The Son-in-Law They Regretted Losing

Chapter 10: The Asset Verification

Sloane turned to Linnea, her face red with anger, and let out a mocking laugh.

"Don't act so important just because you arrived in a fancy car," she snapped. "Do you even know how much this fraud just bid? Thirty million dollars! That's more money than most companies in this city make in an entire year. What makes you think you can stand here and guarantee the bid of a broke delivery rider?"

Lysander immediately stepped beside her, glaring at Linnea.His voice was filled with deep suspicion as he questioned her credentials as well.

"Exactly!" he said. "Who are you, anyway? For all we know, you are just a low-level actress he hired for the night to help him put on a pathetic show in front of high society!"

The guests around the auction hall began whispering, and many nodded in agreement. It seemed impossible that a man who had been delivering food earlier that day could have someone so powerful backing him.

Then a well-known real estate billionaire in the second row slowly rose from his velvet seat..

He turned to face Sloane and Lysander, his expression stern.

"You should be careful who you insult," he said. "That woman is Linnea, the chief executive representative of Veridian Global. Veridian Global manages more than one hundred billion dollars in assets across the country. Many of us came here tonight hoping to build investment partnerships with the company."

The auction hall fell completely silent.

Sloane's breath caught in her throat, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

The elegant woman standing beside her ex-husband was the top executive of Veridian Global, the exact company she had been desperately trying to pitch all night to save her own business.

Alexia Brown picked up her microphone and addressed the crowd, her voice calm but respectful.

"With Executive Linnea of Veridian Global personally guaranteeing Mr. Kaelen's bid, we will not require any further verification of his assets. His bid is valid."

Sloane's mind reeled, but she refused to accept it.

She had come to the gala hoping to win a contract with Veridian Global. Now she was supposed to watch her ex-husband walk away with the ancient ring while her fiancé lost it? She couldn't accept that.

She stormed into the aisle and pointed at the stage.

"What kind of elite auction house are you running?" she shouted. "Asset verification is supposed to confirm the bidder's own money! How can you skip that just because someone else guarantees it? I think this auction house is working with Riven Kaelen! If you're so confident, then check his personal account balance on the main terminal right now!"

Alexia Brown's expression hardened.

Her fingers tightened around the podium until her knuckles turned white.

How dare the owner of a mid-sized company question the integrity of her auction house in front of the city's most influential guests? She had built her reputation through years of professionalism, and she had no intention of letting anyone tarnish it.

Taking a deep breath to control her anger, Alexia Brown turned to Linnea and spoke into the microphone.

"Executive Linnea, I sincerely apologize. However, since a registered guest has formally challenged the winning bid, our auction rules require us to verify the bidder's funds to ensure complete transparency."

Linnea frowned and stepped forward, clearly ready to end the argument herself.

Before she could speak, I gently reached out and stopped her.

"It's fine, Linnea," I said calmly. "Let them check."

I had nothing to hide.

After all, I still had one billion, five hundred million dollars sitting in my personal account. Years ago, my one-thousand-dollar investment had helped save Veridian Global, and that small investment had grown into a fortune.

To me, thirty million dollars was no longer a life-changing amount. Money had become nothing more than numbers on a screen. Whether it was one million or one billion, the only difference was a few extra zeros.

I calmly reached into my jacket, took out my black card, and handed it to the head security guard.

The moment Sloane saw the card, she burst into mocking laughter.

"Oh, it's that card again!" she sneered. "My mother called me half an hour ago and told me you were flashing that same black card around at Horizon Plaza, pretending to be some important VIP. You somehow fooled a designer into treating you like royalty, but this isn't a shopping mall, Riven."

She folded her arms and smirked.

"This is a high-security auction house. Do you really think the same cheap trick is going to work twice in one night?”

Lysander quickly joined in, his confidence returning as he straightened his silver tie.

"He probably bought that fake card online for a few dollars just to look important," he said with a laugh. "Go ahead and scan it. Let's see how much money is actually in his account."

I looked at both of them with a cold, steady gaze.

"You should start thinking about how you're going to apologize," I said calmly. "Director, please continue with the verification. Let everyone here see the truth."

Sloane was even more enraged by how calm I remained.

She turned toward the stage and shouted, "Yes! Scan it right now! It's time everyone sees the truth. This so-called rich man is nothing but a fraud pretending to belong here!"

She glared at me with a cruel smile, certain that I was about to be exposed.