Uncontrollable Fondness

As the lights turned on, the quiet night was broken by a sea of people. Their gorgeous dresses and tuxedos came into view, and the whole city was bathed in the fragrance, colors, and textures of their clothes. The biggest auction in T City had started.

A beautiful couple approached in the lamplight. The man was handsome, and the woman was both shy and graceful. The woman was holding the man's arm with a sweet smile. How could she not be happy since the rumor of their wedding had only just broken this week?

Everyone had praised the couple as a perfect match, but no one would even have remembered the woman seven years ago. It had been seven years, seven long and painful years. That woman and the past scandal seemed to have been forgotten.

"It's Mr. Brian."

"Mr. Brian is here,"

There were a great number of journalists rushing in the direction of the happy couple's arrival. They darted forward with the sound of their cameras clicking and blinding flashes. Even had a superstar shown up from the latest movie, the response would have been no more than this.

The red car drew a beautiful arc as it turned before stopping. Under the beautiful lights of the event, the bright red car was an enchanting addition. There would always be an elite group of people who immediately drew attention upon their arrival, and Brian Yun belonged to this group of people.

"Mr. Brian, it's said that you and Miss Cassie Qin recently traveled abroad for seven days and seven nights. Is there any truth to the rumor..."

"Mr. Brian, I heard that you and Miss Cassie Qin are about to get engaged. Is that true?"

"Mr. Brian..."

The reporters kept asking questions as if they had already forgotten that tonight's event was an auction, not a special performance by Brian Yun. However, he always drew the attention of the media. And not only for his fascinating face, just by his status as the young master of the Yun Company had he also attracted many women.

When hearing the word engagement being tossed around by the crowd, Brian Yun slightly narrowed his smiling eyes in a roguish style, "I like being mysterious. Don't deprive me of my interests." As soon as his charming eyes and brows swept the assembled reporters, everyone was utterly charmed by his graceful manner and unable to refute.

Of course, some of the journalists were able to stay calm and reasonable despite his charm. Since they could not glean an answer from Brian, they turned to Cassie Qin instead.

"What do you think about this, Miss Cassie Qin?"

Cassie held Brian's arm more closely and said, "Just as Brian said, we are here for the auction. Let us rather focus on that, shall we?"

The bright and beautiful smile and the intimate behavior of this couple caused people to believe in the illusion, but was it true? If this looming marital bliss was true, how could Brian settle down so easily? After all, even Sara Zhong couldn't get a ring on him.

While playing with the cuff link on his cuff, Brian didn't refute or admit the words that Cassie claimed. The smile remained fixedly on his face, both charming and confusing the reporters.

Cassie's thoughts were evident as she looked at Brian with amorous eyes. When seeing her eyes, Brian smiled more enchantingly, which frightened Cassie as she had a sudden feeling of being utterly transparent. He smiled and then looked away without saying a word, which made Cassie heave an inward sigh of relief.

"We are indeed greatly honored by your presence." The frozen air was suddenly broken by a sonorous voice. Vincent Su came forth utterly resplendent in a white suit that made him look more handsome. Different from Brian's enchanting appearance, he was more of a summer brilliance, fresh and uniquely arrogant. His hint of a smile was elegant and mysterious enough to make people around him feel drawn in by him. He came over and greeted Brian with a firm handshake.

"Mr. Su is personally taking charge of the auction. How could I not attend?" Brian also smiled back as he clasped hands with Vincent. They looked like friends, but their eyes hinted something different.

"That's great! I'm looking forward to bidding against you tonight!"

"It depends on the beauty next to me."

"Miss Qin, as a superstar, you are known to have a good taste. Your presence here will greatly add to the fame of this auction."

"You're welcome, Mr. Su." In response to his compliment, Cassie blushed modestly. She was not sure she would be able to impress him tonight. After all, Vincent Su was the CEO of the World International, and it was not easy for her to get a word of praise from him. Moreover, he was probably flattering her for the sake of Brian.

Hearing that, Vincent smiled but didn't say a word. After a moment, he said, "You are very modest, Miss Qin. It's you who tempted Mr. Brian to leave behind his personal affairs to enjoy your company for seven days. I hope that you would like to bid on several more ensembles tonight so that I can make more money!"

Cassie didn't know what he meant, and Brian didn't respond either. She merely smiled and didn't say anything.

With a meaningful smile, Vincent thought that it was not necessary to expose further detail on the matter. Instead, he said, "Mr. Brian, let me show you the way!"

Brian didn't refuse and followed Vincent. When they passed by Sawyer Sang, Vincent nodded at him in greeting. Besides for Brian, the rest of the guests didn't merit being greeted by Vincent. After all, the auction was being held by World International. In T City, it was an internationally renowned commercial tycoon, which stood on an equal footing with the Yun Company.

From a distance, an inconspicuous car was filled with occupants who were carefully watching the interactions of Sawyer Sang and Star Xia with the media. They paid special attention to the questions being posed to the couple.

"Well, he really is a genius, but he still doesn't hold a candle to me!" Charles Xia got out of the car and brushed down his set of casual clothes. He was about seven or eight years old, but he was already gifted with a charming face. He was as elegant as the woman in front of him, and what was more, he had a devious and seductive charm. Especially his eyes were not only full of manipulation and cunning, which was inconsistent with his tender age, but they were also pure and innocent, which was well known at his age. That made people end up feeling vulnerable in front of this child who was enamored by the love of the world.

"Who do you think you are? Don't forget that he is the famous Mr. Brian Yun of T City," After that, Emily Xia stepped out of the car and leisurely leaned on the hood of the car. Her slightly curly but long hair freely hung in front of her curvaceous chest, and her delicate features and beautiful face made her appear especially enchanting. Behind the sunglasses her eyes were somewhat playful, but also uniquely fresh, seeming to see through the mortal world. Her calm and serenity were both deeply felt.

Looking in the direction of the auction, she flashed a narrow smile at the corner of her mouth before pouting, which completed her natural and graceful look.

"Hey, don't play dumb. Aren't I your own son?"

"I'm just telling the truth. I'm sorry to burst your bubble." Hearing Emily's casual words, Charles wanted to cry. Could anyone tell him why he had such a mother? She was one that he could not change, and he could only accept her.

Emily ignored Charles's self-pity. When she looked in the direction of the auction, a hint of darkness gradually appeared in her eyes, and her mouth curved into a sarcastic smile. Noticing the subtle change of her mood, Charles said, "Hey, if you want to gatecrash the auction, you should tell me in advance, so that I can stay away from it!"

Raising a wisp of curly hair from her chest, she wrapped it around her fingertips and said, "Do I look like a bad person?"

However, it seemed that Charles wouldn't answer to these words. After all, he didn't want to sleep on the street not long after his return to T City. "How can that be? My mommy is the kindest, the most beautiful, and the most graceful woman. All the most shining words match my mommy. I can't help admiring your charm. How can I say that? How could it be possible?"

Without even blushing or raising his heartbeat, it seemed that he had said these words many times before. Even Emily Xia seemed to become satisfied with this. She touched his head and said, "Hmm, good boy!"

Charles Xia smiled. He knew that his mother liked these words. He had heard them since he was born. Thinking of this, he felt sad and tearful.

"Hey, what are you going to do?" Emily didn't hide anything about the past but also didn't say much about it. However, over the years, Charles had made a detailed investigation and knew almost everything. Reminded of the pain his mommy had experienced, and the hurt she had gone through in those years, he had the urge to kill those people who had dared to bully his mommy. He didn't allow others to do that, not before or after he was born.

"Come on, brat, stop staring at me. Who are you going to bite? I won't spare you if you get dirty all over!" Emily tapped Charles on his head lightly, her strength being little more than a breeze.

"Hey, I'm just defending you. I'm so sad that you don't hug me but rather hit me!" The innocence in his big eyes was irresistible.

Of course, Emily didn't fall prey to that look. She knew her son very well. Yet, she still took her son in her arms and said, "Okay, okay, okay! I just threw myself at you. Have you forgotten why I came back this time? I will make some noise later, and let them know that I have returned!"

Charles liked the confident and arrogant smile that Emily donned since this was his familiar mother. So he continued lying in her arms, enjoying her embrace. "By the way, what about that monster?"

Raising her eyebrows slightly, Emily asked, "Do you have any ideas?" The small face in front of her was a mirror image to Brian's, especially the eyebrows and eyes. Although she didn't know who the man from seven years ago had been, now this look seemed to explain everything.

"Yes, I do, but Mommy, I'll always be on your side." As Charles hugged Emily, he couldn't fathom what she was worried about. Although she never hid anything about his real identity from him, he could feel that she still had a slight fear in her heart. That man was his mother's weakness, which he had already known from an early age.

The serious expression on Charles' face made Emily smile and relax more. She said, "You don't need to worry about anything. I'm going to take back everything I had lost, and I'll get back everything owed to me. I'll pay back ten times whoever hurt me. No one can stop me from doing so. This time, I won't give up, no matter what happens. I couldn't protect or remember things in the past. This time, I will firmly grasp them."

"Brat! If he is your father, how much should I get for custody?" Emily had a playful smile on her face as she crazily said.

A bitter smile cracked Charles' lips, and he asked, "Are you selling your son for wealth?"

"Don't talk nonsense. I'm just exchanging my son for money."

Tears welled up in Charles' eyes. "Am I really your son?"

"Of course!"

"I really doubt that."

"Boy, the Yun Company is indeed rich. Brian takes forty percent of the shares, and he has so much more than one company!" There was some underlying meaning in Emily's words.

"Don't, don't! Are you short of money?" Charles was going to slap her.

"Don't you think so? And the more money, the better. I like money. Do you have any problem with that?"

"No, I don't!" Charles decided to shut up in such a mess. He had nothing to say to his mom, who was obsessed with wealth. What else could he say? He could only pray to God for his mom.

"Let's do it!"

"Are there any restrictions?"

"What do you think?" With a bright smile on the corner of Emily's mouth, the meaning in her eyes was self-evident. Charles knew clearly. "It's all on me." 'It doesn't matter if I play a big one, ' he thought.

Upon seeing this, Emily smiled with satisfaction. She put Charles down and walked in with him. There was a warm atmosphere surrounding them from the beginning of the evening to the end.

Nobody had noticed that Emily and Charles were there. After all, everyone was paying attention to the auction. It seemed that the auction had begun, and there was a full house of people competing in the bidding.

Their seats were ideally situated in the middle of the hall. Brian was on the right front of them, and Sawyer was on the left front. So they could clearly see the bidding wars play out.

In particular, Cassie's intimate behavior was almost equal to that of an X-rated picture on the scene. And Star Xia was also not behaving much better–leaning against Sawyer's chest and lying in his arms as if she had no bones. The sight made Charles uneasy.

On the contrary, Vincent, who sat beside Brian, looked at the auction with a smug smile on his face. Perhaps he was calculating his income from tonight's lavish event. After glancing at Brian, Emily hissed, "Evildoer!"

"Hey! Are they poisoning my pure heart? Isn't it illegal to pollute a child?"

Emily looked at Charles for a moment with an unreadable gaze, which gave him a bad feeling. Sure enough, Emily said, "Are you a kid? To be honest, I've been doubting it for a long time. You have a child's appearance, but the soul of a twenty or thirty-year-old man. It's very popular to use a dead body to return a soul. If it's the truth, just tell me honestly. I can take it!" After that, the gloomy expression on her face completely defeated Charles.

"Woman, I say it again. Am I your son? I'm here to help you!" Charles said.

"Hurry up!" Emily looked away, and everything was back to normal.

Tears welled up in Charles' eyes as he thought of what he might have done in his last life. It was so cruel and unfair that he had such a callous mother who he couldn't offend. Well, he accepted his fate.

Emily's eyes swept across the front, noticing the warm scene between Sawyer Sang and Star Xia. She felt nothing at seeing it. Now, in her eyes, they were just a couple of so-called hypocritical men and women flaunting their love with PDA. However, even if she didn't care, she knew that they had to pay for what they had done.

As they were talking, a few jade jewels worth millions of dollars had been successfully bidden on by Brian. Nobody else would bid for anything that Brian took a fancy to, because few people could plumb the depths of the powerful financial resources of the Yun Company.

