Chapter 253
Marsha hesitated, then said, “Alright.”
VitaLink Hospital was set to go under the hammer today, starting at a staggering one hundred million.
Rylie didn’t show up in person either. Instead, she hired a phone bidder to act on her behalf while she watched the live stream from afar.
In Crolens, only a handful of families could pull together that kind of money to buy a hospital. Because of that, just a dozen people gathered at the venue. She sat in a wicker chair inside her glass greenhouse, idly twirling a paintbrush. While dabbing color onto her canvas, she kept an eye on the auction’s live feed. The live stream was meant for remote buyers, giving them complete privacy, though the cameras still captured every moment of the event.
Rylie’s gaze sharpened when she noticed Ronan. She narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out his intentions. Was he planning to continue that vile trade in human organs?
The auctioneer opened the bidding at one hundred million, increasing each offer by a million.
After several rounds, Ronan suddenly raised the price to one hundred and twenty million. He was willing to push up to one hundred and fifty million, but anything beyond that could ruin him.
Then, the phone bidder sitting diagonally from him lifted a hand. “Two hundred million.”
The auctioneer’s voice boomed, filled with excitement. “Two hundred million! We have a new highest bid at two hundred million! Does anyone want to go higher?”
The leap from 120 to 200 million stunned the room, leaving everyone wide-eyed. Who had that kind of nerve? Who was daring enough to bid so high without revealing their name?
Ronan sat frozen. He hadn’t expected anyone to throw out two hundred million for VitaLink. It was far beyond what he could pay. The sheer size of the offer showed how determined this bidder was to win. Trying to compete might only anger them and backfire.
Others in the room had the same thought. They exchanged hesitant looks and stayed silent.
The entire auction wrapped up in less than ten minutes, with the final price locked at two hundred million.
Rylie leaned back in her chair, placing the tablet aside with an air of calm, as though the transaction meant nothing to her. Picking up her paintbrush again, she deepened the shadows around the flowers and traced the bird’s stance on the branch.
The painting of flowers and birds came to life beneath her hand.
A breeze drifted across the lakeside path as Kendrick welcomed his old friend, Dennis Reynolds, who had journeyed all the way from Ostium. Together, they wandered near the gleaming glass conservatory until Dennis, enchanted by a patch of perfect roses, couldn’t resist stepping inside.
Sunlight poured into the empty conservatory, where nothing stirred except a single wicker chair set among the blossoms, and an oil painting left carelessly on the floor, drying in a golden patch of light.
“My granddaughter has developed quite the attachment to this place,” Kendrick said, his eyes shining. “She loves spending her hours here, sometimes composing new melodies at the piano. You remember Marcus, my grandson? She’s inherited that very same gift for music.”
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