I Walked Away And He Lost His Mind (Zephyra and Steven) novel Chapter 315

The owner bristled. “This is how the antique business works. It’s a gamble. If you want it, you pay the price. If you don’t believe it’s real after you buy it, the appraisal center is right next door. Honestly, at two hundred thousand, I’m the one losing money.”

My eyes lit up. I had done my homework last night. This painting was the real deal. Two hundred thousand was more than worth it.

Just as I was about to agree, the young man beside me spoke up. “One million. I’ll take it.”

My expression turned icy as I turned to face him.

“Are you doing this on purpose?”

He grinned. “A million is nothing to me. How about this, beautiful? I’ll buy it for you, as a gift. And we can be friends. What do you say?”

The owner’s eyes widened, as if he’d just landed the biggest fool in the world. “Excellent! I’ll wrap it up for you right away.”

“Wait,” I said, stopping him. I looked at the young man. “I don’t need you to buy it for me. I’ll pay five million.”

Linda’s jaw dropped. “Zephyra, are you insane?! Even if you’re going to counter, you do it incrementally! You can’t just jump from one million to five! You’re acting like you have money to burn.”

She didn’t understand. With a man like this, who was clearly just throwing money around to impress women, a small increase would only make him think I was playing hard to get. He’d just keep one-upping me, and it would turn into a bigger problem.

The owner’s eyes were practically bulging out of his head. This time, he didn’t rush to wrap the painting. He looked at the young man.

“Well, sir? Are you going to raise your offer?”

The young man gave me a long look, then shrugged, an expression on his face that clearly said, I may be rich, but I’m not an idiot.

“Let her have it.”

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