"A spendthrift, a spendthrift!" Charles shook his head and said disapprovingly. "He had already spent ten million, which was really a treasure trove. He is quite the splurge by nature."

"What? Are you jealous?" raising her chin with one hand placed on the armrest of her chair, Emily asked jokingly.

"Well, if I wanted to, I could be freer and easier with money than he is. But as a good man, I know how to live economically. You should be contented to have a son like me!" Charles spoke quite confidently. How would Brian feel if he heard these words?

"Oh, I don't think so." Emily's words frustrated Charles and brought him low. But he had already become used to it.

Suddenly, a dazzling red light was reflected in Emily's eyes from the blood-red bracelet shining charmingly on the stage. Everyone could sense the flow of energy in the jewels' veins.

It was quite compatible with a pragmatical temperament. The patterns on the stones were exquisite and meticulous. It was said that it took one thousand years to form, one thousand years to be polished, and one thousand years to be found. It was laden with the memories of the stone flowers waiting in the netherworld for their lifetime, which imbued it with a rich meaning.

But in Emily's eyes, the stone flower bracelet was an enchanting jewel blooming in hell's fire. And undoubtedly, this enchanting flower resonated with a darker side in Emily. "Boy, it belongs on me."

"Then I'll get it for you." A big smile spread across Charles' little face. It was rare to see something like this bracelet that could so touch Emily. And this bracelet was indeed suitable for his mother. Even he loved it at first sight.

"It seems that it won't be easy." Emily noticed that Brian and Sawyer were looking at it with admiration. It was obvious that this bracelet was for their special women, so it was not hard to tell who they were each fighting for.

"Woman, trust me. We are biological!"

"Oh, then it's up to you, Mr. Charles." Emily grinned leaning back lazily against the chair.

"We start the bidding at one million!" the auctioneer called the starting bid.

"Two million!"

"Three million!"

The bidding had begun, and it turned out that there were a lot of people who were interested in the bracelet. Emily cast a glance at Brian and Sawyer. They seemed not to be taking action. Rather they would start bidding later. Charles smiled excitedly, and his charming face beamed with joy. Emily always trusted Charles. It was rare for him to be so interested, so she was willing to let him proceed.

Soon, the price reached ten million, and the bidding was becoming white hot.

"Twenty million!" Sawyer began to make bids first. Everyone looked at him, increasing the bid by ten million dollars. Sawyer was really rich, but people were more envious that Star could have met such a kindhearted person. That sort of mind was more important than any sum of money. Star felt that everyone was envious of her, and she laughed even more brightly–this gentleman next to her belonged to her.

However, before Star had stopped laughing, Brian shouted, "50 million!" His words shocked everyone. In an instant, 50 million was just a drop in the bucket for Yun Company. But it was all just for a woman, which proved the saying, "A playboy never cares about proper business."

Taking a look at Brian's sunny smile, Sawyer countered bid. "Sixty million!"

No one had expected that Sawyer would be at odds with Brian. One man was the rising star in the business world and had gradually taken over the Sang Company. The other man was a dissolute young man who played with women for no reason. This kind of battle was somewhat strange. Furthermore, no one had heard that these men had enmity with each other. Finally, they all attributed it to Sawyer's strong love for Star.

Brian played with the auction card in his hand. People were unable to see the emotions in his eyes, but he still wore a charming smile as he finally dared to say, "One hundred million!"

One hundred million! The crowd was shocked. This price had shattered the proverbial glass ceiling and was now sky-high. Brian was really generous. Everyone was impressed by the uninhibited rich man yet again.

It was obvious that Sawyer was also considering his options. The auction card seemed to become bent into an arc in his hands. When he was about to raise the bidding card again, he was stopped by Star who pulled at his arm. She said, "Dearest Sawyer, it's enough that you have such a kind mind for me."

It wasn't that they couldn't afford the money, but they couldn't compete with the Yun Company. It had become obvious that Brian was determined to own the bracelet glittering on the stage. Sawyer looked at Star and seemed to suddenly remember that this bracelet was what the girl in front of him like. Just then, he remembered a fierce sight deep in his memory that was so similar to this event. Unfortunately... Slowly, he put down his bidding card without bidding more.