Chapter 988

Black Rose

My little kitten is far more interesting than I thought. If she were to continue to outbid that woman, she
would merely appear to be a child throwing a tantrum. However, the sudden twist makes her seem
more like a deadly black rose. Mmm, I dig girls like that.

Fuming, Cecilia raged under her breath, “That wretch! She did that on purpose!”



“Susanne,” she said, turning to address the woman beside her. “Did you see that? She’s a devious
one, that girl. Do you think that she’s the type of woman your son ought to be marrying? I’m afraid that
she would rain chaos and disorder onto your family in the future!”

As she had lost face, Cecilia attempted a last-ditch effort by painting Arielle in a negative light.

Unexpectedly, Susanne merely smiled. “I think that she’s a rather intelligent girl. I see potential in her,”
she remarked, clearly impressed.

Cecilia scowled. “Susanne, listen to yourself!”

Susanne did not take the outburst kindly. “I am perfectly aware of what I am saying. How about you?
Perhaps I have been overly lenient to you over the past couple of days, and that gave you the
impression that you could somehow walk all over me.”

Cecilia flinched as though Susanne had flung a glass of water over her face. With a supreme effort, she
regained her composure. “Of course that’s not what I meant, Susanne. As parents, we would want our
children to marry out of love, right? Even if they don’t, we should at least consider fostering a marriage
for the purposes of an alliance. Is that wrong?”



“Hah!” Susanne cackled mirthlessly. “Are you saying that you want a marriage for your benefit? I’m
afraid that you Greenes are not worthy to be matched with us.”



“You…” Cecilia choked as her capacity to grovel finally wore out. “Without the alliance of the Greenes, I
can guarantee that Nightshire Group will never be able to complete the project in Zaprington. I suggest
you give it a long, hard consideration, Susanne.”

Susanne glanced at the screen on her phone. It’s exactly seven.

“I’ve thought about it,” she replied, her eyebrows raised. “It’s a flat no.”

Cecilia fumed, “You’ve made a permanent enemy out of me! You will receive word that your project will
not be allowed to proceed first thing tomorrow!”

Susanne glanced toward the stage nonchalantly and commented airily, “The second item up for auction
is tickets to a concert. Though I thought it’d be prudent to remind you that those are definitely not worth
fifteen million. Bid responsibly, will you?”

Cecilia was about to explode.

“Susanne, don’t you regret choosing a country bumpkin over Wendy! You’ll have to come crawling back
if you change your mind!”

“Right back at you, Cecilia,” answered Susanne coolly. “When the time comes, try not to cry too hard
when you’re on your knees before me.”

Cecilia froze. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s seven o’clock now,” Susanne replied enigmatically.



Cecilia was thoroughly confused. A sense of dread that came out of nowhere began to suffocate her.

The only thing she could do was suppress her discomfort and await the conclusion of the charity
auction.

As soon as I make the payment for that sculpture, I’ll call Daniel to have him put pressure on Nightshire
Group’s branch office in Horington!

At that moment, various media platforms on the internet simultaneously revealed a piece of breaking
news, to Wendy and Cecilia’s ignorance.


62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda