since when could Lilia Pangestu sit in the front row?"

"Looks like she is familiar with the young masters, which is why she can sit there!"

"Don't you know the news about that model? I heard that Lilia Pangestu and the young master of the Widjaya Family have a special relationship! At the Genesis Company celebration party, Lilia Pangestu came as Jean Widjaya's partner!"

An artist who was actively engaging in social media looked at Jean's back from behind and frowned, "Hey, don't you feel that Jean Widjaya's appearance from behind looks similar to the man in the photo posted by Lilia Pangestu? Or is this just my feeling?"

The celebrities present were busy arguing whether Jean was really the man in the photo, but in the end they didn't have enough evidence to come to a conclusion.

Not far from there, William overheard every word they said. The man squinted and glared at Jean. He became even more convinced that Jean was only using Lilia to improve his reputation and not really taking her seriously.

William didn't seem to realize that he himself had these bad intentions.

*****

Lilia watched the auction processes with great admiration. The guests attending tonight were famous people and have abundant wealth. No wonder every item in the auction was selling for many times higher than its original price!

"Lot number 5 is a landscape painting by the famous painter, the Van Gong!"

Hearing the auctioneer, Lilia straightened her back. It was the painting she had noticed earlier in the hall. The painting was entitled 'Starry Night' and depicted a view of the night sky seen from aboard a ship. The painting was so realistic that it made the viewer seem to enter into the painting.

Lilia read the information about the painting in the catalog carefully, then her eyes were fixed on one of the pieces of the information. Her red lips curved into a faint smile. If Jean saw Lilia's expression right now, he would know that she was planning something.

Fortunately, Jean didn't notice the change in Lilia's expression. The man glanced at his wife and saw that Lilia's gaze was fixed on the painting on the stage.

Jean leaned towards Lilia and asked in a low voice, "Do you like this painting?"

Lilia turned to him, "I like it very much." She answered with a big smile

Jean nodded, "Then buy the painting." He said casually, as if Lilia only wanted to buy a skincare product and not an expensive painting worth billions of Rupiah!

On the stage, the auctioneer tapped his hammer and announced, "This painting is being offered at an initial price of 3 billion Rupiah!"

Jean was about to lift the card, but Lilia immediately stopped him. The woman smiled mischievously as Jean gave her a confused look.

"I'll do the bidding! You don't mind, do you?" Lilia begged, eyes shining with enthusiasm. "Just leave this to me!"

Jean raised an eyebrow. He didn't know why Lilia insisted on doing this herself. Even if it was Jean who made the bid, the other guests would not dare to make another offer higher than him. But Jean decided to trust Lilia and let her do as she pleased. After all, no matter how expensive the painting was, Jean was rich enough to buy it!

"…okay." Jean said in a tired voice.

"Thank you, dear!" Lilia was so excited that she gave Jean a quick kiss on the cheek. Fortunately, everyone's attention was on the auction so no one was paying attention to their interactions.

Jean smiled gently when he saw Lilia's joy. This woman always had a way of making even the most boring situations interesting. He felt that with Lilia by his side, his life would never be boring.

Meanwhile, the price for the painting continued to soar. When one of the guests offered a price of 5 billion, Lilia raised her card and offered a price of 8 billion Rupiah!

At that instant, the guests stared at Lilia in surprise. They did not expect that the model who recently became popular would have enough money to compete with the celebrities and wealthy businessmen who attended tonight.

"10 billion!"

The cry came from Jean's left side. Sasha raised the card up high to make sure everyone could see it.

"Ten billion! Miss Sasha offered ten billion!" The auctioneer tapped the hammer excitedly, "Ladies and gentlemen, is there any other offer?"

Lilia glanced at Sasha with a cold gaze. She knew that Sasha must have done this on purpose. The woman tried to embarrass her in front of Jean.

So what? Lilia wasn't the type to stay quiet when challenged like this!

Lilia raised her card and raised her bid to 15 billion.

The auctioneer tapped the hammer, "Fifteen billion! Miss Lilia Pangestu, the famous supermodel, offered fifteen billion! is there any other offer that is higher ?!"

Sasha raised the card again and said, "Twenty billion!"

Hearing that number, the guests started whispering to each other. According to the expert who assessed the painting, the value of the painting was estimated to be worth a maximum of 20 billion. This meant that Sasha had submitted the highest bid for the painting. If anyone challenged the bid, they would only suffer a loss for paying the painting higher than the original price.

"Twenty billion! First call!" The auctioneer knocked on the hammer once. Then the man's gaze fell on Lilia. He wondered if the model would raise her bid, but it seemed impossible. A model was unlikely to be able to win against the financial strength of a rich family like the Hiroshi Family.

"Second call!" The auctioneer knocked on the hammer once again. He felt sure that no one would be stupid enough to bid even higher, "And this painting was sold at—"

"Thirty billion." Lilia raised her card confidently.

At that very instant, a commotion broke out among the guests.