The entire place fell silent at Estelle’s words. Dillen stared at her with a scrutinizing gaze.
A moment later, he leaned toward her and looked her in the eyes, as though he intended to stare into her very soul.
Estelle reflexively backed up, wondering what he was up to.
But before she could take more than a few steps, Dillon pulled her back. “You’re Alex?”
Clearly sensing Dillon’s increasing interest in Estelle, Alison lost her composure. Without giving things any thought, she blurted, “That’s impossible! Alex rose to fame a decade ago! Back then, you were only…”
She grew flustered and couldn’t bring herself to carry on.
Estelle ridiculed her. “I was only in my teens? And what has this got to do with age? You’re almost 30 now, but what do you know about appraising gems and antiques?”
Tears began rolling down Alison’s cheeks when she saw Estelle about to put her down further. But Dillon didn’t seem to notice and kept his gaze pinned on Estelle.
“You claim that you’re Alex. What proof have you got?”
“I have an invitation.”
Dillon chuckled. “It’s just an invitation. It’d be easy to get your hands on one.”
He didn’t trust her?
Estelle frowned and studied his face in confusion When she caught sight of the amusement in his eyes, she was overcome with anger. Her face was flushed as she glared at Dillon. “You did it on purpose!”
A smirk graced his lips before he quickly collected himself and resumed his expressionless facade. However, he had no intention of letting Estelle go. Instead, he began caressing her waist.
Feeling the ticklish feeling on her waist, Estelle squirmed uneasily.
In an instant, Dillon’s gaze darkened. “Stop moving,” he rasped.
His deep, dark eyes were like abysses that wanted to suck her in and keep her there.
Estelle’s heart skipped a beat, and she pushed him away with all her might. She backed into the private room and fixed a wary look on Dillon. ‘What are you doing?”
Despite seeing how furious she was, Dillon still reached out a hand to her. “Come with me.
Estelle bit her lip. Her eyes reddened as she stared at his hand. “Dillon…”
Chapter 55
Just as Alison was about to say something, Lance hurried back with the manager of the auction.
hall.
Lance swiftly placed himself between Estelle and Dillon when he noticed that things didn’t seem quite right between them.
“What are both of you doing? The auction has already started!” Lance reminded.
Dillon frowned and shot Lance a look so cold that it made Lance’s conscience squirm.
“It was intentional,” Dillon said firmly.
Lance feigned innocence and blinked before shaking his head. “Why do I not get what you’re saying? What’s gotten into you, Dillon?”
Seeing that Lance was keeping up the act, Dillon looked toward Estelle. “Was he the one who invited you?”
“Is there a problem with that?” Estelle countered
The message was clear–Estelle and Lance knew each other.
Alison’s eyes lit up as she asked curiously, “How odd. Why didn’t we know that Mr. Sterling and Estelle knew each other?”
Estelle rolled her eyes at that. “Who do you think you are? Why do I need to let you know?” When Dillon turned to look at Lance once more, his gaze weighed down on Lance heavily.
Sensing the unamiable air radiating off Dillon, Lance hurriedly explained, “I only got to know Ms. Sawford that one time I accompanied my father to an auction. But you seemed to have such strong opinions about her back then, so I didn’t dare mention it to you. Now that fate has brought you two together today, why don’t—”
“Mr. Sterling, please see them out,” Estelle cut him off.
She clearly wanted nothing to do with Dillon.
