Chapter 5

I sat stiffly in the VIP section, my fingers clenched so tightly around the auction catalog that the glossy paper crumpled. Laughter and chatter floated through the air, but to me it was nothing but static. My lips wouldn’t curve into even the faintest smile.

The auctioneer stepped forward, pulling back a velvet cloth. A string of pearls gleamed beneath the lights—soft, luminous, breathtakingly familiar. My breath caught.

It was almost identical to my mother’s.

I remembered her wearing it at banquets, her laughter like music, her hand warm in mine. That necklace wasn’t just jewelry. It was her.

“You really want it?” Robert’s voice broke through my thoughts.

I didn’t answer. I simply raised my paddle.

“One million.”

“Two million!” A bright, lilting voice chimed in from across the room.

I turned. Sarah.

Her eyes shone with false innocence, her lips curved in a sweet, almost childlike smile. But the glint in her gaze was razor-sharp. “Barbara,” she said softly, “I really like this necklace too.”

My nails bit into my palm until I felt the sting of broken skin, but when I spoke, my voice was steady. “Five million.”

The numbers climbed—ten, twelve, fifteen. My chest pounded in rhythm with the auctioneer’s calls, each bid slicing into me.

Sarah remained serene, as if this were nothing more than a game.

“Twenty million!”

The words rang out, and the floor seemed to tilt beneath me. My lawyer had liquidated everything, but I was at my limit. My throat went dry. My mother’s memory dangled in front of me, and I couldn’t reach it.

“Will you bid again?” The auctioneer’s voice pressed like a weight against my chest.

I swallowed hard, desperation clawing at me. I turned to Robert, tugging at his sleeve with trembling fingers. “Robert… please. Lend me the money. This necklace—it’s my mother’s keepsake. I can’t lose it.” My voice broke, soft and raw. “I’m begging you.”

For a moment, silence. Robert stared at me as though I were a stranger. He wasn’t used to this version of me—the Barbara stripped of pride, the Barbara kneeling in her heart. Finally, he reached into his pocket.

And then—

“Robert.”

Sarah’s voice was fragile, trembling, threaded with tears. She clutched his arm like a lifeline, her wide eyes shimmering. “I really love this necklace. It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted something so much. Please… don’t help Barbara. Let me have it, just this once.”

The room seemed to hold its breath.

I looked at Robert, every ounce of me screaming, Choose me. Just once, choose me.

His brows drew together. His gaze flickered between Sarah and me, indecision clouding the face that was usually so composed, so coldly certain. Seconds stretched into eternity.

And then he exhaled. His voice was calm. Detached. “…Let her have it.”

The words hit harder than a slap.

The gavel slammed down. “Sold! Congratulations to Miss Sarah!”

Applause erupted around us, but the sound was hollow, mocking. My body went numb, my fingers trembling violently.

Sarah rose with a triumphant smile, slipping the pearls around her neck. The glow of the lights caught on the necklace as she turned to me, her eyes glinting with cruel satisfaction.

My nails carved bloodied crescents into my palms, but I felt nothing. Nothing but the hollow echo of my mother’s voice, faint and fading:

Barbara, don’t stay here. Go abroad. That’s your true stage.

Back then, I had refused, again and again. Because of Robert. Because I couldn’t bear to leave him.

But tonight… for the first time… I wavered.