After the Gavel Falls

The voice on the other end sounded delighted. “Wonderful! I’ll have my men handle the procedures right away. Can you clear things up on your end within a week?”

“Sure.”

In my past life, for Gwen’s sake, I rejected my family’s plans to let me inherit the family business overseas after I graduated high school. I even built a career and a home on my own without my family’s help, all for her.

It was only right before my death that I realized she never cared about me at all. In that case, why force it?

I made the arrangements to leave school, and my friends organized a farewell party for me. At the hotel, though, I bumped into Gwen, who was hanging off the arm of an older man.

My friends whispered to me, “Ivan purposely raised the price to 150 million at the auction, but you didn’t follow through, right? After that, Gwen begged everyone she could and finally got Mr. Wenger to buy her out.”

Gwen looked at me, her gaze resentful. She purposely hugged the old man even tighter, rubbing her bare chest against his. “Do you like it when I do this, Mr. Wenger?”

Wenger fondled her as though no one was looking. “I love it! Why wouldn’t I? I bought you for more than 150 million dollars, after all.”

She forced a smile at him and then turned to me, her expression cold. “See that, Weston? I’d give myself to any man as long as it isn’t you! Because you’re not worthy!”

She always knew how to push my buttons. In my past life, whenever I ticked her off and told her to stay away from Ivan, she would immediately find a few strangers and take a bunch of intimate photos to provoke me.

“Have you learned your lesson yet? The more you tell me to stay away from other guys, the more I want to mess around!”

When I broke down and begged her on my knees, she called Ivan out and spent the whole night in his bed.

Now, however, I had long since given up on her. Such a scene no longer affected me.

I smiled calmly. “Go ahead as you please.”

Within five minutes after I sat down, however, Ivan barged into the party room. He suddenly knelt before me and slapped himself hard, sobbing.

“Weston! I shouldn’t have tried to fight you at the auction, but I’ve been punished enough for it! Could you show me some mercy and let me go?”

I looked at him, mystified. “I didn’t do anything. I don’t think I even contacted you after the auction.”

Gwen helped him up, gasping when she saw the gruesome marks on his body. She immediately glared daggers at me. “Weston! Did you get your goons to bully Ivan again? Why are you always so petty?!”

Ivan stood up with trembling knees, “accidentally” rolling up his sleeves to reveal the red marks. The next second, he pretended to cover them again, saying sadly,

“Don’t bother pleading for me, Gwen. It’s my fault for trying to fight him even though I’m so poor. He had people beat me up to teach me a lesson…”

Gwen was so upset on his behalf that her eyes turned red. She yelled at me, “Hurry up and apologize!”

I was too used to scenes like this in my past life. There was no point in explaining myself to someone who would never believe me.

Seeing the greed in Ivan’s eyes, I smirked. “Apologize? Are you sure he’s looking for just an apology? Tell me, Ivan, what do you want?”

Ivan cowered behind Gwen, but there was no hiding the endless avarice in his eyes. “If you could… Of course I’d want you to pay my medical fees.”

Gwen looked surprised at his request. Everyone knew that asking for money at a party like this was absurd and humiliating.

She seemed somewhat embarrassed, but she defended him anyway. “Then just give him the money. It’s not like you’ll miss a few thousand. You might as well cover the ceiling price from last time too.

“After you pay Mr. Wenger off, I… I’ll spend a few more days with you. Deal?”

Her matter-of-fact tone made me laugh. I said coldly, “I won’t pay a single cent.”

The next second, Gwen’s parents suddenly rushed into the room and slapped me.