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Chapter 9
Clarisse sat with her back straight and face blank, eyes fixed ahead at the auction stage.
The event had reached its midpoint, but her interest remained absent until the auctioneer lifted the re revealing a lustrous pearl necklace beneath the spotlight.
silk from a velvet tray,
Clarisse’s pupils constricted sharply.
She remembered when she was little, her mother used to wear that necklace to formal dinners. The pearls would sway gently against her slender neck, glowing softly like moonlight as she walked with elegance and grace.
“You want it that badly?” Leopold’s low voice came from beside her.
Clarisse didn’t answer. She simply raised her paddle.
“One million.”
“Two million.”
A sweet voice chimed in.
Clarisse turned and saw Grace smiling at her with a calm, pleasant expression.
“I like this necklace too, Clarisse. May the highest bidder win. You don’t mind, do you?”
Clarisse dug her nails into her palm.
“Three million.”
“Five million.”
“Six million.”
“Eight million.”
The price kept climbing until it hit ten million.
Clarisse’s savings by selling her trousseau were nearly gone, but Grace continued to raise her paddle effortlessly, still wearing that serene, determined smile.
“One billion once,” the auctioneer called, looking at Clarisse. “Clarisse, would you like to raise the bid?”
Her throat tightened.
She had never imagined that one day, she’d have to beg someone for money just for the sake of a necklace.
“Yes,” she forced the word out, then she turned and grabbed the sleeve of Leopold’s jacket. “Leopold, please… lend me the money.”
Her voice trembled. “That necklace’s my mother’s keepsake. I have to have it. No matter what.”
Leopold was obviously stunned.
He had never seen Clarisse, proud, dazzling Clarisse lower herself like this.
“I’m begging you.” Her eyes were rimmed red, her voice barely a whisper.
Leopold reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, just about to pull out his black card-
“Leopold.”
Grace suddenly tugged his arm, her eyes red, glistening with tears.
“I really love that necklace…”
She bit her lip, voice soft and trembling.
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“It’s the first time I’ve ever liked something so much. Please don’t help Clarisse. Okay?”
The air seemed to freeze.
Clarisse stared at Leopold, the man who once shielded her from hardship.
His brows furrowed slightly as his gaze shifted between her and Grace.
After a long, unbearable silence, he finally looked at Clarisse and said quietly, “Let her have it.”
There were just four words. He said them in a casual tone, but each one stabbed through her chest like a blade.
The gavel came down.
“Sold! Congratulations to Grace!”
Clarisse stood frozen, cold from head to toe.
She watched as Grace accepted the pearl necklace and flashed her a victorious smile. Clarisse’s fingernails dug so deep into her palm that blood dripped onto the carpet, but she felt no pain.
It was the first time Leopold had ever seen her like this.
Her eyes were rimmed red, but not a single tear fell. Her lips were pale from being bitten, yet she kept her back straight with sheer
willpower.
For some reason, a strange ache rose in his chest.
“Leopold…” Grace leaned weakly against him. “I don’t feel well. Can you get me a blanket?”
He paused for a while, then stood and walked away.
Clarisse no longer cared about the auction.
She sat stiffly in her seat. Her ears buzzed as her mother’s smiling face when she wore that pearl necklace, flashed again and again in
her mind.
As soon as the auction ended, she blocked Grace’s path.
“Sell the necklace to me,” Clarisse said, her voice hoarse. “Whatever the condition, I’ll meet it.”
Grace gave a soft laugh.
“Is it real anything you will meet it?” she asked sweetly. “Then how about you keep slapping your own face and begging me?”
Clarisse trembled.
She remembered her mother’s dying words, “Clary, no matter what happens, you should live with dignity.”
But now, for the sake of that necklace, she was about to give up the last of her pride.
“…Fine.”
The word squeezed from between her clenched teeth.
Her eyes were red as she slowly raised her hand, ready to slap herself-
“No need,” Grace suddenly interrupted with a smile. “Slapping yourself won’t change a thing.”
“I already gave that cheap necklace to a stray mutt on the street.”
She pulled out her phone, swiped a few times, flicked to a photo, and turned the screen toward Clarisse.
A filthy, stray dog stood there, a pearl necklace smeared with mud and drool dangling from its neck.
“Your mom’s trash belongs on a dog,” Grace whispered into her ear, enunciating every word. “After all, trash suits trash. They deserve
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each other.”
Clarisse’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Her whole body began to shake. Her ears rang as if someone had slammed a hammer against her temples.
She saw her mother’s pale, dying face flash before her eyes.
That necklace, once worn with such elegance, now was thrown to a stray dog on the street.
“Say that again,” Clarisse said softly, her voice deadly calm.
Grace gave her a smug smile. “Trash suits trash. They deserve each other. What? Didn’t hear me clearly?”
Clarisse slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were bloodshot.
“Which hand did you use to give that order?”
“This one.” Grace proudly raised her right hand. “What, are you going to…”
Before she could finish, Clarisse grabbed the fruit knife from the fruit platter and plunged it deep into Grace’s palm.
“Ouch!!”
Chapter 9
