Astraea’s tone sounded sweet and too fake.

“Pick, Mrs. Gutierrez.”

“Oh, I remember,” she seemed to think of something, took a cup of wine from the server near her, “your face is still dirty.”

“So sorry, I will help you clean it.”

After she spoke, the cold drink flowed down from above my head.

The wine and the color mixed together into chaos, making me look even worse than before.

I could picture how I looked now, surely like a street dog.

Otherwise, Astraea would not laugh so happily; the joy on her face could not be hidden.

The banquet hall became quiet, and everyone stared at me, waiting for my answer.

Waiting to watch me cry hard, then drop down like a dog and beg for forgiveness.

I tightened my hands, my eyes moved coldly across all the people there, then stopped again on Waylon.

With a woman beside him, he held a glass of wine in his hand, as if he already knew his maritime project would turn out well and shine after it finished.

But even now, he still did not understand that before, his maritime projects could move forward without trouble only because the people on this line knew me as the Cooper family’s daughter, so they showed him respect.

If not, with only his own skill, how could he rise to the top in Phenix City in only a few years?

“Waylon, you make me do this.”

“After today, the fall of the Gutierrez family is also caused by you.”

Right after I spoke, Astraea seemed to hear a funny story and lifted her voice toward everyone.

“Did you all hear? Mrs. Gutierrez has lost her mind, saying she wants to ruin the Gutierrez family!”

Loud laughter rose from below.

“Audrey is truly pushed crazy by her husband and his little lover, speaking nonsense in front of everyone!”

“Make the Gutierrez family go bankrupt? She does not even think about her own value! A woman who climbed up by her looks, one night, is not even equal to a piece of jewelry Waylon gives his new lover!”

Astraea broke a bottle of costly wine over my head. “Mrs. Gutierrez is dreaming. I help you come back to your senses.”

“The Gutierrez family is the top in Phenix City, how can it fall just because you, a girl with no family, say it?”

Waylon also showed a frown, thinking I was mad with anger, so I was speaking nonsense, trying to pull his attention with strong words.

He coldly laughed, then hinted to the host to keep calling bids.

“Audrey, instead of thinking about the Gutierrez family going bankrupt, you should first care about yourself.”

“The current price has now reached twenty thousand. If you still do not decide, if you truly end up with some man with strange tastes, I also cannot help you!”

I turned my eyes toward the crowd, and a fat man was staring at me with oily eyes, full of desire.

He was well known in this group for liking to toy with women, and just from that, he had already caused two wives to die.

Now he held his card up, looking sure he would win.

Cold sweat came out across my body, I took off the bracelet from my hand, and raised my voice.

“This is my family heirloom, beyond price, I will use it as collateral here!”

Hearing this, not only Astraea, but also Waylon looked at me with surprise.

He naturally knew how much this bracelet mattered to me. I wore it at all times, even while washing, and I did not want to remove it.

But he did not know that this bracelet was actually a token of the Cooper family.

Anyone who knew the Cooper family or had ties with the Cooper family could check a person’s identity through this bracelet.

And Astraea just happened to be someone who did not know its worth.

After a brief surprise, Astraea looked at me with an unfriendly look.

“Mrs. Gutierrez, this bracelet looks so cheap. How can it be worth twenty thousand? In my eyes, even a cheap street item is better than this.”

“But you already wear a fifty-dollar ring; this twenty-dollar bracelet really suits you.”

After Astraea spoke first, laughter also rose from the crowd.

“Family heirloom? This broken bracelet? She really dares to show it.”

“Isn’t Audrey an orphan? Where does a family item come from? Could it be some gift from some random man!”

Waylon set down his glass, his brows tightening.

“Audrey, even if you make up stories, there should be a line. How can this bracelet have no price?”

Astraea also followed. “Even if this bracelet has no value, if Mrs. Gutierrez wants to give it to me, I can still give you a little money.”

“Hmm… I give you two hundred.”

She pulled out two hundred-dollar notes from her bag, tossed them onto the floor with scorn, and reached out to grab my bracelet.

I moved back, holding it close.

Waylon grew upset from my refusal again and again, his tone turning heavy. “Audrey, are you done acting like this? It is only a bracelet, since Astraea wants it, hand it over.”

Astraea lifted her chin with pride. “Did you hear? Waylon tells you to give it to me! If you still hold on, later you will not even get the two hundred!”

“No!” I held the bracelet tighter. “This is not just something from my family, it is also the Cooper family token!”

Astraea suddenly stopped me, her laugh sounding mocking. “Cooper family? Audrey, are you not thinking straight? You truly believe you are the child of the ship king Cooper family?”

