Chapter 93: Nat’s Bid
April’s heart gave a violent throb. A billion dollars. If she bid now, she would be completely wiping out her account, leaving her with barely three hundred million for the time being.
And Pearson looked like he was fully prepared to go even higher.
"One billion ten million," April stated, her voice tight as she lifted her paddle into the air.
The entire room turned to look at her. Gerald Pearson didn’t even blink. He raised his gold-ringed hand carelessly, offering a greasy, arrogant smirk. "One billion two hundred million."
The crowd gasped. He was jumping by nearly two hundred million at a time.
April felt a cold sweat prickle the back of her neck. Her fingers trembled against the plastic of her paddle. She had about one hundred million left before she was entirely broke. If she pushed further, she would officially run out of money.
As she bit her bottom lip, slowly lifting her paddle again, a heavy, warm hand suddenly came down over her trembling fingers, gently but firmly lowering her bidding paddle back into her lap.
She jolted, turning her head sharply. It was Xavier.
The tycoon’s face was unreadable mask but he didn’t look at her; his dark, piercing eyes were fixed entirely on the stage.
"You have spent enough of your own money for one evening, Miss April," Xavier murmured, his deep voice carrying a terrifyingly steady power that instantly grounded her racing heart. "Let the professionals handle the inflation."
Before April could even process his words, Xavier smoothly raised his own sleek black corporate paddle.
"One billion five hundred million," Xavier announced flatly.
The entire auction house fell into a suffocating, breathless silence. The tycoons in the back rows looked like they were about to faint. A jump of three hundred million dollars on a real estate deed was an unhinged demonstration of financial dominance.
Gerald Pearson’s smirk faltered for a fraction of a second, his face flushing a light red as he gripped his own paddle.
He glanced at his sister, who was frantically nodding at him to continue. Pearson gritted his teeth, his pride pushed to the absolute brink. "One billion six hundred million!"
"Two billion," a loud, completely unhinged voice boomed from April’s right.
Nat Collins slouched back in his chair, a terrifyingly wide, lopsided grin stretching across his face as he held his paddle up with two casual fingers. He tilted his head toward the back row, his chaotic eyes flashing behind his dark shades.
"Hey, gold fingers! You like mining lithium, right? Let’s see if you can mine enough cash to breathe in my atmosphere. Two billion dollars." He boldly called again.
April’s breath caught in her throat. She had so much to say. She had so much she wanted to yap at them for, saying she didn’t ask for their help... Yet. But she swallowed it. She wasn’t a fool, and she definitely would never refuse their help when she knew she was backed into a corner.
They saw Morgan and Pearson trying to humiliate her, and they backed her up. That’s what it means to have power.
She glanced back at Madam Morgan, her brows furrowed, but her lips curling into a victorious grin.
"I win," she whispered. It was inaudible, but it was loud enough for Madam Morgan to hear in the quiet hall.
Madam Morgan virtually stopped breathing, her face turning entirely pale. Two billion dollars for a hillside bunker was no longer a business venture—it was a financial mistake.
Pearson’s hand shook violently, his golden rings clicking together in a frantic, erratic rhythm. He looked at the Golden Dragon, then at the head of Reed Industries, and realized with sudden, absolute clarity that he was playing a losing game against the two wealthiest, most dangerous apex predators in the city.
If he called two point one, they would simply throw three billion without a single shred of hesitation.
Slowly, heavily, Gerald Vance lowered his paddle, sinking back into his seat with a completely shattered ego.
"Two billion dollars, going once... going twice..." The auctioneer’s arm was shaking so hard he could barely hold the gavel. CRACK. "Sold! To the gentlemen in row four!"
The surrounding elites immediately began whispering in a state of absolute, chaotic frenzy.
"Two billion dollars... for a bunker?"
"I know it’s state of the art, but this is..."
"They didn’t even hesitate. Reed and Collins just split a two-billion-dollar bid for that woman."
"Who on earth is she? She has the entire wealth of the city moving at her whim at this rate!"
April sat still in her seat, her mind completely blank as the system window quietly materialized above her purse, confirming she now owned her own bunker, the most important aspect of her survival in the apocalypse.
That fortress. It was legally hers.
She turned her head slowly, her wide eyes moving from Xavier’s calm, perfectly composed profile to Nat, who was currently snickering and tossing his paddle in the air like a toy.
"I told you I’d handle it, sweetheart," Nat chuckled, offering her another slow, arrogant wink. "Consider it a down payment for our long, beautiful partnership. Let’s consider this money an investment ’cause you’re going to be making me lots more."
Xavier smoothly adjusted the cuffs of his charcoal suit jacket, his expression entirely unbothered by the fact that he had just authorized a staggering sum of wealth. He didn’t get it in the end, and Nat had beat him to it.
He cut a quiet glance toward April. If she had asked to be his plus one for this very thing, then it must be very important to her. In the end, the most important thing was that she got what she wanted.
"The asset is secured, Miss April. Congratulations."
Samuel stepped forward from behind her seat, a faint, proud smile touching his lips as he handed her a fresh glass of water to soothe her dry throat. "Congratulations on your new acquisition, Miss April."
April took the glass, her fingers finally relaxing as she took a long, cold sip. A beautiful, wicked, and entirely triumphant grin slowly broke across her face beneath her neatly styled hair.
It seemed in the end, she would have to be in the psychopath’s debt, but it’s not something she could not pay back. The most important thing was her acquisition of that bunker and the land deed.
