Chapter 7 The Pitiful Woman Who Couldn't Keep Her Husband
In her past life, Cecilia wasn't really into alcohol. But then again, in her past life, she hadn't realized a single bottle of wine could be bid up to billions of dollars. The Russells had certainly made a fortune off their wine investments.
Cecilia glanced at Julian and realized he knew exactly the bottle of wine that Mason bought was likely to appreciate.
Julian had a big social circle, so getting insider info about famous wineries was a piece of cake for him. He hadn't passed on bidding at the auction just to do Mason a favor. Cecilia met Julian's gaze and said with a sigh, "Like I said, I just went along with what he said."
Julian stared at her for a bit, didn't find anything off, and gave a slight nod.
Cecilia kept to herself and wasn't known for her business acumen. Besides, their marriage was a business arrangement; their finances were intertwined. If she were secretly colluding with competitors, the Medici family would suffer too.
After chatting with Cecilia, Julian took Tamsin and walked past her to network with other business big shots.
Tamsin obediently followed Julian, throwing a seemingly apologetic glance at Cecilia.
Seeing Tamsin's smile, Cecilia felt her role as Julian's wife was a joke and gave a mocking smile as she caught a fleeting look of triumph in Tamsin's eyes.
Julian shielded Tamsin at every turn, even choosing to be photographed with her instead of his own wife. And now, he'd abandoned his new bride to help Tamsin build her network.
How could Tamsin not be smug?
To onlookers, Cecilia was just a pitiful woman who couldn't even keep her husband.
Cecilia lost interest in getting some fresh air. She needed to find a way to get close to those famous entrepreneurs herself.
Suddenly, a beautiful piano melody caught her attention.
Cecilia looked over and saw a violin next to the piano, then she smiled.
As the heir of the Medici family, she definitely knew her music.
Cecilia walked over and looked at the pianist, pointing at the violin.
The pianist quickly got her intention and nodded with a smile.
Cecilia picked up the violin, took the bow in her right hand, and made a few movements to get a feel for it.
Soon, the bow glided smoothly over the strings, producing the first pure and melodious note, perfectly blending with the piano's melody.
For a moment, the violin's sweet sound and the piano's harmony intertwined, creating a captivating symphony.
The sudden beautiful duet instantly grabbed the guests' attention, with many admiring glances falling on Cecilia.
As soon as the performance ended, the hall erupted in enthusiastic applause.
Tamsin saw Julian even stop his conversation to stare at Cecilia. Unwilling, she said, "Cecilia's violin is really good, and she has such great chemistry in the duet. Truly impressive."
"After all, she's a level ten in both piano and violin," Julian said casually.
Many people there could play the piano, and being a level ten pianist was common in their circle. But few had mastered the violin so well. Cecilia's musical talent was indeed high.
Hearing his words, Tamsin's expression changed dramatically. That was a level she could never reach in her lifetime!
It turned out the gap between her and Cecilia was so vast, and she had completely underestimated Cecilia.
Meanwhile, the pianist was happily chatting with Cecilia, introducing her to many music-loving socialites.
A guy murmured, "This Medici family heir is pretty impressive, playing such a beautiful piece with a stranger."
Hearing that, Alaric nodded. "Yeah, it was beautiful."
Next to him, Kian rolled his eyes. "Well. You wouldn't know good music if it bit you."
After chatting with the socialites, Cecilia noticed the cup with the goldfish was missing.
Confused, she was about to ask the staff when, as she walked towards a small room inside the hall, a force suddenly pulled her over.
Cecilia's eyes widened, wanting to call for help, but her mouth was covered.
Warm breath brushed against her ear. She frowned and lifted her foot to stomp hard on the person behind her.
The man let out a low groan of pain. He hadn't used much force to restrain Cecilia, and she took advantage of his momentary distraction to escape from his grasp.
A familiar voice sounded. "High heels hurt, Miss Mermaid."
Hearing the voice, Cecilia was speechless. "Then maybe you should try a proper hello next time."
Alaric shrugged. "Not convenient."
Cecilia frowned. "So why did you pull me over?"
"To hand you this." Alaric handed her something.
Cecilia took it and saw it was a blue starfish pendant.
"What, you came just to give me this?" Cecilia stared at him suspiciously, her voice a bit louder.
Alaric then handed her a piece of paper. It was a handwritten IOU, with "One Billion Dollars" scrawled across it in large letters.
Alaric said, "Kian wrote it for fun."
Cecilia couldn't help but roll her eyes, took the paper and pen, and signed her name while saying, "He needs a hobby."
Alaric chuckled.
"By the way, you..." he just opened his mouth, but a noise outside interrupted him.
Alaric instinctively protected Cecilia while gesturing for silence.
It seemed to be Bodhi's voice, but Cecilia couldn't make out the conversation.
After a while, when they left, Alaric released her.
"Why are you sneaking around like this? Mr. Percy is..." As Cecilia said, she paused. In her past life, after Bodhi's death, Alaric inherited all his assets. Only then did everyone know that Alaric was Bodhi's grandson.
But at this point in time, no one knew yet.
Seeing Cecilia stop, Alaric was puzzled. "What?"
Cecilia shook her head. "Nothing, what were you going to say?"
Alaric didn't think too much and asked, "Why did you think of buying that bottle of wine?"
Cecilia blinked, thought for a moment before saying, "If I said I bought it for collection, would you believe me?"
"Not really," Alaric said with a smile in his eyes, "You don't seem like that kind of person."
"Alright," Cecilia said seriously, "I'll tell you the specific reason later."
"Not now?" Alaric lowered his voice, his naturally husky tone making Cecilia's ears itch.
She hesitated for a moment, thinking of the billion-dollar favor, and said, "Would you risk everything, even your life, for something?"
Alaric frowned, not really getting what Cecilia was implying.
Cecilia didn't give him time to react as she smiled, "Investing in Macallan might be a good choice in the near future."
With that, Cecilia patted her dress and turned to leave.
Alaric pursed his lips. Why was she so obsessed with Macallan 1926?
Kian saw Alaric walking over with a heavy heart. "Did you see her? Why the long face?"
Alaric asked, "Do you know who the previous owner of Macallan 1926 was?"
Kian shook his head, puzzled. "This wine has some age, why are you asking?"
"Just curious what kind of person would be a crazy wine lover." Alaric said while looking at the exquisite wine bottle on the wooden table.