Benjamin's Heirloom Ring

I Can Help You!

Joshua gave a nod before shaking Valerie and Benjamin's hands in a professional manner. "Good afternoon, Miss Morgan. I'm pleased to see you made it here on time."

He offered a slight smile as he cast a questioning glance at Benjamin.

He inquired, "If I may ask, Miss Morgan, who is the gentleman accompanying you?"

Valerie promptly introduced, "Mr. Wilson, this is my longtime friend, Benjamin Frost. He's here to keep me company; I tend to get a bit nervous in certain meetings for no apparent reason. I hope you don't mind his presence."

"Of course." Joshua nodded. "Not a problem at all."

Meanwhile, Benjamin only smiled slightly. In his mind, he praised Joshua's acting skills he looked perfect.

After they all sat on their respective benches, Joshua immediately took out some files from his suitcase.

He stated, "I don't believe there's much to discuss in this meeting. Our company's managing director is fully convinced about partnering with your company, so he won't have additional inquiries." Joshua handed two letters to Valerie and inquired, "Do you have a pen to sign these papers, Ms. Morgan?"

Valerie was somewhat surprised, not anticipating such a swift process. She had diligently prepared an impressive presentation to persuade Platinum Estate for their contract, yet unexpectedly, Joshua didn't pose any questions about her company.

It seemed too good to be true.

Joshua cleared his throat a few times before asking, "Ms. Morgan, if you have any reservations about this collaboration, feel free to voice them now."

Valerie felt a twinge of panic and hastily reassured, "I'm sorry.  I don't have any doubts, Mr. Wilson."

She retrieved a pen from her bag and promptly signed the two letters.

Joshua nodded with satisfaction. "The contract between Morgan Co. Ltd. and Platinum Estate is now official. It's a pleasure to work with you, Ms. Morgan."

After that, Joshua swiftly packed up his belongings, ready to depart, leaving Valerie unable to resist asking, "Mr. Wilson, are you sure you want to leave? You haven't even ordered any drinks."

Joshua rose from his seat, offering a kind smile, and replied, "I've got some other business to attend to, so I can't linger for a chat with you and Mr. Frost any longer. My apologies."

Valerie and Benjamin rose from their seats. "If that's the deal, we won't keep you any longer. Thanks for your time, Mr. Wilson. The whole Morgan Family is genuinely grateful."

Joshua gave a brief nod before heading towards the exit. However, upon reaching the door, he turned around and remarked, "Ms. Morgan, I've settled the bills for the room reservation, but I haven't taken care of any charges for the dishes you might have ordered. Would you like me to handle that for you?"

Valerie felt a tinge of embarrassment. She replied, "No need, Mr. Wilson. We covered the food expenses ourselves."

Joshua nodded once more and, this time, exited the room.

Benjamin glanced at his watch and remarked, "Without even noticing, we've burned quite a bit of time before Mr. Wilson showed up. It's half past seven, and considering the auction kicks off at seven, we better make a move if we want decent spots."

Valerie gave a subtle nod, her agreement evident. "You head down to the basement and grab the car; I'll take care of the payment," she said, a hint of assurance in her tone.

Benjamin's immediate response was a firm refusal. "Given that I've committed to covering the surplus on our meal tab, I'll head over to the cashier and square away the payment. You just need to handle the 1,000 dollars, as per our initial agreement."

Benjamin then gave Valerie his account number.

The girl eyed him with a touch of uncertainty and tossed out, "Don't feed me any lies, okay? If you're broke, be straight up. I can handle it."

Benjamin shot back with confidence, "I'm a man, no need to question my knack for pulling in some cash."

Despite not being completely convinced, Valerie chose to let Benjamin do what he wanted.

She snagged the car keys and made a beeline for the basement, while Benjamin strolled up to the cashier's desk, eyeing the bottom line on the bill.

"The grand total is 35,000 dollars, sir. How are you planning to settle this?"

Benjamin took out his cell phone and scanned the barcode on the counter.

"Well, payment is complete," he said.

The waiter nodded, "Thank you. Please come again next time!"

Benjamin walked out of the restaurant and met Valerie in the front yard.

Sliding into the car, Benjamin wasted no time tackling her question head-on. "How much, Ben?"

With a casual air, Benjamin quipped, "No biggie. Just dipped into my stash a bit to cover the gap."

He also explained that five-star restaurants like this benefit from the very expensive room rental price, while the food they sell is only a few twelve percent of that price.

Since Benjamin said it without any burden, Valerie had no other thoughts. She simply believed him.

Then, Valerie drove her car to the Timeless House Center which was only a few kilometers away from the restaurant.

Arriving at the parking lot of the building, Benjamin could see that Valerie was very nervous.

"Ben, look at the cars parked here," she said. "All those cars are very expensive. The cheapest among them is the Mercedes-Benz-S-Class, which still costs $90,000. While my car is just a Mercedes-Benz-A-Class, it costs no more than $35,000..."

Benjamin laughed. "Timeless House Center will never care about the car their guests drive. As long as you bring money and can participate in the auction, they will not give you a hard time."

Valerie took that as moral support, so she nodded her head and expressed her gratitude, "Your words are very helpful. I'll try to be more confident again. Come on, we have to get into the building before we run out of space."

They were walking towards the entrance of the Timeless House Center building when Benjamin saw two figures that were familiar to him.

Valerie also saw the same thing.

"Isn't that your ex-wife?" she asked. "Wait, is she holding Nathan Grave? She cheating on you?"

Benjamin only nodded but did not answer with any words. His face turned very cold.

Valerie already knew the answer. So, she cleared her throat and said, "I can help you."

Benjamin glanced at her. "Help me?"

"Yes, just a small favor."

All of a sudden, Valerie wrapped her arms around Benjamin.

"What are you doing?" Benjamin asked again.

"Just follow my game. I'm sure it will be fun!"

Valerie pulled him towards where Diane and Nathan were.

She greeted them immediately without further ado, "Hi, Mr. Graves, I did not expect you to be here at all! However, it's nice to meet you."

Nathan stared at Valerie with lust burning in his body.

Staring at Valerie's curves, he knew that it was the perfect picture of an ideal woman.

Her skin was clear, flawless, plump, and exuded softness in a very different way.

When compared to Diane, it would look like heaven and earth. The difference was too obvious!

Nathan released his arm from Diane just to shake Valerie's hand, but he stopped right away when he saw a young man standing beside her.

"Dumb loser? Why are you here?"