“Maybe nobody here knows yet? This Mrs. Gutierrez has always believed she is the secret child of the ship king Cooper family! She acts gentle and high-class, but really? She likely imagines every day about how to become tied to the Cooper family! But the real sons and daughters of the Cooper family, do they even know who she is?”

The laughter from below became even stronger.

“No surprise President Gutierrez turned away, this Mrs. Gutierrez is truly very unstable, enough to be taken to a mental hospital!”

“To stop herself from being sold, she only pulls out a cheap bracelet and claims it is the Cooper family token. Mrs. Gutierrez is truly laughable!”

The loud laughing kept ringing in my head, my hand that held the bracelet shaking without control.

But it was not from fear; it was from anger.

“You don’t trust it?” I lifted the bracelet. “This cruise ship will go through the Cooper family waters. Just ask someone from the Cooper family to check it, and then you will see if it is real or fake.”

There were only thirty minutes left before the cruise ship reached the Cooper family's sea.

To watch me fully fall low, Astraea coldly smiled, then slowly sat in the front seat.

“Fine, then we wait. When the Cooper family arrives, we will see if you are still this bold.”

“If you truly come from the Cooper family, I will kneel and bow to say sorry to you, and I will also act like a dog and crawl away from here!”

My eyes brightened. “Astraea, you say this, don’t break your promise.”

The time moved little by little, and the cruise ship soon moved close to the Cooper family sea.

After many years, the one managing this sea area had already changed to someone I did not know.

He seemed like someone from a collateral branch of the Cooper family.

When he saw Waylon, Walter greeted him in a pleasing way.

Astraea stood before him, then slowly stepped aside, letting him notice me tied there.

“Mr. Cooper, President Gutierrez’s wife has lost her mind, saying she is from the Cooper family. Look, do you know her?”

Walter had just started his role not long ago, and I left home very early.

I did not know him, and of course, he did not know me either.

Noticing Walter’s puzzled look, Astraea’s smile grew bigger. She told the bodyguards to grab the bracelet and give it to him.

“Then this bracelet, do you know it? She says it is the Cooper family token!”

For a short time, everyone there stayed quiet, waiting for Walter’s answer, and also waiting for me to be fully pushed down.

Walter took the bracelet and looked at it closely, then let out a cold sound. “Using some trash and saying it comes from the Cooper family? I think you want to die!”

The whole area burst out again.

“Totally embarrassed! What reason does Audrey have now?”

“If you ask me, she is not from the Cooper family at all, just making excuses to delay time, not wanting to be sold!”

“Right, based on the auction rules, goods that do not follow orders should have their arms and legs broken and be thrown into the sea to feed fish!”

Those men believed I had fully lost any support; they ignored the bodyguards blocking them, walked onto the platform, and were about to stretch their dirty hands toward me.

I was bound, only able to move away in a clumsy way, but in one careless moment, I stepped into the open cage behind me.

“Looks like you can’t wait anymore? Don’t worry, little sister, even if you are something used by President Gutierrez, I won’t mind you!”

The men moved closer, ignoring my fight, trying to rip my clothes.

I fought back strongly, shouted coldly, “Of course, he does not know this bracelet, because he is only from a side branch of the Cooper family! How can he know the Cooper family’s private items?”

“Stop!”

This time, the one who cut me off was Waylon.

“Audrey, how long will you keep believing this lie?”

Walter had long used the Cooper family name to act proudly, and what he hated most was others saying he came from a collateral branch.

My words made him very angry.

Walter’s face became pale. “Waylon, it seems your wife is unhappy with me.”

Walter was tied to Waylon’s position. How could Waylon ignore it? He quickly made his choice, fully separating himself from me.

“This woman, I only brought her here to punish her.”

“Audrey, today I won’t bother with you; deal with it yourself!”

After Waylon finished speaking, the excited men below became fully uncontrolled.

“Mrs. Gutierrez, come here, isn’t it only twenty thousand? I will buy you!”

One dirty hand after another touched me. I forced myself to endure the disgust, remembering their faces one by one.

“I will not make things easy for you.”

Astraea walked forward and slapped me.

“Still talking nonsense before dying! Bodyguards, take off her clothes, throw her into the crowd, let everyone enjoy…”

Before she finished speaking, a group of skilled men in black suddenly rushed in from afar.

At the same time, Walter, who was acting proudly earlier, was already gone, replaced by another man with a stronger look and presence.

“I want to see who dares to touch Diego Cooper’s sister.”