Carina kept her dark eyes fixed on the stage with calm unbothered composure. She did not flinch. She did not react.Greg seized the moment to twist the blade deeper. He puffed out his broad chest and looked directly at the velvet box sitting beside Carina's water glass."That little bracelet you received earlier tonight is nothing but a secondhand trinket." Greg waved his thick hand dismissively toward the sapphire box. "Some stranger passed it through his hands and tossed it to you like throwing scraps to a stray dog. The Empress Collection is in an entirely different universe. Only these stilettos are truly worthy of my woman.""Any real man buys his woman something with his own money." Greg leaned forward with heavy condescending authority. "He does not hide behind a mask like a coward and throw charity at random women he does not even know. That is not romance. That is pity.""Greg is absolutely right." Brooke nodded with aggressive enthusiastic agreement. "A masked stranger gave

Greg spun on Brooke so fast his chair nearly toppled backward. "One million dollars," he hissed, voice shaking with fury. "Do you understand what you've done? You opened your mouth for nothing and now we're standing in the middle of a bidding war that could bankrupt us both."Brooke shrank into her seat, her earlier smugness gone completely. Her hands twisted together in her lap. "I didn't mean for it to go this far," she whispered, eyes darting toward the crowd still buzzing around them. "I just wanted to embarrass him a little. I never thought he actually had that kind of money.""Well now we're the ones being embarrassed," Greg shot back through clenched teeth.Vivian's voice rang out from the podium, smooth and merciless. "One million dollars, going once."Brooke's head snapped toward Greg, panic flashing across her face. "Bid again. Quickly, before she drops that hammer. We can't lose this now, not after everything.""We were never going to win this," Greg muttered, but his hand