The 24th Century Warrior Became a Fake Heiress novel Chapter 357

ed Warrior in a Fake Heiress’s Body

Chapter 357 The Heirloom Mandrake

Finished

Letting out a quiet breath, she decided to treat the remaining lots with casual indifference.

If something caught her eye, she would toss out a bid or two for fun.

Yet the bidder in Box 78 seemed to hold a bitter grudge, whether brooding over losing the meteorite or feeling disgraced by the defeat, pettily opposing her at every turn.

Isabella leaned against her armchair, her cool eyes narrowing into thoughtful slits.

Whenever she casually bid on subsequent lots, Box 78 shadowed her every move, nudging the price upward by a few million before falling dead silent the moment she followed.

After several repetitions, a frosty glint surfaced in Isabella’s gaze.

She had no desperate need for those trinkets, but watching someone deliberately run up her prices amused her.

A cold smirk curled the corners of her lips.

The next consignment rolled onto the stage was a century–old wild Alpine mandrake root, its intertwined taproots forming the uncanny silhouette of a small child, looking remarkably lifelike and brimming with vibrant botanical essence.

The moment the mandrake appeared, Preston’s eyes ignited in Box 78.

Having lost the obsidian specimen, landing this premier botanical specimen would easily offset his earlier embarrassment, and more importantly, it made an even better gift than the meteorite.

Gifting obsidian required elaborate explanations regarding magnetic frequencies and therapeutic lore, whereas a legendary centuries–old botanical was an unmistakable symbol of vitality that spoke for itself.

Without hesitation, Preston jammed the console, “Seven million!”

The opening bid stood at three million, yet Preston escalated straight to seven million to project absolute dominance.

The sharp opening leap caught the room off guard.

After all, Preston had previously gone toe–to–toe against Isabella up to three hundred million.

While attendees commanded substantial fortunes, spending fortunes on an antique heirloom was fundamentally different from buying a botanical specimen.

An antique remained a lasting heirloom for generations, whereas a botanical root was a consumable asset.

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Chapter 357 The Heirloom Mandrake

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Finished

Once consumed, the investment was gone forever.

Hesitation rippled through the gallery.

Right then, Isabella’s calm, melodic voice drifted through the audio feed, “Eight million.”

Hearing her voice, Preston’s face darkened into an ugly scowl.

Fury surged in his chest as he glared toward Isabella’s cubicle.

Why is it that person again?

“Thirty million!” he barked into his receiver, refusing to yield an inch.

He refused to believe she still held sufficient liquidity to contest him.

She had just burned five hundred million on a black rock, and now she was chasing a botanical

root?

He was determined to make her bleed.

Preston resolved that if she truly wanted the root, he would drive the bidding through the roof to bankrupt her.

And if she was merely trying to bait him into an overpay, he would fold instantly to let her choke on the bill.

With that strategy in mind, he waited coldly for her response.

He wanted to see if she genuinely coveted this botanical specimen.

Across the hall, Isabella’s eyes narrowed with calculating amusement.

She patched through to her proxy steward in Box 57, instructing him to submit an independent bid, “Fifty million!”

The second the proxy’s bid registered on the board, Isabella followed up from her own console, “Eighty million!”

The rapid succession of bids confirmed Preston’s suspicion that she was desperate for the lot.

She clearly wanted the root, jumping back into the fray the split second another bidder intervened.

A malicious sneer spread across Preston’s face.

He keyed in his counter without a hearth

of hesitation,

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