Chapter 178: She Is My Wife

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: She Is My Wife

Felix Faulkner was completely oblivious to his own double standards.

Back in the day, Annie had also tried to marry into the Faulkner Family with a pregnant belly, only to be rejected by Grandma Faulkner. Annie had terrible character; not only was she the other woman in someone else’s marriage, but she was also incredibly arrogant about it.

"There is no ’first come, first served’ in love; the one who isn’t loved is the actual third party."

This was one of Annie’s classic quotes. At the time, Felix was so deeply bewitched by her that he even begged Grandma Faulkner to let the child in Annie’s belly "return to its ancestors and be officially recognized by the family"!

Right now, Vivian Lowell had just placed some food in Grandma Faulkner’s bowl and was about to serve herself. When Felix suddenly came over and asked that question out of nowhere, everyone’s hands froze mid-air with their chopsticks.

Julian put down his chopsticks.

He looked at Felix with an incredibly stern expression and said, "She is my wife. Well, Felix? Is there a problem?"

Felix choked on his breath!

What?

She wasn’t just a girlfriend? They were already married?

Felix pointed at Julian, his finger trembling as he demanded, "You actually got married? I’m your father! How could you not tell me about something this important!?"

Julian didn’t want to bother with Felix’s questioning. He picked up his chopsticks, placed a piece of spare rib in Vivian’s bowl, and said, "Eat first. Ignore him."

"Julian!" Felix wanted nothing more than to roar at him.

Taking a sip of her soup, Grandma Faulkner couldn’t stand it anymore. She put down her chopsticks as well and said, "I was the one who arranged Julian’s marriage. If you have any objections, it’s too late now.

"And don’t go on about not being told about important matters. You didn’t tell us about something as big as your return to the country, did you? When you behave like this yourself, how can you expect better treatment from others?"

Grandma Faulkner looked at Felix with absolute disgust.

Felix was forced to swallow his grievance in silence. Choked by Grandma Faulkner’s words, he didn’t quite know how to respond. He only muttered in his heart, "Are these two things even comparable?"

Felix fell silent.

Vivian felt the air clear up considerably. She glanced at Julian, then at Grandma Faulkner. Both of them blinked at her, signaling that as long as they were here, she had nothing to worry about.

Well, she felt very reassured!

Vivian continued eating. However, to her surprise, Sylvia Drake—who was sitting nearby—somehow lost her grip on her wine glass. It slipped from her hand, falling to the floor and shattering with a loud CRASH.

The red wine spilled, splashing all over her long dress.

Several people looked over.

Sylvia stared in Julian’s direction, looking somewhat distraught. It wasn’t until President Zane walked over and politely asked her a question that she finally snapped out of her daze.

"I’m fine. I’ll go change my dress first."

Sylvia pursed her lips, her face looking a bit pale. She cast a meaningful glance at Julian and Vivian before turning to leave.

Huh?

Vivian hadn’t even noticed that Sylvia was here until now. Watching Sylvia’s reaction, she suddenly realized something.

Sylvia’s loss of composure was probably because she overheard the conversation they just had with Felix, right?

In other words, Sylvia had "accidentally" dropped her wine glass because she found out that Vivian was Julian’s wife?

Vivian thought this was highly likely.

With this in mind, Vivian peeked at Julian out of the corner of her eye.

Julian was looking down and eating his food. His long eyelashes fluttered, and his side profile was as breathtaking as ever. His eyes were calm; he clearly hadn’t noticed the commotion caused by Sylvia.

"What’s wrong?"

But Julian noticed Vivian stealing glances at him. After swallowing his food, he turned his head to look at her. His gaze was gentle, and a faint smile played at the corners of his lips.

"Nothing."

Vivian’s heart skipped a beat at Julian’s faint smile. She quickly lowered her head and earnestly focused on her food.

Seriously, why was Julian smiling at her so gently for no reason?

She only ever knew him to have a stern, serious expression that intimidated anyone who saw him.

She never expected that his faint smile would be like the spring sunshine, capable of melting away the ice and snow that had accumulated all winter.

