The man turned slightly, glancing at her with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. "That stone could yield a flawless Paraíba core," he said. "Even at two million dollars, it might still be a bargain."
"Please," Serena said. "Trust me-don't buy it."
He blinked. "You're young. You don't look like someone who's spent decades in gemology. Why should I listen to you?"
"Just this once," she replied steadily. "Believe me. If it turns out I'm wrong-if there's a flawless core in that stone-I'll reimburse your bid. Every cent."
She wasn't bluffing. The divorce settlement from Clint had left her with ten million. A few million? She could afford that.
Something in her tone, her eyes, seemed to disarm him.
He hesitated-then slowly lowered his paddle.
Up on stage, the auctioneer raised his gavel. "1.55 million, once. 1.55 million, twice...!"
Serena saw the old man's fingers twitch against his thigh. He was still tempted.
She pressed her hand more firmly against his shoulder and gave a slight shake of her head.
The gavel dropped.
"Sold!"
A final murmur ran through the room as the paddle holder in the far left corner celebrated his win.
The old man let out a long breath, then looked at Serena with somber eyes. "You'd better be right about this."
"I am," Serena said calmly, her eyes drifting back to the raw gemstone now being carted off the stage.
She could see it all.
Somehow, ever since her rebirth, Serena had been able to see straight through the outer crust of gemstones. The internal structure-fractures, inclusions, clouding, even the way light might behave after cutting-appeared in her mind with uncanny precision.
She didn't know how. Only that what she saw was real.
The auction rolled on. More rough stones were brought under the lights-vibrant Brazilian tourmalines, pale aquamarines with an oceanic shimmer, a few Burmese spinels cleverly disguised in coarse jackets of granite. And among them, the occasional piece of jade-nephrite, jadeite, serpentine. All of them inscrutable to the crowd.
But never to her.
With one glance, she could read each core as if the stone had been split open.
Two hours later, the final lot closed. The gavel fell. The energy in the room thinned, voices growing quieter as collectors and dealers made their way toward the exits.
Serena rose with the others, the sharpness of the evening beginning to fade into a low hum behind her eyes.
Then came a voice-rough, low, and edged with gravel.
"Young lady. A moment?"
She turned.
It was the elderly gentleman from earlier, walking toward her now with a cane and a quiet smile.
"Sir!" Serena straightened instinctively. "Oh-I almost forgot. I didn't give you my contact info. If the stone turns out to be a flawless Paraíba, please let me know. I'll pay you the full difference, no questions asked."
But the old man shook his head. "That's not why I'm here."
He nodded toward a corridor just beyond the main salon. "The man who won the bid-he's having the stone cut. Right now. Says he's convinced it's top-grade. Might even have a flawless neon core."
"Here? On-site?"
He nodded. "The cutting room's open tonight. I thought you might want to see it."
"Of course," she said. "I'd like that."
And she followed him down the hallway, toward the truth she already knew. Better to see it now than wonder later. At least it would bring her some peace of mind.
She followed him through the corridor toward a small adjoining room lined with reinforced glass and steel workbenches. The cutting room.
Inside, the crowd was dense-collectors, gem cutters, journalists, and curious onlookers packed shoulder to shoulder.
At the center of the buzz, a man in an ivory blazer stood proudly, fielding congratulatory handshakes from a group of local dealers. He looked pleased with himself-practically smug.
When he turned and saw the old man enter, his demeanor changed. He stepped forward with both hands extended, bowing slightly in greeting.
"Mr. Bryan. I appreciate your generosity today," he said warmly. "If you'd gone even a bit higher, I would've had no chance. I owe you this one."
The old man-Mr. Bryan, apparently-gave a mild shrug. "That's the game, isn't it? You bid what you think it's worth."
Serena stayed back, watching quietly.
The bidder turned to address the room. "We'll begin the cut now! Fingers crossed, everyone. Let's hope we've struck real treasure tonight."
The technician approached the stone with practiced precision, securing it in the grip of a diamond saw. The whine of the machine filled the room. The crowd leaned in, breath held.
Serena didn't need to.
She already knew.
Boom!
With a loud crash, half of the Paraíba tourmaline rough split and fell away, exposing the entire cross-section of the stone for everyone to see.
A collective gasp swept through the crowd.
People couldn't quite believe what they were seeing...
The outermost layer of the rough was, without a doubt, a bright, translucent blue-vibrant, electric, and extremely valuable.
But just beneath that thin one-centimeter layer of neon-blue, the quality took a sharp dive. The stone inside had turned into a dull, pale blue with a cloudy, almost milky texture-completely different from what anyone had expected.
"What?! No way!" The man in the ivory blazer clutched his head, shaking it in disbelief.
All around him, the onlookers sighed and murmured in shock.
"Damn, with such a promising outer shell, who would've thought the core would be this poor?"
"Right? From the surface, it looked like it had a high chance of cutting out a solid, vibrant core. At the very least, a major portion should've been pure neon-blue. But this... this is a total twist."
"Exactly! If I had the funds, I would've gone all-in on this one too. No hesitation."
"Yeah! No one could've guessed the core would turn out like this."
The crowd buzzed with chatter and disbelief.
Mr. Bryan remained silent the whole time. After the Paraíba had been fully exposed and its true nature laid bare, he gently stroked his beard, his expression thoughtful and unreadable.
Serena had nearly dozed off in her seat. But the sudden wave of noise and discussion jolted her awake.
She opened her eyes, still groggy, not quite sure what was going on.
Then a calm, steady voice suddenly spoke right beside her ear-
"How did you know... that this stone didn't have enough saturation inside?"
***