He Gave Me Hearing, Then Taught Me What Silence Really Means novel Chapter 289

They decided to cut Rupert Zale's piece first. The master cutter was incredibly meticulous, examining the edges of the rough stone multiple times to perfectly map the trajectory before making the cut.

The color was indeed Imperial Green, but because the flawless band only covered half the stone, its estimated value was around forty million dollars.

It was an absolute top-tier find.

Lydia's eyes sparkled with triumph. She glanced down at the massive rock resting at Juniper's feet and smirked. "Aren't you going to cut yours, Juniper?"

Wyatt chimed in, laughing obnoxiously. "Obviously, she's waiting until we're all done. She just grabbed a random rock off the floor. I genuinely don't understand what the Xaviers were thinking, bringing a complete joke like her."

Standing nearby, Helena frowned and finally snapped. "Wyatt, is it really appropriate for you to constantly bully a girl twenty years younger than you?"

Wyatt spat on the ground. "What, are you treating her like your daughter-in-law already? Is the Xavier family not humiliated enough? With that bastard Gideon running the show, you're all just dogs begging for scraps anyway."

"You!"

Helena was about to fire back, but she caught Mirabelle staring at her with crushing authority.

Intimidated by the Thorne family's sheer power, Helena was forced to swallow her words, but the anger churned violently in her gut.

She had already paid for the stone, but watching the entire room gather to mock them made her face burn with humiliation.

Still, she was anchored to Juniper for the night. She couldn't publicly stab her in the back.

She swallowed hard, forcing a gentle tone. "Juniper, let's just cut the stone and get out of here. Thank you for your help tonight."

Meanwhile, the cutter had just finished Wyatt's piece. It had enough material to carve two stunning beads, meaning he had secured a solid profit. His rough had only cost tens of thousands of dollars, but a single premium bead could sell for hundreds of thousands.

Juniper's stone was literally the cheapest one in the room.

The surrounding appraisers clustered around to watch the incoming trainwreck, whispering loudly. "I've never seen anyone pick a rock like that. Did she actually study gemology? The Xaviers definitely got scammed."

The window revealed nothing but dead gray rock. There wasn't a single microscopic trace of green.

Wyatt gripped his winning stone tightly and laughed. "See? Stop wasting everyone's time and just chop it in half. You're holding up the line."

The cutter looked incredibly awkward. He had spent minutes carefully grinding, only to reveal absolute garbage.

He looked at Juniper, but her tone remained dead calm. "Keep cutting. Follow the natural fault line right there."

The cutter wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had to admit, the girl had nerves of steel. Getting laughed at by an entire room of elites and still holding her ground was impressive.

He followed her instructions, slicing along the line. Once again, it revealed nothing but solid gray rock.

At this point, even Lydia couldn't hold back. She let out a sharp, mocking laugh.