It was too beautiful, too warm. He was no longer the aloof Julian who kept people at a distance like an unreachable flower on a high peak; instead, he was a flower right in front of her, well within reach, waiting to be plucked...

Ahem.

Vivian popped a piece of broccoli into her mouth. At any rate, it was a satisfying meal. Seeing that Grandma Faulkner had mostly finished eating as well, she signaled the waiter to clear the table.

It was almost eight o’clock. The scheduled auction was set to begin at this time.

More people filed into the venue one after another. A small fraction of them were media personnel standing behind the outermost security line, holding up their cameras to record today’s auction.

Vivian followed Julian to their seats, with Grandma Faulkner sitting beside them.

Julian exuded a powerful aura, and Grandma Faulkner walked with her Dragon Head Walking Stick in hand. When the three of them walked together, they looked like an illustrious, wealthy family from 1980s or 1990s HK.

"The auction is about to begin. Please welcome Mr. Felix Faulkner to the stage for a speech!"

The master of ceremonies gave a brief opening remark, followed by a round of applause. Then, Felix walked up to the stage under the spotlight.

Looking at the immaculately dressed Felix under the spotlight, Vivian couldn’t help but click her tongue.

As expected. Although Felix was shameless and rather brainless, he truly looked elegant and suave when dressed up in a suit.

One could never imagine that such a man was entirely golden on the outside but rotten to the core on the inside.

Felix’s speech was exceedingly grand and pompous. The gist of it was that although he had lived abroad for many years, he had always cared about Veridia’s domestic development.

Taking this opportunity to return with the Drake Family, a prominent medical family, he hoped to develop his business domestically while aiding in the construction of the motherland.

He claimed that reluctantly selling his shares this time was to establish a public welfare enterprise and contribute to society.

After the auction, he promised to donate 1% of the auction proceeds to projects like Hope Schools and agricultural assistance programs.

Once he finished speaking, the audience erupted in another round of applause.

The Faulkner Group currently had a very high market value. Its stock market capitalization in Freedonia had already reached four hundred billion US Dollars. Selling Felix’s 2% shares would yield a substantial sum.

Donating 1% of that amount would be enough to build an unimaginable number of Hope Schools.

Felix was truly being generous!

With him being so willing to part with his money, what exactly was he plotting domestically?

Vivian couldn’t help but raise her guard, completely forgetting to follow the lead of the people around her and applaud Felix for show.

Basking in the applause and the spotlight, Felix stepped off the stage. After he announced a starting price, the people below exchanged glances, all showing varying degrees of hesitation.

It was too high.

Vivian couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as she glanced at Felix.

Felix was exchanging glances with Sylvia.

Sylvia’s eyes were filled with dissatisfaction and anger. She likely hadn’t expected Felix to be so greedy, demanding such a massive sum right out of the gate!

Felix, on the other hand, had a smile plastered across his face, seemingly trying to placate Sylvia’s temper.

Finally, after glaring furiously at Felix, Sylvia raised her bidding paddle.

She bid the starting price—the exact figure Felix had proposed. If no one else raised the bid, Sylvia would successfully win this auction.

On stage, the master of ceremonies handled the situation with ease. Seeing someone place a bid, he continued hosting, asking the attendees if anyone else wanted to increase the price.

When no one in the audience responded, Vivian looked at Julian.

Earlier today, on the flight to Valeria, Vivian, Julian, and President Ward had already discussed exactly how much the Faulkner Group’s shares were currently worth.

For tonight’s auction, they had made an estimate on how much Felix’s shares could sell for, based on the Faulkner Group’s current market value and its future development prospects.

Julian and President Ward both knew in their hearts what the absolute maximum bidding price should be tonight.

But it clearly wasn’t the price Felix had just presented.

It was way too high.

It was 20% higher than their originally estimated maximum price.

Sylvia’s side must have also done a preliminary estimate. That was why she had glared at Felix so angrily when he announced the starting price.

This price was probably significantly higher than what the Drake Family and Felix had previously negotiated in private.

No wonder Felix hadn’t agreed directly to the Drake Family and instead insisted on holding this auction.

After all, rare commodities were meant to be hoarded for the best price!