Clayflo glared darkly at Semiya beside him and said, "You, come with me!"

Semiya saw her brother’s expression and finally realized something was wrong. Her voice faltered. Seeing how angry Clayflo’s eyes looked, she didn’t dare talk back, could only lower her head, droop her shoulders, and obediently follow behind Clayflo upstairs.

Once they reached Clayflo’s office, Clayflo shut the door directly and asked Semiya in a deep voice, "What on earth is going on?"

Semiya was startled by the rage in Clayflo’s voice and couldn’t help playing dumb. "What do you mean, what’s going on?"

Clayflo’s lips curled into a cold sneer. "Cut the crap and stop playing dumb with me. I’m not Alden, I don’t buy your act. Don’t think I didn’t see your little private exchange with that staff member just now. Everything in this auction building passes through my hands. I am the owner of the items—there is no such thing as a consignor. What that staff member said just now was just to save your face, and I simply went along with it. Don’t tell me you really thought that excuse could fool me too?"

Semiya’s body couldn’t help but tremble. After hesitating for a moment, she finally said, "I...I gave it to Huo Sining."

Clayflo froze. "Gave it to her? Why would you give it to her? She wasn’t the one who bid it down. If she really liked it, she could have bid herself. There was no need for you to hand it over, was there?"

Semiya’s expression stiffened. After a long moment she mumbled, "Because when we were gambling at the bar a few days ago, I didn’t just lose money and antiques. I also signed an agreement with her."

Clayflo’s face changed in an instant. He almost ground his teeth as he asked, "What agreement? Why did you sign anything with her?"

Semiya was so frightened her head was practically hanging to the floor. Her voice was as tiny as a mosquito’s buzz. "Because I challenged her to a bet, but she refused to play a gambling duel with me. I was impulsive. After I found out she came to Philadelphia specifically to attend the black market auction, I wanted to provoke her, so I said that if she agreed to gamble with me, I could offer her priority purchase rights to some of the exhibits in the Black Market Building..."

Semiya’s voice grew lower and lower, but Clayflo still caught the gist.

Although Semiya hadn’t even finished speaking, just thinking back to how, when he got the news and rushed over to clean up the mess that day, he’d seen his own sister lose until her eyes were bloodshot, looking no different from a gambler who’d lost all reason—just that alone was enough. Even with his toes he could figure out that the priority purchase rights his sister had brought up had probably also ended up lost to that woman surnamed Huo.

Clayflo’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. He really wanted to let loose a string of curses, even wanted to pry open Semiya’s skull and see if her brain was filled with water.

He’d originally thought that when Semiya had gambled with Huo Sining on the top floor of the bar that day, she’d only lost over ninety million and that box of precious Huaxia antiques. He hadn’t expected that before all that, Semiya had even signed a priority purchase agreement with Huo Sining.

Looked at that way, he and Semiya were really "of one mind," actually giving that woman surnamed Huo priority purchase rights at the same time.

Except, the priority purchase right he gave that woman was really just chicken ribs—tasteless, useless. She couldn’t do anything with it, so losing it was losing it; he didn’t care. But Semiya’s priority purchase right had practically handed that woman real convenience on a silver platter!

Clayflo felt both stifled and humiliated, yet when he looked at the pitiful girl in front of him with her head bowed, he ironically had no way to deal with her at all.

"That Phoebe zhennan wood box, did that Huo Sining buy it?"

After taking a few deep breaths to adjust his mood, Clayflo finally asked.

Semiya nodded. "Mm. She bought it at the same price that Dongyang guy bid for it. I’ve seen that box—it’s just an ordinary little Huaxia trinket. The Appraiser also examined it. Even in Huaxia Country, where golden Phoebe nanmu is popular, that box isn’t worth much. At most it could sell for tens of thousands, maybe over a hundred thousand US dollars. We didn’t take a loss."

Clayflo was nowhere near as naïve as Semiya. He knew full well that Huo Sining was not a simple person. If it really was just a Phoebe zhennan wood box, that woman wouldn’t have gone to such trouble. She could have just competed openly with that Fujiwara Seiho; there was no need to play tricks behind the scenes.

And judging from how Fujiwara Seiho had just been making a huge scene in the hall, it was obvious he placed great importance on that box. After learning the box was gone, everyone in that group had looked as if they were at a funeral.

Combining all these points, Clayflo became even more convinced that the box probably wasn’t as simple as they had thought. It was even very likely that all the Appraisers under him had misjudged it.

Only, the thing had been sold, and had already been taken away by Huo Sining. Clayflo certainly couldn’t go back on it now. Besides, given his personality and principles, he would never ask for the box back. That would be far too demeaning.

But Clayflo couldn’t swallow this breath. After all, he and his sister had suffered quite a few hidden losses at this Huo Sining’s hands. That left Clayflo smoldering with anger, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this absolutely couldn’t just be let go.

He lifted his head and glanced at Semiya, then his gaze fell on the investigative file on Huo Sining lying on the desk. His knuckles tapped lightly on the tabletop. A few seconds later, something suddenly occurred to him; his heart stirred, and an idea came to him. He hurriedly picked up the phone and dialed out.

"Help me contact a few foreign reporters and have them publish coverage of today’s auction in full, especially emphasizing the final bid prices of those two Beast Heads and who the buyers are. Don’t disclose all the buyer information right away—dig it out bit by bit. Just make sure no one suspects the leak came from us as the organizers."

After making these arrangements, Clayflo’s lips curled, and he hung up the phone with a pleased smile.

On the side, Semiya was a little puzzled. "Brother, what are you doing? Hyping this up? But hasn’t our black market auction always prided itself on being low‑key? And leaking buyer information—that’s not really appropriate, is it?" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Clayflo raised his head to look at Semiya. "There’s nothing inappropriate about it. I’m not doing this to hype our black market. I just want to cause that woman surnamed Huo some trouble. I’d say she’s going to have quite the headache for a while."