Such a Rude and Noisy Woman novel Chapter 197

Rachel turned to the reporter and smiled. "You may be right about something. People might have already heard that Hiram and I were engaged before we were even born. Both our families were fully aware that we would get married someday, so my family didn't marry me into Hiram's just for their wealth.

As for the kidnapping incident... I would rather not use the word 'forgive, ' for Hiram did nothing wrong in my eyes. Marriage brought us together, and the two of us became one. From then on, we faced and will face everything together, good or bad. Marriage isn't a game, and we won't give up what we have because of a small setback like this, " she said, casually speaking what came into her mind, sounding neither humble or pushy. Thanks to the reporters throwing one question after another at her, she had forgotten how nervous she was.

Confronting such sharp questions, Rachel hardly had time to be nervous.

"Time's up for questions! The auction will start soon! Everyone should go into the hall now, this way please! Follow me!" shouted the man in black uniform. He gestured the security to escort Hiram and Rachel inside.

Hiram beamed and gazed at Rachel tenderly, and said in a voice that only she could hear, "Thank you, darling! Thank you for saying all that. I'm so proud to have a wife like you! You deserve all my love!"

It sounded like Hiram was making a vow. Most women in the world would be moved into tears after hearing his words.

However, Rachel wasn't one of them.

She took a deep breath as they walked away from the reporters, and noticed something wrong with the high heels she was wearing. "Don't talk to me about love now! The strap on my left shoe has come off! Please buckle it up for me!"

She was feeling so nervous after all the questions that she had walked too fast. Thank God her long dress was covering her high heels, otherwise she would have lost face in front of all these people.

Hiram took a closer look at her white high heels and saw that the strap had loosened. He waved to the security to wait a moment.

Then, he squatted down with a smile on his face to buckle the strap for Rachel.

This sudden movement caused the reporters, who were currently making their way to the auction hall, to stop in their tracks and quieten down. They hurriedly picked up their cameras and continuously snapped at the scene in front of them even as security tried to stop them.

Watching Hiram kneeling on one knee in front of her, Rachel felt a mixture of feelings surging up inside her. She knew Hiram was proud and unruly, but now he was kneeling in front of her, ignoring the people around them. She couldn't help but smile contently.

Hiram had once refused to kneel down to propose to her, causing a rift between them, but now, Rachel could erase that problem from her mind forever.

Hiram stood up after buckling her strap up, then he led Rachel to their table in the auction hall with his hand on her waist.

Finally having a little more privacy from the reporters, Rachel took a deep breath and realized that her face was stiff from all the smiling. She now knew that the act of smiling all the time was actually a tough job to do. She looked around and saw Patrick Yan sitting in front of a table not far from them with a woman on either side of him.

This man seemed to never keep a low profile. Everyone here had brought one date with them, but Patrick wasn't afraid of making his hobbies public. He had brought two dates to such an occasion without giving a damn about what people would think of him.

Noticing Rachel's eyes on him, Patrick stared back at her and blew a kiss.

Rachel immediately turned away, cleared her throat consciously and sat up straight. Just then, Hiram passed an auction list to Rachel and said, "Take a look. They'll start with scripts and paintings, so you might not have much interest in the first two rounds. But look at the third round and see if there's anything you like. Don't worry about the price, we're always the highest bidders at this auction."

"What did you do with those items you got? And where did you keep them after the auction?" Rachel asked as she glanced through the items on the list. It seemed people were going to spend heavily on this auction. Even though Rachel had no idea what most of the items were supposed to be, she knew that they must have been hard to acquire.

"Some are kept in our warehouse now, and others were donated to museums, " Hiram replied. Behind them, Luke and Albert were taking a seat.

Rachel greeted them and said jokingly, "My dear lawyer, what brings you here? Are people here in need of legal consulting? And hey, Albert, nice to meet you again!"

"Are you joking? Don't you know that my family is one of the richest in town? The auction expects us to raise our paddle as frequently as we can!' shouted Luke. He shook his head, making faces at Rachel.

Albert nodded in greeting at Rachel. What Rachel didn't know was that he had been very worried about her just now, when she'd been standing in front the cameras and encountering so many tough questions.

