Chapter 258

Under everyone’s gaze, Una’s expression shifted slightly. She felt an overwhelming sense of humiliation. Ever since she had gained the ability to sense the contents of raw jade stones, she had always been the center of attention—admired and revered wherever she went. She absolutely could not let anyone know that she had lost that ability.

With a cold expression, she turned to the stone gamblers from the Woodward Group and scolded, “How did you choose these raw stones? You’re all completely useless! Every single one of them turned out to be worthless! I originally wanted to give you a chance to gain some experience, but you’ve truly disappointed me.”

Her words left the Woodward Group’s stone gamblers feeling both humiliated and furious. They were professional stone gamblers, yet in Una’s eyes, they were nothing but trash? They weren’t fools—they could tell that Una was just using them as scapegoats to deflect the ridicule she was facing. Even though they were boiling with anger, they didn’t dare to argue. They had already done their best. It was impossible to be 100% certain about so many raw stones after just half an hour of examination. Besides, they felt that today’s results were abnormally unlucky. Some of the stones that had originally seemed promising had all turned out to be complete failures. It was the first time they had encountered such a total loss.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. “I remember seeing Miss Woodward carefully selecting stones earlier and noting down a lot of numbers. So, was all of that just for fun?”

Emmett added, “If that’s the case, then aside from Miss Woodward herself, it seems like the rest of the Woodward Group is rather…” He deliberately left the sentence unfinished, but everyone understood the implication. He was intentionally stirring the pot—payback for Una’s past tactics.

The executives and stone gamblers from the Vaughan Group felt immensely satisfied. In the past, Una had frequently insinuated that the Vaughan Group’s stone gamblers were nothing but useless drunks. She even implied that they were dragging the Vaughan Group down, causing its decline. Back then, even though they were resentful, they had no choice but to swallow their anger—after all, Una had the skill to back it up. But Una’s character was truly terrible. Not only did she insult stone gamblers from other companies, but now she was publicly degrading her own team from the Woodward Group. If word got out, these stone gamblers would have no chance of finding jobs elsewhere.

Una’s face was icy as she looked at Phoebe and Emmett. “The Woodward Group isn’t short on emeralds. We were just giving our stone gamblers some practice. Losing 10 million dollars is nothing to us.” She then put on her usual arrogant demeanor. “I could easily pick a few stones at random and turn a major profit again.”

Phoebe smiled. “Miss Woodward really is impressive. 10 million dollary is just a drop in the ocean for you. You’re the leader of the Woodward Group, after all. I suppose you wouldn’t let your stone gamblers practice during the sealed bid auction, would you? That would be way too extravagant.”

Unlike the open auction, the sealed bid auction contained higher-quality and larger raw stones—this was where the real money was spent. By bringing up this topic now, Phoebe was deliberately pushing Una into the spotlight again. Since the sealed bid auction had already been submitted, Una wouldn’t be able to shift the blame onto the stone gamblers this time. And those stone gamblers definitely wouldn’t let themselves be scapegoated again.

Sure enough, one of the Woodward Group’s stone gamblers spoke up, “The sealed bid was handled entirely by Mr. Woodward. We didn’t select a single stone.”

Another stone gambler, his tone dripping with sarcasm, added, “With Mr. Woodward in charge, why would they need us worthless nobodies?”

They were waiting to see if Una could win all her bids again and uncover high-quality emeralds.

For the past two years, Una had built an unshakable reputation. Not only did she rarely misjudge the stones she inspected, but she also had an uncanny ability to bid just the right amount to win the best raw stones during sealed auctions. That level of accuracy was almost unheard of.

Since the bids had already been placed, Una wasn’t too worried. “That’s right. I submitted the bids myself, so there won’t be any mistakes. If you’re looking for a show, you’ll get one when the sealed bid results are announced tomorrow. You can all disperse now.”

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she had already submitted her bids earlier. Otherwise, she wouldn’t know what to do. From what she had seen, the sealed bid auction contained far more high-quality emeralds than the open auction. There were even several large stones—if she had placed the right bids, those stones could yield tens or even hundreds of times their cost. Tomorrow, once her winning bids were revealed, she would blind everyone with her success. She was going to personally humiliate Emmett and Phoebe.

Phoebe chuckled. “Then we’ll all look forward to witnessing Miss Woodward’s next miracle tomorrow.”

Emmett smirked. “I’m looking forward to it as well. After all, Miss Woodward made quite a bold statement to the Vaughan Group earlier. If you can truly perform another miracle, I, as the head of the Vaughan Group, will admit defeat wholeheartedly.” He had already figured it out—Una’s extraordinary stone gambling ability must have come from some illicit means. And now, Phoebe had likely destroyed it. That explained why Una had failed so miserably in today’s open auction. Knowing Una’s personality, if she still had full confidence in herself, she would never have let her stone gamblers take over. That meant something had gone terribly wrong. The sealed bid auction was already submitted, but he could tell Phoebe was stirring the fire—pushing Una into the flames. Naturally, he had to add fuel to the fire.

Following their lead, many jewelry company executives and stone gamblers—especially those who had been overshadowed or suppressed by Una—also joined in. If Una succeeded again, they would grudgingly accept it. But if she failed this time, they wouldn’t hesitate to rub salt in the wound. After all, Una had stolen their emeralds countless times and had never missed an opportunity to humiliate them. They had been waiting for this moment—for a chance to finally see her fall.

Even though Una believed the sealed bid was secure, she couldn’t shake off the unease in her heart, especially now, when she was being showered with praise from all directions. Instead of feeling triumphant, she felt irritated and uneasy.

A while later, the organizers called for all bidders to witness the sealed bid results. Everyone gathered in the front hall. Two auction officials opened the sealed bid box. One by one, they pulled out the bid sheets and read aloud the company names or bidder nicknames written on top—confirming that each submission had been received.

As the announcements went on, Una’s face paled. She suddenly blurted, “Where is our company’s bid sheet? Why hasn’t our name been called?”

One of the officials asked, “Did you put your bid into this box?”

Una, now flustered, quickly said, “Yes! We submitted it at noon.”

The Woodward Group’s team chimed in, “Yes, we submitted it this morning! If you don’t believe us, check the surveillance footage!”

One of the officials went to review the footage. A moment later, he returned and said, “Yes, we confirmed that your company did submit a bid.” Una let out a sigh of relief—until he continued. “But you didn’t successfully place it inside the box. It fell to the ground and was left there. Eventually, it got stepped on and was mistaken for trash. The cleaning crew swept it up and threw it away.”