Chapter 6
Vivienne’s expression soured when she saw the look Albert gave Melanie. “Five million!”
Melanie didn’t back down. She raised her paddle and called out her bid, “Six million dollars!”
“Seven million!” Vivienne shouted.
The two women volleyed their bids, and the price of the watch escalated within minutes. At last, Melanie gestured at the auctioneer, indicating that she would buy the watch at the highest bid regardless of the price.
Upon seeing this, the crowd around her gasped in surprise. They believed she was bidding on the watch for Albert and exclaimed, “Ms. Olsen truly loves Mr. Palmer!”
When Melanie received the watch, Albert draped his jacket over her shoulders and said, “Thank you for the watch. Care to put it on for me?”
Melanie blinked. She was about to tell him that the watch wasn’t a gift for him when his phone rang. He picked up the call, only to be informed that there was an emergency at the company. He hurried off and had the driver drop Melanie and Vivienne home.
Having gotten what she wanted, Melanie saw no point in staying for the rest of the auction. She turned to leave the auction hall.
Before ducking to get into the car, she turned to beckon Vivienne to hurry up but saw the latter giving one of the bodyguards a meaningful look.
A bad feeling seized Melanie. Sure enough, the bodyguard knocked her out the next second with a knife-hand strike to the back of her neck. When she regained consciousness, she found herself in a cold room.
Her hands and feet were numb from the frigidity, and she looked up to see Vivienne staring at her menacingly from the other side of the door. “If you think you can win over Albert by giving him a watch, think again! I’m the only one he loves, Melanie!”
Melanie was at a loss for words. She was shivering from the cold as she said tiredly, “You’ve got it all wrong. I didn’t bid on that watch for Albert.”
Vivienne seemed surprised at first, but a second later, she snorted. “Who did you bid it for, then? You’d best stay put in this cold room, Melanie. This is what you deserve for stealing my brother.”
With that, she threw the watch on the ground and turned to leave.
“Vivienne! Vivienne!” Melanie cried. She was usually even-tempered, but right now, she couldn’t control her rage. She couldn’t understand why Vivienne was so intent on needling her.
Albert would have already told Vivienne that their marriage was for business and nothing more. Melanie had heard him tell Vivienne countless times that she was the only one he loved and cared about.
The door of the cold room was heavy and tightly shut, sealing Melanie away from the outside world. There was no reception here either, and a layer of frost had formed on her phone screen.
The cold air nipped at her skin like a thousand tiny needles, and she felt the chill in her bones. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, convinced she would die in the cold room, she heard a loud bang.
Bleary-eyed, she looked up to see that the door had been kicked open, and Albert was running toward her.
When she woke up, she was lying in her king-sized bed at home. Albert was sitting by the bedside, his eyes full of guilt and exhaustion. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect Vivienne to do something like this.”
Melanie leaned against the headboard, her face devoid of any color as she said quietly, “Let me guess, you want me to overlook this as well.”
Albert paused for a moment, then said, “I already punished her.”
Melanie met his gaze. “How?”
He hesitated before confessing uneasily, “She isn’t allowed to have supper.”
Melanie went rigid, and after a while, she finally said, “I see.”
Albert eyed her warily. “Aren’t you angry?”
“I am,” Melanie said, calm but worn out. “But I figured that if Leon had done something like this, I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to punish him, either. I suppose that’s what love is, right? You love Vivienne just as much as I love Leon, and it’s hard to draw the line when it comes to such feelings.”
Albert’s face darkened. He shot to his feet as unreadable emotions flashed in his eyes. Melanie thought she saw anger and disappointment among them, which baffled her. She saw no reason for him to get so worked up.
She waited for him to speak, but he only stood there, silent as a stone statue. His mouth opened and closed several times, but all he said was, “I don’t want to hear you mention him again.”
