Lucas let go of Ariel immediately. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier so I could fetch you here?”

Wendy smiled. She went up to Lucas and placed her arms around his waist. Leaning against his chest, Wendy mumbled shyly, “I didn’t want to trouble you. You kept wanting to do it more even though it was already late last night…”

Ariel lowered her gaze expressionlessly.

She felt nothing as she listened to those words, whereby Wendy was pretty much declaring that Lucas was hers. Ariel appeared completely uninterested..

Just then, Wendy looked at Ariel and beamed. “Can you stay around for a bit longer today? We have a big surprise later, and we need you here.”

Ariel met Wendy’s eyes. “What is it?”

Wendy blinked. “You’ll find out in a bit.”

She wanted to keep the event a surprise. Then, Wendy gently pulled Lucas along and led him in a certain direction. “My dad’s here. You should go and greet him,” she said.

Lucas placed his arm around Wendy’s waist and followed her. Before he walked away, Lucas cast Ariel another glance. His eyes were unreadable.

Ariel did not think much of it.

Janice shook her head when she returned. “I didn’t find anything. That guy is such a mysterious person.”

Ariel glanced at their surroundings. She didn’t spend too much time worrying over it. “Let’s head over to our seats

first.”

They were seated at a round table placed in the second row. As for the first row…

Ariel lifted her gaze. As expected, she spotted Jayson bringing Nancy to a table located at the center of the first row.

Guests with a higher social status and background usually received special treatment at events or such occasions. Ariel did not exactly mind these things.

However, from where she was seated, Ariel would always see Jayson and Nancy first whenever she tried to look toward the stage.

Ariel had raised her head and looked toward the stage twice. Each time, Ariel caught sight of Nancy speaking to Jayson, and the latter would lower his head and listen to her.

She had no idea what they were talking about, but Jayson would smile slightly and look at Nancy. He had a gentle, intent look in his eyes.

Ariel’s expression remained impassive. She looked past them and focused on the stage.

Janice saw Jayson and Nancy’s interactions too. She said through gritted teeth, “Is this a place for them to showcase their lovey–dovey time? Should I just get them a bed here instead?”

Ariel tried to calm Janice down by lightly gripping her hand. As for herself, she did not feel anything.

Tonight’s charity auction was being held at a relatively large scale. Nearly 200 famous and influential figures had attended the event. The items that would be put up for auction were donated by numerous well–known people or organizations from in and out of their country.

All of the proceeds collected from tonight’s auction will be donated to help children living in remote areas or to support special needs healthcare. It would be a meaningful event.

Although Ariel’s main goal today was to look for Fergus, she wanted to help contribute to a good cause too. Ariel decided to join the bidding if she were to come across any items she liked.

The items were brought onto the stage one after another.

From her seat, Ariel saw Jayson handing his numbered paddle to Nancy. It seemed like Jayson would let Nancy make the decisions, and he would just pay for whatever it was she wanted to buy.

Nancy smiled softly. She went ahead and kept raising the paddle.

She managed to win the bidding time and time again. Nancy gained almost everyone’s attention because she contributed the most money during the auction thus far.

The people around her were all looking at her with envy.

Janice slammed her empty glass down on the table. “Those who don’t know better probably think that Nancy is his wife! Jayson’s already giving her the wife treatment when he hasn’t even married her yet! Don’t be sad, Ari.”

In her opinion, Ariel had loved Jayson wholeheartedly during their three years of marriage. Even if they had decided to get divorced, it would not have changed the fact that Ariel’s feelings for him were real and sincere.

Jayson’s actions now were no different than driving a knife to Ariel’s heart.

Ariel slowly exhaled and said flatly, “I’m fine.”

Except for the fact that Nancy being Sarah’s daughter had made her feel extremely pathetic and miserable, Ariel could not care less about anything else.

“She thinks she’s all that just because she’s got backing now.” Janice was irked. She shot a few glares at the first row and grumbled angrily.

More than half of the items prepared for the auction had been sold off. Yet, Ariel had not seen anything she liked. She was going to randomly choose two items and join the bidding when the beautiful auctioneer smiled slightly and announced, “The next item is an emerald cabochon diamond cluster ring with a starting price of 12.9 million dollars!”

Ariel was not feeling hopeful when she looked up. Yet, her eyes widened the instant she had a clear view of the ring.