"Wow, look. The one at the side is Mr. Kyle Kingston! He's attending the auction in person too."

"I think he just came to take a look. As a member of the organizing family, he can't participate in the bidding!"

"That's for sure. If he had taken a liking to one of those beauties, he could have just kept her aside. Why would he bother competing with us to bid for her?"

"Also, who is that beautiful woman next to them?"

"I know. She's Gisele Taylor, a member of one of the four top families in Orange County."

...

The sudden appearance of these three people caused some commotion in the auction hall. But after Lucas shot them a glance, they quickly looked away and faced the auction stage to bid again.

"Twelve million!"

"Wow!"

There was immediately yet another uproar because of Lucas's bid.

Twelve million dollars was enough for even the creation of a model of a beautiful woman using pure gold. Yet the bidder intended to buy a woman for twelve million dollars, which was an absurdly high price even if she was as beautiful as a fairy!

Liam glared at Lucas menacingly with a trace of hatred and jealousy in his eyes. He exclaimed slowly, "Fifteen million!"

Boom!

There was an instant upheaval in the auction hall as everyone exclaimed in shock.

Fifteen million dollars could buy a super luxurious mansion, or if it was invested in some businesses, it would bring about massive returns. But it was now about to be spent on a woman. This was excessively extravagant!

Liam stared at Lucas provocatively and gibed smugly, "What? Aren't you rich? Can't you afford a mere fifteen million dollars?"

The reason he suddenly decided to compete with Lucas for Grace was that he could long tell that Lucas was definitely bent on buying her and taking her away. So he insisted on going against Lucas and raising the price to a staggering amount to make Lucas break the bank.

Otherwise, there was no need for Liam to buy Grace with money at all because he was the one who had sent people to capture her.

Of course, after Lucas spent a tremendous amount of money to buy Grace, Liam was confident that he would still be able to snatch her back and leave Lucas with nothing!

The thought of his plans made Liam smile in pleasure.

As he had expected, Lucas frowned and placed a higher bid. "Twenty-three million!"

"Damn?!"

"Oh my god! He actually raised the bid by eight million dollars! Is he out of his mind?!"

"Even if you're rich, you shouldn't squander your money like that! Twenty-three million dollars can buy you dozens of other beauties!"

"Twenty-three million dollars! Oh my gosh! The money has to be paid in cash on the spot. Is he going to throw away so much money just like that?"

"Haha… impressive! All of us here today are from wealthy families, but I can guarantee that there are only a few who can fork out twenty-three million dollars in cash at any time!"

"That's right! However, Lucas Gray owns a Black Diamond Card, which allows him to withdraw five billion dollars in cash from any bank. I reckon he should be able to afford it."

"Tsk, tsk, I'm so envious! Who doesn't want to own a Black Diamond Card?"

...

The emcee on the stage was also shocked by the current bid price and couldn't help clutching her chest with her hand.

Beside Lucas, Lena looked at him in disbelief. "Are you nuts? It's twenty-three million dollars we're talking about! Are you going to spend it all on a woman like her? Let me tell you. I can't hide this for you. I'll definitely inform Cheyenne about this!"

Lucas glanced at Lena and merely said indifferently, "It doesn't matter. Go ahead and let her know."

"You…!" Lena was so furious that she was speechless.

The fact that Lucas offered an unbelievable price of twenty-three million dollars made all the guests in the hall get into a huge uproar that only gradually calmed down after a long time.

Seeing that Lucas had really fallen for it and was going to waste an extra eight million dollars, Liam was overjoyed and conceited, especially when he saw Lucas's gloomy expression.

"Hmph, you're trying to compete with me, huh? Watch how I'll deal with you! So what if you're somewhat rich now? I can still turn you into a pauper in no time!"

Liam cursed and called Lucas a fool countless times in his heart before saying calmly, "Thirty million!"

He raised his eyebrows and stared at Lucas provocatively with a smug and contemptuous look.

He was already certain that Lucas would go to all lengths to buy Grace and take her away regardless of what it took. So even if he bid higher, Lucas would have no choice but to increase his bid too because Grace was his weakness!

The other people in the auction hall were completely flabbergasted by Liam's ridiculously high bid!

"What's going on today?"

"They keep placing such high bids, and the amount just gets crazier. No matter how gorgeous that woman is, she's still just a woman who will age and lose her beauty in a few years!"

The guests felt that the bids were simply too exaggerated.

After a burst of exclamations, everyone in the room cast their gazes onto Lucas, the generous man who spent money like it grew on trees, to see how high he would bid this time.

Many people were excited, and they knew that the auction today was bound to reach an extremely high climax. Even though they didn't take part in the bidding, they were spectators who had firsthand experience and would have plenty to talk about regarding this auction in the future.

While everyone was keeping their eyes on Lucas and eagerly waiting for him to bid again, Lucas suddenly waved his hand and said with a smile, "Mr. Wallace, since you fancy this beautiful girl so much, you may have her."

Then Lucas sat down to indicate his withdrawal from the bidding.

His words once again set off an uproar.

No one expected Lucas, who had bought all the other nine beauties put up for auction tonight and was incredibly wealthy, would admit defeat and withdraw from the auction at this juncture!

Some immediately thought that Lucas was smart enough to realize that it wouldn't make any economic sense to continue raising his bid and thus withdrew. They felt that it showed that he was not a reckless man just obsessed with winning.

Of course, there were also many people who were hungry for more drama and excitement. Seeing the exciting bidding come to an end, they all began to criticize Lucas in their heads for being too cowardly with looks of disappointment on their faces.

The other bidder, Liam, was dumbfounded and froze in place when he saw Lucas actually withdraw from the bidding without hesitation! No! How is this possible? Why would Lucas Gray withdraw from the bidding? Doesn't he want that woman anymore?

What made Liam even more flustered and horrified was the realization that he would have to pay the sum that he bid now that Lucas had withdrawn!

Thirty million dollars!

How could he possibly fork out so much money?!

"Okay. Now that Mr. Gray has withdrawn from the bidding, the highest bidder so far is Mr. Wallace, who has placed a bid of thirty million dollars! Any higher bids?"

The hall was dead silent because no one would bid any higher.

Liam quickly broke out in a sweat that rolled down his cheeks.

"Thirty million dollars, going once!

"Thirty million dollars, going twice!

"Thirty million dollars, going thrice! Congratulations, Mr. Wallace. You have won the auction for our finale item, Beauty No. 1, with thirty million dollars! Congratulations!"