Chapter 468

The moment Camille Hartwell opened her mouth, not just Helena Lancaster, but Rosalie Lancaster, Everett Mercer, and Arlo Calloway all froze in shock.

Rosalie's reaction was predictable.

As for Everett, he'd done some background checks on Camille before and knew her family came from modest means.

While the Hartwell family business had seen recent improvements, they were nowhere near the league where they could casually drop hundreds of millions on a single diamond.

Arlo, who prided himself on knowing Camille's situation inside out, mentally calculated the Hartwell family's current assets.

Even scraping together 100 million in liquid cash would be challenging for them - let alone 500 million.

Though Damien Harrington had once gifted Camille two billion as a token of gratitude, that money had been used to stabilize the Hartwell family's financial situation.

Even if their business was thriving now, and even if she still had a substantial portion of that two billion left, wasn't spending this obscene amount on a single diamond... excessive?

His fingers flew across his phone screen as he texted Damien in excitement.

"Just spotted your wife at the auction house. Was wondering what she's doing here. Now I get it... You know about the Aurora Diamond going up for bid, right? Starting price was 400 million, and she just jumped it to 500 million. Is she seriously planning to buy that thing? Holy sh-"

Before Arlo could finish typing, another bid came in at 550 million.

Then Camille's clear voice cut through the auction hall again.

"700 million."

Arlo's jaw dropped.

He hit send anyway, shooting off the half-finished message to Damien.

Everyone in attendance tonight had expected this rare blue diamond to fetch at least a billion.

But Camille's bidding style - leaping in increments of 100 to 150 million - had the price skyrocketing to 700 million in just three rounds.

The entire venue turned to stare at the unknown woman with the bottomless pockets.

Most attendees were either wives or daughters of high society's elite.

While they might not know each other personally, they at least recognized faces.

This unfamiliar woman throwing around money like confetti had everyone whispering, trying to place her identity.

The bidding war continued.

Each time a new offer came in, Camille countered immediately, pushing the price to one billion with her next bid.

Seeing her ruthless determination, Helena suddenly understood - Camille wasn't here to play.

She was here to win.

The older woman's lips pressed into a bloodless line.

Arlo, now thoroughly dazed, checked his phone.

Damien still hadn't replied to his first message.

Unable to contain himself, he fired off another: "Your wife just pushed bidding to one billion. Damn, she's dead serious about getting that rock. Since when was she into diamonds?"

This time, Damien responded almost immediately.

A single punctuation mark: "."

Arlo blinked at his screen.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Initially, dozens had shown interest in the auction.

But as prices climbed beyond reasonable investment returns, most dropped out.

Some present had deeper pockets than Camille, but their wealth came with strings attached - they couldn't spend with the same reckless freedom she displayed.

By the time bids hit 1.6 billion, only two determined parties remained in the game.