Chapter 21

• The auction carried on, and Valerie secured the couple's rings, eliciting a slight grin from Michael. Opposite them, David and Bianca sat fuming with rage, both questioning Valerie's motives. How could she afford such expensive items, they wondered, assuming she had no wealth to flaunt.
• As the charity auction progressed, it was soon time to pay. David, unsurprisingly, had also purchased a few items, a testament to the Westbrook family's affluence. The Westbrooks boasted a long, rich history so deeply ingrained that the city had been renamed after them fifty years prior. This legacy instilled in David a sense of entitlement, an expectation of respect solely for bearing the Westbrook name.
• Seeing Valerie, whom he had just broken things off with yesterday, now giggling with another man, stirred a tinge of jealousy within David. Although he didn't love her, the idea of her moving on so quickly unsettled him.