Chapter 820

A hush swept over the room, stretching into a tense silence.

Every eye locked onto Daniela, Hamilton's included.

His usually composed expression fractured into disbelief as he turned to her and demanded, "Have you lost your mind? Bidding up by fifty million every time? Does your company print money now?"

Daniela let out a light laugh, her tone breezy. "Come on, Mr. McCoy, you must be joking. It's just a pair of cufflinks, a simple gift for my husband. Do you really think I'd need to mint cash for something so trivial?"

Hamilton's expression soured, his jaw tight. "So young, and yet so reckless."

Feigning surprise, Daniela tilted her head. "Reckless? Over an amount like this? Aren't you exaggerating?Wait, are you thinking of dropping out? That'd make this a whole lot less interesting. Why not raise the stakes?"

Hamilton's grip on his paddle tightened until his knuckles blanched.

Beside him, his secretary leaned in and whispered urgently, "Sir, let's not risk the company's finances over a rivalry. Three hundred and fifty million could buy a vault full of cufflinks. There's no need to go any further."

Forcing a stiff smile, Hamilton swallowed his pride. "Daniela, since you're so fond of them, I'll let you have them."

A ripple of shock passed through the crowd.

"Hamilton's giving up?"

"He'll have to swvallow his pride after this."

"All thatbragging about owning every cufflink on earth-look at him now! Isn't that humiliating?"

"The tides are turning in Oiscoll. I wouldn't be surprised if Daniela's company replaces McCoy Group at the top before long."

The instant those comments landed, Hamilton's jaw clenched so tightly, a vein pulsed at his temple.

He shot Daniela a look of pure fury, then strode out of the room.

Even Nikolas stared in disbelief, murmuring, "l've never seen my father this rattled. Daniela, you're something else."

Daniela, unfazed by Nikolas' awe, strode up to the stage. Before the assembled business elite and the entire Oiscoll press, she reached into the glass case, retrieved the cufflinks, and pinned them onto Cedric's lapel with quiet confidence.

That evening, Oiscoll's social circles erupted with gossip.

"I wish I were Cedric! Where do you even find a wife like Daniela? She'd move heaven and earth for her husband."

"Three hundred and fifty million-just to pin something on his suit? My god."

"They're not just expensive, they're on a different level.'Cedric's never looked more distinguished."

"Daniela's got him wrapped around her finger. Cedric's never leaving her, not in this lifetime."

"If only someone would spoil me like that."

Romance seemed to swirl through every corner of Oiscoll that night.

Daniela was the talk of every social media channel.

At the very top, one headline blazed brighter than the rest. "Daniela's Power!"

Every corner of Oiscoll saw Daniela's might on display.

Nikolas had seen it all.

Jealousy gnawed at him on the ride home with Carol.

His mind kept circling back to the mind-boggling bank balance she'd flashed. He felt like a complete idiot.

The sheer number of zeroes had made his head spin. His curiosity piqued, he pressed Carol on how many zeros were in the total.

Carol answered with a smile, "Never bothered to count. It's enough to buy out McCoy Group."

Nikolas, still reeling, tried to mask his embarrassment. "Is it even safe to keep that much in one account?"

Carol's lips curved in amusement. "Don't worry. It's Daniela's bank."

He glanced at her phone again. The words "Eternal Vista Bank" stared back at him.

Wasn't that the same place McCoy Group kept all its funds?

With a single word from Daniela, every penny McCoy Group had in that bank could be at her fingertips.

Nikolas felt like the universe was mocking him. First he saw himself as the fool, then Hamilton, and then the whole McCoy Group.

The more he thought about it, the more pointless it felt to return home. No matter how hard he tried, Daniela would always be leagues ahead.

With hope and desperation tangled in his voice, he approached Daniela with almost childlike eagerness."Can you take me in? Like Carol and the others-I want to know your bank balance, have access to your second card."

That was the life he craved: respect, freedom, and a bottomless supply of money.

For the first time, he saw the possibility of leaving Hamilton's shadow and the humiliation that came with it.Maybe he didn't have to be Hamilton's puppet anymore."

But before Daniela could get a word out, Cedric stepped in, his eyes narrowing with unmistakable menace as he slid protectively in front of her."Are you out of your mind?"

Nikolas wanted to steal his wife,peek at her funds, and utilize her second card? Over his dead body.