He had watched Rachel from the very beginning, but much to his surprise, she had turned out to be more capable than he had thought.

Soon, the first round began.

Like Hiram had guessed, Rachel had no interests in any of the scripts or paintings. They made no sense to her at all, and she was glad that she didn't need to pretend that she enjoyed them.

On the other hand, Luke bid on one famous landscape painting that was painted in ancient times.

Rachel noticed that some of the people there were raising their paddles frequently, and she wondered whether they really understood what was going on. Every time they raised their paddle for an item, the bid would be raised by 500, 000 bucks. It seemed more like people were too excited on bidding and making sure that they would get an item.

There were altogether five items in the first round, and Chad, who was taking care of their paddle, bid for one of them like Hiram had told him to.

Rachel found that most people stopped raising their paddles as soon as Chad raised his.

In the second round, porcelain was the star.

As usual, the auctioneer introduced the history of every porcelain item here. Rachel didn't know what he was talking about, but she knew that the porcelain items in Hiram's ancient house were much more delicate than the ones waiting to be bid on here. 'What makes the people here willing to spend so much on this?' she wondered.

But after giving it more thought, she realized this was the reason why it was called a charity auction. All these people had come here to give their money to a special cause.

Rachel excused herself to the ladies room.

She felt better after getting some fresh air outside. She looked into the mirror at her delicate face, and she could feel her waist sore after sitting upright for two rounds straight. After touching up her make up, Rachel put her powder back into her handbag and turned around to go back to Hiram, but instead received a shock.

Patrick was standing at the door of the ladies room with a cigar in his mouth and staring at Rachel as if she was naked. "You look gorgeous tonight!"

"Thank you for saying so, but don't you think a gentleman shouldn't flatter a lady by the door of the ladies room?" Rachel asked, forcing a slight smile at him.

She was curious how she could run into this man everywhere.

"Aha, do I look like a gentleman? I've never given a fucking damn about propriety." Patrick blew the smoke out and stared greedily at her graceful figure, narrowing his eyes. "Rachel, do you know something? You're the first woman I've longed to sleep with but can't get the chance to."

Rachel couldn't believe her ears and thought she had gotten him wrong for a second. Then, wide-eyed, she laughed and said, "Mr. Yan, I remember there's an old saying that a friend's wife shouldn't be flirted with. Watch your words please!"

"I'm not Hiram's fucking friend! I'm his rival! Do you get me?" shouted Patrick.

Rachel was prepared to leave, but Patrick stepped forward. He smiled, his unruly beard making him look even wilder, and said, "Keep this in mind, Rachel. One day, I'll be stronger than Hiram, and I'll take everything he loves from him, including you!"

Rachel retreated to avoid the smoke from his cigar and retorted, "Really? I'm looking forward to seeing what you will look like when your career is in its full stride. But for now, please excuse me!"

After that, she made her way to the other exit of the ladies room.

Hiram, who had been waiting for her outside, approached her and held her hand. Together, they made their way back to their table.

"What did Patrick say to you just now?" asked Hiram in a low voice. When Hiram had noticed that Patrick was no longer in his seat, he had immediately suspected that he might have followed Rachel to the ladies room.

Rachel took a seat, smoothed her dress, and turned to Hiram worriedly. "He said he would take everything from you."

Hiram snorted and tightened his arm around Rachel's waist. He said in a calm voice, "He isn't the first person to say so, and he certainly won't be the last. He really thinks too much of himself!"

After taking the position of president of Streams Comapany, he knew that a lot of people were coveting his status as the wealthiest man in H City, but it wasn't something he bothered himself with. He was confident in his abilities.

Rachel leaned her head on Hiram's shoulder and whispered to him, "Hiram, I really don't care about your family's fortune. Once in a while, I can't help but think that we might be happier if you had nothing in your pocket than we are now."

Hiram lowered his head and kissed her on her forehead. "You must have confidence in me. Whether guarding ancestral properties or pioneering new frontiers, I believe I can do it well. I'm doing my best to protect everything that belongs to our family, and I'll do better than that to protect you as a husband!"

Hiram swore to himself that he would show anyone who coveted his fortune or his woman how he would kick them deep into the earth one after another.