Three years of loving him, three days to erase myself from his world novel Chapter 90

The next round of bidding began. It was a pink diamond necklace. The starting bid was 3 million. Clara loved diamond jewelry, and pink diamonds were her absolute favorite. She immediately raised her paddle. "5 million!" Julian: "6 million!" The two spoke simultaneously. Clara frowned and raised her paddle again. "7 million." Julian was rich and disdained wasting time on such things. He directly stated, "10 million." 10 million... more than triple the price. A price she couldn't afford. Once again, she missed out on something she loved... Clara's mind went blank for a moment. She stared blankly at the front row at Julian, who was throwing thousands away for love, her eyes forcing back tears. For a moment, she couldn't help but wonder if Julian knew that she also loved pink diamonds. The answer was obvious. The subsequent auctions were no exception. As long as it was an item Seraphina liked or took a few extra glances at, Julian waved his grand hand and bought them all for her. Clara was left empty-handed, not getting a single item. The bright lights of the hall shone on her face, revealing a sheet of pallor... "If I had known this auction had a big shot who spoils his girlfriend, I would have come next time!" someone teased. "That big shot is truly good to his girlfriend!" "..." Amidst the sounds of envy, Clara suddenly stood up and left The Sovereign Auction House. She walked all the way out the main doors. The cold wind blew against her face. Only then did Clara feel she had come back to life, and the tightness in her chest eased a bit. She breathed out softly a few times, forcing herself not to think about those miserable things, and pondered over what gift to buy for Leo Miller. Just as she was preparing to take a stroll down The Heritage District. The phone in her bag suddenly rang. She took it out and at a glance, she saw over a dozen messages from Julian in the notification bar. Hah, clearly accompanying Seraphina, yet still sending messages to brush her off. Must be hard work for him! Clara didn't read them and answered the call. "Hello, Nora, what's wrong?" Nora paused in confusion. "Boss, did you forget? You have a meeting with Nova Strategic's Mr. Crawford at noon to discuss the investment for the Valentine's Day jewelry project." Clara remembered. This partner was someone she had scheduled with earlier, but she had been so busy these past few days she forgot. Now that she had resigned, she reasonably could have just ignored it. But the new manager hadn't arrived yet. By reason and emotion, she ought to attend this negotiation. Otherwise, the efforts poured in by the colleagues involved in this project over these past days would all go to waste. "Okay, I'll be there right away." "Alright, then I'll contact Seraphina now. She's the chief designer for the project; she has to go too," Nora said with disgust. "I'm so done. When can we tell her to get lost? I really don't want to see her." Clara lowered her eyes, suddenly thinking of Julian and Seraphina in the auction house. The two were currently happily enjoying their time together, completely inseparable. She figured Julian would probably grant Seraphina a leave of absence, having someone else take over Seraphina's part of the work, or perhaps contact Clara to have her fill in temporarily. As for her. He probably wouldn't even think of her... Clara's chest felt suffocated. "Okay, you contact her..." Let it be. It was the last time anyway, she would just endure it for the sake of the colleagues she had spent day and night with for three years. ... At the company. Clara hit some traffic on the way. When she arrived, she greeted her colleagues in the office area and hurried to her office to pack the materials needed for the meeting. To her surprise, as soon as she walked into her office, she saw a pile of gift boxes on her desk. Those were all the items Julian had won at the auction... There was the ink painting. And there was that pink diamond necklace. ... Clara paused her motion of closing the door, somewhat unable to believe her own eyes. Weren't the auction items bid for Seraphina? How could they... Clara's heart skipped a beat. It was an indescribable feeling—not one of affection, not of fondness, but just... surprise. Right at that moment. Her phone vibrated a few times in her hand. She took it out to check. They were all messages from Julian. Only then did she realize that the messages he had sent her earlier were all photos of the auction items, asking if she liked them. [Do you like the gifts?]