The gavel fell at Beijing's top auction house, and my late father's antique Patek Philippe pocket watch was pushed to a staggering one billion.
The bidders were my fiancée,Gloria Summers, and three of my childhood sweethearts from wealthy families who had always vowed to protect me.
I stared at the pocket watch on the stage; it was the only proof of my status as the rightful heir to the family.
Gloria Summers, with one arm around Jayden's shoulder, raised her paddle in full view of everyone: " Said his suit tonight is a bit plain, he needs a matching accessory. Eleven billion." The surrounding guests laughed, mocking me, the newly recognized young master, for not even being able to protect my biological father's heirloom.
"Don't bother, you can't beat Jayden," the three childhood sweethearts taunted me from below.
The whole room was watching me make a fool of myself, but my mother, was furious.
They didn't know that the family was watching this very test.
If I were to use my private trust fund for this pocket watch, or kneel at an's feet begging for money, I would completely lose my inheritance rights to the Lu's Medical Group.
I looked at the four women who were willing to spend lavishly forJayden and put down my bidding device.
……
That pocket watch represented the seat of power in the Delgado family.
I'd been lost to the outside world for twenty-two years before they found me and brought me back three years ago.
Tonight was the first time I'd ever represented the Delgados at a charity auction. My grandmother's instructions had been clear: bring back my father's pocket watch.
Gloria Summers knew what that watch meant to me.
And she still raised her bidding paddle. Her eyes never once drifted in my direction.
The overhead lights bore straight down on my face.
I sat in my bidding seat and watched Gloria take the pocket watch from the presenter, then tuck it into the breast pocket of Jayden Delgado's suit jacket with her own hands. My nails dug deep into my palms.
Camera flashes erupted across the room.
The whispers around me bored into my ears：
“Ms. Summers is making it crystal clear she's backing her future husband, and it's not the real heir. Doesn't matter if he's the fake one—if she wants him, he's the one who matters.”
“That legitimate eldest son of the Delgados is pitiful, really. Came home thinking his birthright meant something, and he's lost the woman and the heirloom in one night.”
Gloria leaned in to straighten Jayden's collar, her gaze soft with a patience I had never once been offered.
I'd known her for three years. All she had ever shown me was cold restraint.
In her eyes, I was a schemer who had clawed his way into a wealthy family. My pain, my silence—just leverage. Just tools I used to extract what I wanted.
Jerome Delgado walked over, champagne in hand.
My uncle. Trailing behind him was a pack of young heirs from the business elite.
“Solomon Delgado, seeing as Ms. Summers clearly doesn't give a damn about you, what are you still doing here?”
“If you ask me, a man's got to know his place. You can dust a pigeon in gold and it still won't be a phoenix.”
“Jayden grew up in this family. He's the one fortune smiled on. You waltzed in trying to shove him out, and now even the heavens have seen enough—they've sent Ms. Summers right back to his side.”
Every word landed on my dignity like a fist. My knuckles went white around the glass.
Before the auction started, Gloria had promised me in the lounge, face to face.
She said she would win the watch for me—a gift for our third engagement anniversary.
I believed her.
To hold up my end, I'd even turned down exclusive distribution contracts with several other families for their medical equipment lines.
But one minute before the watch went up, Jayden leaned close to her ear and cried.
That was all it took. Gloria changed her mind.
She didn't just fail to help me. She became the sharpest blade in Jayden's hand.
She knew about the internal review within the Delgado family.
If I lost my composure tonight, or failed to bring back that heirloom, the inheritance rights to Delgado Medical Group would tilt decisively toward Jayden.
