Hollywood Zenith

"Gentlemen and ladies! Thank you for participating in this charity dinner hosted by Mr Douglas Rickman. All of you are important to guests and leaders of your respected field. Your arrival is the best support for our charity." the sentimental Douglas took the stage to utter the starting monologue.

For Samuel, it was music to his ears; it saved his 'life' as he finally had a reason to get away. The four beauties also gave up and left to fight. It was necessary to save some 'ammunitions' for future use.

Douglas also called a few people to entertain everyone; they gave humorous speeches to uplift the crowd's spirits. It had to be done before he began to rob their 'pockets'!

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The Charity dinner had a particular theme. Typically it was the host's responsibility to prepare the items for auctions, but this time the guests from all walks of life donated some items to participate in the auction.

The auction would normally proceed, and the earnings would be donated to the designated organization in the name of the dinner, which would help people in need. They could end the farce and give money directly, but that would be tactless.

Laura donated a couple of diamond earrings from her vast collection, but they would probably be repurchased by Robert. What can one say? He was a sucker for his wife!

Some Hollywood superstars donated a wide variety of things. It mostly had a collection value different than the other items; it was only worth a lot if some big-name celebrity was connected.

Other guests were not fools; they would never overpay for something only worth a fraction of their bids. It will only be meaningful if the value is less than twenty per cent above the estimated price.

They might not lack the funds, but they had to appear 'intelligent' in front of others not to lose face inflating the price of useless junk!

But some lots were a different matter altogether, just like this time, Angelina the shining star this year, with her iconic thick lips synonymous with the definition of sexy, was set to donate a special ticket in this auction.

This was a scorching year for her and she was currently trending all over the entertainment circles. Her auction this time was a romantic candlelight dinner.

As for whether there would be more romantic things in the future, it depended on one's own ability. At least they didn't have to worry about approaching her, right?

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The four beauties also donated a few items, but for them, these donated items were unnecessary. They knew some horndog would be willing be pay a large sum of money just to impress them.

Maia donated a set of tiffany and co limited edition jewellery.

Iblis donated a famous painting which was eating dust in the family mansion.

Paige Hydrik went a step further and donated the right to use the presidential suite of the family's Hotel in New York for one year. It was a bold move, but she couldn't think of anything because of a hurry.

Her sister Nicole went with a table lamp created by BVLGARI. It was not an ordinary table lamp; this one had a market price of a few thousand dollars.

These items were only meant to make up their tickets, it was pointless as they didn't attach any value to them. Just the birthday gifts that they received every year would dwarf these numbers.

Samuel donated the Patek Philippe complication watch that he brought this morning. It cost him around a hundred grand which was like pocket change for him at this point.

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The first lot was, of course, related to the host of the dinner, Douglas Rickman. As the organizer, he went big and auctioned a French Vase used by the court of King Louis XIV.

The base price was set to 80,000 US dollars, but the cost of the vase itself is around 200,000 US dollars.

After the unveiling of the item, the auction started, and crowds enthusiastically bid for the item. It was a way to show support. The price quickly exceeded 200,000; every increase now belongs to Douglas's added value.

After the price reached 300,000, the bidding gradually slowed down. It had already reached fifty per cent of the original value.

It marked the stage where big players would get involved now.

A few big shots started bidding, and each time it was a $10,000 increase. It pushed the price to 500,000 dollars.

"Mr Kemp bid for 500,000. For the first time, is there any increase?" The auctioneer said raising his voice.

"500,000 for the second time."

" 700,000 " Robert raised his card for the first time, instantly raising the price by a whopping 200,000. It caused a slight commotion in the venue but soon subsided as everyone anticipated Kemp's counterbid.

"The generous Mr Rothschild had offered 700,000 US dollars." The auctioneer was also a little excited. The first lot was often the bane of the entire auction; a lacklustre beginning was always met with the same end.

Mr Kemp looked at his competition, it was no surprise that he was scared a little, but Robert gave him a small smile. He didn't make it evident to others, but Kemp understood its meaning.

Hearing Robert's offer, Douglas smiled slightly and raised his glass to the other party. Robert responded by raising his glass in return.

"700,000 for the first time."

"800,000." Mr Kemp bid again with a determined voice. He knew the other party was trying to help him.

"Mr Kemp bid 800,000! 800,000 for the first time." The auctioneer was even more frivolous with his announcements.

Few people were willing to bid after this scene; the value of the vase itself was only 200,000 USD. Now the price had greatly exceeded most people's expectations.

"800,000 second time, is there any increase in the price?"

"800,000 for the third time, SOLD! Thank you, Mr Kemp, for his contribution to charity."

The first lot of the charity auction won a premium of 300%! It made a good start for the auction. There was also applause from the crowd as Mr Kemp looked around and waved in response.

With a value of 800,000 dollars, he gained a good reputation as a philanthropist, but more importantly, He gained Douglas's friendship. He had a fixed reason and his own plans for this move. Kemp conglomerate was an emerging company but was already reaching a substantial bottleneck after rigorous expansion.

Plus, he could be considered a self-made man because he believed he could push the ceiling higher. However, His background still needs to be improved. Not only did his company need to find some powerful political allies, but he was also required to participate in it.

It was proven time and time again that the combination of politics and business was the way. For him, Douglas was a great choice.

" The Rothschild seems to be aware of my troubles. It is not surprising he noticed my desire." Kemp thought.

After the successful bid, he slightly bowed toward Robert to show that he was grateful for the opportunity.

It was not surprising that Kemp and Douglas hit it off right away. He was an ambitious person who knew how to show humbleness. Those were just the right qualities to survive in this 'jungle'.