A beautiful lady dressed in skintight wear carried a tray onto the stage.The tray was covered with a piece of silk fabric, displaying six nuts de cuerno that were the size of meatballs.The color, texture, and patina were top-notch.The host made an impassioned introduction of the nuts before opening for bids.The bid started at five million dollars with increments going for at least five hundred thousand dollars.Five million dollars for six walnuts was a bit much. Many who were not in the collectible nut business were shocked, to say the least.Still, there were people who did their research on these unique collectorâs items. They were tempted to place their bids on those nuts on the tray.âSix million!âTaking Skylarâs instruction, Yulia raised her bidding card and shouted.âSix million five hundred thousand!âA middle-aged man in the back named his price.Another voice echoed, âTen million!âUff!Everybody gasped sharply and turned their heads to the source of the voice.Nolan raised his bidding card and looked smugly at Skylar and Yulia.The disdain in his eyes was mocking Skylar and Yulia.To Nolan, Skylar only deserved his leftovers.When it came down to it, Skylar was no match for Nolan.Showered by surprised looks, Nolan rose to his feet and arrogantly said, âI am Nolan, the heir of the Oakleys. I have my eyes set on the nuts de cuerno, so I hope everybody will let me have them.âNolanâs declaration made those, who were already hesitant about putting in a bid, drop out of the bidding war.The Shepards, the Curreys, the Belmonts, and the Whitlocks were the Four Great Families.The social class playing catch-up behind was the Moodys and Oakleys. Plus, Old Mr. Belmont was Nolahâs maternal grandfather. There had been marriage unions between the Belmont family and the Oakley family.So, the bond between both families ran deep.Although the Oakleys were not as rich as the Moodys, the familyâs link to the Belmonts put them on par with the Moodys.With Nolan coming forward with an introduction, he was telling everybody in the auction that the nut collection was his to take.
Anyone who placed a bid was going against the Oakley family.It was unnecessary to cross the Oakleys, maybe even the Belmonts, over an auction piece.Seeing that the others withdrew from the bidding war, Nolan glanced at Skylar with delight and taunted, âSkylar, the auction is only for the rich.
Someone as poor as youâ¦âThe way he saw it, Skylar and Yulia were paupers.It was like Skylar and Yulia embezzled public funds to purchase the six-hundred-thousand-dollar paint just now.Even though Kareem Fashionâs anti-blemish cream project was a big hit, they had a long way to go before they could turn a profit.Skylar had no means to beat him in terms of finances.Nevertheless, Skylar cut off Nolanâs monologue by raising his bidding card and uttering, âA hundred million.ââWhat? How much?âThe people around thought their ears were deceiving them.âA hundred million.âSkylar nonchalantly repeated.Holy cow!The whole place went quiet as everybodyâs minds were blown.A hundred million?How did it go from ten million to a hundred million?All that money for a nut collection?
These people were nuts.The smug looks on Nolan and Yvonneâs faces froze as they stared at Skylar in disbelief.It never crossed their minds that Skylar would raise the bid to a hundred million!With Skylar looking laid-back, Nolan turned furious, gritted his teeth, and raised his bidding card. âA hundred and ten million!â