N-M Chapter 376: The Auction Starts
Chapter 376: The Auction Starts
Michael sat on the sofa and looked through the viewing window as the auction began. The two ladies, with Kate seating on his left and Carol on another sofa next to his, watched the stage with interest.
Even though Kate was from a wealthy family, this was actually the first time that she was attending an auction. Therefore, she was curious about what would happen in the auction.
Previously, because of her obsession for revenge, she had not paid much attention to these things. So, although there were several auctions held in Brenton city over the years, she was clueless about them.
As the three looked on, the lights above the audience dimmed, leaving the stage as the brightest spot in the hall.
A middle-aged man in a dark suit walked onto the stage and stopped behind the podium.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to tonight’s auction."
A round of applause followed.
"As usual, the first part of the auction is open to all guests."
The large screen behind him lit up, displaying the first item. It was something considered ’ordinary’ in this auction house, but outside, it could easily cause a scramble.
Most of the opening items were things that ordinary people could not come into contact with. They could not easily be purchased through normal channels.
While none of them were considered truly valuable by the standards of the auction house, but they were not cheap either, and not easy to get hands on them.
The first lot of the evening appeared on the screen behind the auctioneer.
Lot Number One. A Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-010. The model had been discontinued years ago, and demand for it remained high among collectors.
The opening bid was set at $80,000. The moment that the auctioneer’s voice fell, bidding began immediately.
Within seconds, the price climbed past one hundred thousand dollars. At that point, most of those that had placed bids at the start had already dropped out of the bidding war.
While $100,000 wasn’t much to most of those that attended the auction, even in the ordinary section, it was just a matter of if they felt the watch was worth the price.
For some, it was just because they were afraid of bidding against someone, hence they didn’t dare to continue bidding.
The two ladies watched the bidding war, a little stunned. While Kate was not much knowledgeable about watches, she just felt that it was kind of ridiculous for someone to spend so much money on a watch.
To her, it felt that like a waste of money. After all, while the watch looked cool, wasn’t it showing the time the same way that the cheaper watches did?
Instead of spending over $100,000 on a watch, she would rather spend a few hundred or maybe a thousand dollars on a watch, and she still felt that it was expensive.
As for Carol, she thought differently from Kate. She was more knowledgeable about fashion, as she was a celebrity. This, she understood the value of the watches.
Even though she was not a watch enthusiast, she still knew a thing or two about them. Therefore, she finally began getting a better understanding of the auction, and how powerful its background must be.
At the same time, she realized that, Michael’s background seemed to be more than she had anticipated. An ordinary item, was something that other people out there felt that it was from a different world.
So, what about the items that would catch the interest of the VIPs, or even the VVIPs? As she thought about this, her interest grew even more, as she just stared at the stage, with the glass of red wine she was about to sip remaining hanging in front of her, forgotten.
Back to the bidding war, 6 bidders remained in the competition until the final hammer fell at $165,000. There were a few groans of displeasure and a few congratulatory voices.
Still, something that both Kate and Carol noticed was the fact that only those in the ordinary section placed bids. None in the VIP or VVIP boxes did.
While they were puzzled, Michael understood. To some of those in the VIP and VVIP boxes, a watch like that, if they really wanted it, they could definitely get their hands on them.
With the first item sold, the display screen behind the auctioneer displayed another item.
A 2022 Ferrari 812 Competizione. The screen displayed several images of the vehicle while the auctioneer briefly introduced its condition and history.
The opening bid started at $1.2 million. Several bidders joined the competition immediately. Noticeably, most of those that were involved in the bidding were young, with an average age of probably around 26 years old.
Though, there were a few older people who were also bidding. Maybe they wanted to get the car for their private collection, or maybe they wanted to get it for a certain younger generation.
The moment the price passed $1.5 million, things finally slowed down. Many people withdrew, with quite a number of them displaying disappointed expressions.
As short bidding war followed between two guests, inside the VVIP box, Michael seemed to notice that Kate was kind of interested in the car.
He asked, "Do you want it? If you want one like that, I can get you a new one, directly from the manufacturer. There is no need to get a secondhand one."
The moment Michael said those words, he left the two ladies shocked. They stared at him with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
At first, Kate was not sure about his she was to react to this. She had initially intended to tell Michael that it would be too expensive to get it, only for him to tell her that he could get one from the manufacturer.
It was only then that she suddenly remembered who Michael was. Compared to the mutation serum that she had gotten, it seemed that the car was kind of, ’not’ expensive?
Kate had some interest in the sports cars. She felt, driving them allowed her to be able to get to her destination faster. And from the description of this car, she felt that it was way above had current car.
Seeing her hesitating, Michael read her expression and understood. He said, "Don’t worry, by the time that we get back to the mansion, the car will have been delivered."
Carol on the other hand felt envious. How she wished that she could also get a man who treated her like this. She thought, if Michael had been single, she would have put in the effort to win him over.
At the same time, she was wondering about his wealth. To the extent that, a car that had just about 1,000 mileage, was considered old...
On the other side, the car eventually sold for $1.95 million.
For the third item, displayed on the screen behind the auctioneer was a collection of six bottles of 2015 Romanée-Conti Grand Cru.
The opening bid began at $90,000. And, unlike the previous lots, the bidding progressed more slowly this time. Even so, the final price still reached $240,000.
The fourth item was a Rolex Daytona ’Paul Newman’. The watch attracted attention the moment it appeared on the screen.
The bidding opened at $250,000 and eventually reached $420,000.
The fifth item was a Hermès Himalaya Birkin 30 with diamond hardware. The opening bid started at $280,000.
Several female guests competed aggressively for the bag. Eventually, it sold for $510,000.
The sixth item was a 5.2-carat Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond Ring.
The opening bid began at an astonishing figure of $1.5 million. And for the first time that evening, the price crossed $3 million. With the final bid being at $3.8 million.
One item followed another. Rare watches, limited-production vehicles, vintage wines, jewelry, artwork, and collectibles appeared on the stage.
By the time the final ordinary lot was sold, tens of millions of dollars had already changed hands throughout the hall.
There was excitement in the entire auction house. Michael did not bid on any item, as most of them did not interest Kate or himself.
Additionally, for some items, he could always get new ones through the system store. At the moment, the little bit of SP that was required for these small items could be ignored by Michael.
As the final item was sold, one by one, the guests in the ordinary section began to stand, preparing to leave.
At the same time, the auctioneer spoke, "That’s it for the ordinary items available. For those without VIP qualifications, please vacate the premises of the auction hall within the next ten minutes.
For those that have placed bids on items and won, please, follow an attendant and they will take you to complete the transaction."
Inside the VVIP box, Kate was momentarily stunned. When the items continuously got more expensive, she was wondering why those in the VIP and VVIP boxes did not bid on most items.
Though few of the placed bids, and every time they did, the ordinary section went quite, it was only three times in total.
Now, with these ordinary guests leaving, what kind of items would be up next, with the ordinary guests not even qualified to know about them?
The group of three continued to relax in the VVIP box, eating some snacks while waiting. And exactly ten minutes later, the auctioneer appeared on the stage once again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to get to the more interesting items of the night." The auctioneer spoke, his voice visibly excited, unlike his plain voice at the time that he was dealing with the ordinary items.