THE SUPREME NATHAN THORNS (The City's god)

Chapter 7

James narrowed his eyes, staring at Nathan as if trying to read his mind. Then, with a smug smile, he casually lifted his paddle.

"One hundred and ten million dollars."

The room buzzed with excitement.

"That guy will be out soon," another chuckled. "Just watch."

Nathan remained calm, his expression unreadable. He sipped his wine leisurely before setting the glass down. 

Then, he simply said, "Two hundred million."

James smirked wider, his eyes glinting with satisfaction. This was exactly what he’d been waiting for.

He

would raise the stakes little by little, baiting Nathan to keep pushing the bid higher. He wanted to watch him squirm, to drag him into a situation he couldn’t escape.

Then his voice called out his bid. "Two hundred and ten million.”

Nathan barely hesitated. "Three hundred million."

The crowd began to murmur louder, their voices growing more skeptical.

"Is he insane?" someone scoffed.

"He doesn't have that kind of money!"

"Natalia is lucky. She must have foreseen this and divorced him to save herself."

Natalia heard all their words, a strange unease settled in her chest.

She clenched her fists and glanced at Nathan’s table. He sat so nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t bidding away more money than he could ever earn in a lifetime.

Her heart pounded. What is he doing?

James was rich. His family’s wealth was well-established, so money wouldn’t be an issue for him.

 But Nathan? 

She had been married to him for three years. He had only worked petty jobs, and she was sure he barely had more than a few hundred dollars saved.

Yet here he was, calling out hundreds of millions like it was nothing.

She couldn't take it anymore. Rising from her seat, she strode toward his table.

"Nathan," she hissed under her breath, leaning toward him. "Stop this nonsense!"

Nathan didn’t even look at her.

She gritted her teeth. "Are you insane? Do you have any idea what you’re doing?"

“Of course I do. And it’s none of your business.” Nathan replied indifferently.

Natalia inhaled sharply and lowered her voice. "Listen to me. I know you still have that Supreme Gold card, but it's fake. It won’t work with Sir Gregory Bakers, and if you can’t pay, the consequences will be severe."

She darted a glance at James, who was watching with amusement.

"You know what happens when someone fails to pay at Sir Gregory Bakers’ auction?" she continued, her voice urgent. "The last person who did was physically punished. Badly. Do you really want to go through that humiliation?"

Before Nathan could respond, Taylor’s voice cut in. "Why do you care, Natalia? You shouldn't be."

Natalia turned and met Taylor’s cool, questioning gaze.  "He’s my husband." she almost shouted, glaring at Taylor.

"He used to be," Taylor corrected smoothly.

Natalia's jaw tightened. She turned to Nathan, expecting at least a reaction from him, but he didn’t even spare her a glance.

Instead, he straightened up in his chair and exhaled slowly, as if this was all nothing but a mild inconvenience.

Natalia nodded stiffly, her face carefully composed. Then, forcing a smile, she said, "Thank you for the correction, Miss Taylor.

"

Taylor simply raised a brow.

Natalia turned back to Nathan, her expression growing serious again. "I’m not worried about you," she said coldly. "But I don’t want you to make a fool of yourself and get into trouble."

Nathan finally looked at Natalia, his gaze steady, piercing, and unreadable. She could feel the weight of it, as if he saw straight through her doubts. She still believed he had fraud Narvo Bank with a fake card.

"You don't need to bother about me," he said dismissively, his voice calm and even.

His indifference struck a nerve, making her chest tighten. She wanted to argue, to press him for an explanation, but she knew Nathan—once he decided something, he wouldn’t budge.

Without another word, she turned on her heels and walked back to her table.

James, having observed the exchange, smirked in satisfaction. Natalia had practically admitted that she had no faith in Nathan. That too made James feel victorious.

"Three hundred and ten million," James announced, raising his paddle again. His voice was filled with arrogance, his posture exuding confidence.

"Come on, Nathan. Don't stop now," he taunted, glancing at Nathan with a sly smirk. "You’ve got a Supreme Black card, right, Mr. Big Shot? I’m sure three hundred million is nothing to you, huh?"

He smirked, waiting for Nathan to bite.

Nathan’s lips curled into a sneer. "Well, you’re clever enough. It is."

He’d been holding back, playing this game long enough. What James didn’t know was that Nathan had over a trillion on that card. To him, three hundred million was indeed just a small portion.

Without further warning, Nathan raised his paddle. He was getting bored of the dragging biddings.

"One billion," he declared, his voice clear and unwavering.

The entire hall fell silent.

A sharp gasp rippled through the crowd.

The M.C nearly fumbled his microphone. "One—one billion?!" he repeated in shock.

Natalia’s breath hitched.

 "Where the hell would he get that kind of money?!"someone exclaimed.

“He must be insane!”

"He's bluffing! There’s no way!"

James turned to Nathan, his smirk widening as he rubbed his chin.

Nathan had fallen right into his laid out trap. Now his ruin and great humiliation was at his hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen. "he stoop up, his voice filled with confidence.”I think we can all agree that 1 billion is no small amount. To avoid any unnecessary confusion or delays, why don’t we verify if Mr. Nathan actually has the means to back up his bid?”