Despite his displeasure, Ruben’s face showed no anger, and he even smiled at Jaime.
-Thanks to Mr. Seco’s concern, Mr. Santangel’s injuries have greatly improved. But, even if Mr. Santangel was not injured, he was not planning to come in person to this auction, he will just leave these little things to his subordinates,” he said, looking Jaime up and down.
Jaime was in a good mood today, all dressed up, with hairspray on his head and an extravagant look.
Ruben had a subtle smile in his eyes.
-It looks like Mr. Seco is looking forward to the auction, he’s all dressed up.
What did Ruben mean by that?
He was saying that Umberto didn’t care about the auction, but Jaime had come as if he were a treasure.
Jaime’s face instantly darkened and he scoffed:
-The Santangel Group are sharp from top to bottom.
-Thank you,” Ruben accepted the compliment with a nod.
The anger that Jaime kept inside him accumulated more than he should have.
He smiled wryly at the memory of Albina’s kidnapping.
-I heard that Mr. a Santangel was kidnapped by a man at the engagement party. Mrs. Santangel must have suffered a lot, given her good looks. Mr. Santangel almost lost his life because of that…. If you ask me, Mr. Santangel has bad luck, he has had two engagements in a row and both have had accidents, he should be more careful in the future. Besides, the Santangels didn’t ask for the cancellation even after what happened to Mrs. Santangel.
Jaime said a lot of things in a string of words, all of them dirty and vicious, as if he was venting his old anger, his eyes fixed on Ruben, wanting to see his face change.
Ruben’s expression did change, becoming even colder, and without waiting for Jaime to finish, he interrupted:
-Mr. Seco himself said he had “heard,” can you take what you heard seriously? I believe there are photos of our Lady Santangel’s engagement party on the internet, and if you have seen the video of the kidnapping, you should be able to recognize that the dress is not evidence, right? Have you even seen the video of our Lady Santangel’s kidnapping with the slightest hint of distress on her face and body? I have been with Senor Santangel for many years and know Senor Seco well, but I didn’t know Senor Seco was so nosy. If he is really bored, he should go beg the lady of the Pomar family to recover his marriage.
Ruben said word for word, rightly and with a strong attitude.
Jaime looked at him with a twitching face, his fists clenched in anger, especially when Ruben’s last words stripped him of his cover.
Ruben and the staff around him ignored Jaime’s stare.
The Santangel Group employee turned his head to speak to Ruben in a tone of superiority.
-Mr. Escribano, look, the only thing Mr. Santangel did was to go out with Mrs. Santangel after the engagement party and he had the bad luck to meet a madman. I don’t know who is so malicious as to use such malice against others when they have dirty minds.
Who are the ones spreading these slanders about Umberto’s wife’s innocence on the Internet and in circles?
Jaime, of course!
But at this point, how would he dare admit that he did it?
Jaime’s cheeks reddened as he listened to the Santangel Group employees angrily reprimand the person who had spread the nonsense, feeling like he was scolding himself.
Luckily it was almost time and everyone was coming in before Jaime glared hatefully at the two men.
-Get cocky now, you’re going to cry later!
With a snarl, he entered the enclosure a step earlier with his head held high.
Ruben looked behind him and sneered:
-Let’s see who’s going to cry next!
The group entered in shifts, coincidentally, since Grupo Santangel and Grupo Seco were the two giants of Sogen City, they had seats next to each other in the front row.
Ruben entered and found his seat, saw cloud-faced Jaime next to him, sat down and greeted him cheerfully:
-Mr. Seco, what a coincidence.
Jaime exhaled a grunt through his nose, with an extremely arrogant attitude.
Ruben did not mind his attitude and took a seat at ease.
The auction was soon underway, the host presented the various aspects of the land and the bidding began.
The reserve price was 500 million, and at first the bidding was very conservative, with millions and millions of dollars being added to the price. Jaime, who had little patience and wanted to see the Santangel Group defeated, simply held up his card and shouted:
-Billions.
There was a momentary pause at these words, but soon the chatter began.
Jaime looked smugly at Ruben, who smiled at him.
-Mr. Seco is rich, so we at Grupo Santangel can’t be cheap either.
With that, he held up his card and said aloud:
-The Santangel Group, 1. 100 million.
The hearts of those present jumped twice when the offer went up 100 million in one go.
Jaime scoffed.
-1. 200 million.
Then Ruben calmly raised his card.
-1. 300 million.
The two men raised their bids one by one, and several other companies followed suit, but when the price exceeded 1. 600 million, no one dared to follow.
Ruben and Jaime were the only ones left in the room.
Ruben was quiet and Jaime laughed internally. Last night he had received the Santangel Group’s proposal and he knew that their budget was 2 billion at the most.
Two billion was the value of the land, but more than that would be uneconomical.
Jaime mobilized as much money as he could, no less than 2. 1 billion, which was the most he could raise due to Alfredo’s lack of support.
At 1. 9 billion, Ruben and Jaime slowed down their bidding. Ruben went first.
Jaime was determined, and Ruben’s behavior was enough to tell him that Grupo Santangel’s reserve price was 2. 000 million.
Jaime quickly shouted:
-Two billion.
After shouting, he looked at Ruben with a look of complacency and assurance.
The nervous hesitation he had imagined did not occur at all, Ruben just smiled calmly at him and continued to raise his offer.
-Two thousand and ten million.
This was unexpected to Jaime and he frowned in some panic.
How could Ruben be so calm when he had already exceeded two billion?
He was in a trance and added ten million, and just as he finished, he saw Ruben approaching him.
-Mr. Seco, are you sure that the Santangel Group’s reserve price is two billion?
Jaime turned his head sharply, and looked at Ruben with eyes wide with surprise.
“How could it be…?”
Ruben smiled.
-I forgot to tell you that Saul has joined us. Lord Santangel has known for some time that he is one of yours and has decided to set his plan in motion. I caught him last night when he went to the office to steal the information. The plan you were given was a fake, we showed it to you on purpose, are you happy with it?
His voice was low, but it sounded like thunder to Jaime’s ears and put him in a trance.
Saul had been with Grupo Santangel for days, nothing had gone wrong. Jaime had thought there were no problems, that Umberto hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
It turned out that it was all his plan, that yesterday’s planning was false, that Grupo Santangel’s reserve price was not 2 billion.
Thinking about this, Jaime hesitated to say the price.
Ruben finished saying the price and, with a smile still on his face and no trace of nervousness, he turned to Jaime and reminded him:
-Your turn, Mr. Seco!
Two hours later, Jaime emerged from the auction with a pale face and a entranced look on his face.
“How can this be, how did all this happen, why did it end like this?”