The Consortium’s Heir by Benjamin_Jnr

Chapter 44

When Darius entered the hotel lobby, it was still as busy as it was before his arrival. Several luxuriously

dressed people were still walking about having light discussions and light laughs from the discussions.

Darius attracted a lot of attention as he walked. Many people already heard of his dramatic and classy

arrival from their friends who were outside when he arrived so the stares of surprise they gave when they

saw him was natural.

The students of Kingston University however where rendered speechless when heard about his arrival.

The Darius Reid they knew was poor and could barely afford good clothing, so their shock when they

saw him in the hotel lobby dressed very classy was understandable.

“Is that really Darius Reid?” Someone asked, his tone laced with disbelief.

“I’m sure it’s him!” Someone replied.

“But he looks so different.”

“It’s him. I’m in the same Business Management department with him so there’s no way I could be

mistaken. I’m one hundred percent sure that it’s him.” The two people weren’t the only ones having such

conversations. Other people were also stunned by Darius’ new look. It felt very surreal to them. Darius

paid the discussions and gossips about him no heed. Instead he walked to the stand were cocktails were

kept and took a glass of wine for himself. After over thirty minutes had passed, everyone finally arrived to

the gala. Pearl Chamberlain, the third ranked beauty in Kingston University was among the people who

came late to the gala; therefore she missed the scene where Darius arrived dramatically.

When everyone had arrived and were now waiting in the hotel lobby for the event to start, a middle aged

man dressed exquisitely in a white suit clapped his hands loudly, making the chatters in the lobby to die

down. When he saw that he had successfully garnered everyone’s attention, he spoke. “I thank you all

for making the time despite your busy schedules to come to this charity gala. As the name suggests, this

is a charity gala aimed to raise money for the less privileged and unfortunate children all around the

world.”

“This means that any money raised from this gala is for the purpose of charity. I trust we will be kind

enough to raise enough money to give these children a better life. Thank you once

again.”

Loud claps erupted from the audience when the man finished his speech. Darius himself clapped louder

than the rest. He could wholeheartedly empathize with the unfortunate children as he was one of them

when he was growing up.

As much as proving his classmates wrong and showing everyone who looked down on him that he was

no longer the same as before was satisfying, he also attended this gala for the

purpose of charity. Putting a smile on a sad child’s face was a noble deed and he was very glad to be

able to perform that noble deed.

Darius was still sipping wine from the glass cup he took from the cocktail counter when a very beautiful

lady walked up to him. Darius looked at the lady who walked up to him. She was very beautiful with long

black hair that was styled neatly, a very attractive face and an equally attractive body.

As she walked up to Darius she garnered the attention of many people in the hall. Their attention was

naturally fixed on Darius so when they saw a lady walking up to him, and a very beautiful one at that they

naturally turned their interest to both of them.

Darius felt that the lady was very familiar and that he had encountered her before, but couldn’t place

where he had seen her.

When the lady was within talking range of Darius, she smiled heartily before speaking up.

“Hello Darius.”

Darius took another sip of wine from the glass he held in his hands before replying. “Excuse me, have

we met before?”

The lady had a hurt expression on her face, but it was only for a split second before her expression

turned to normal.

“You don’t remember me?” the lady asked in a slightly hurt tone. “No I don’t, sorry.” Darius replied. The

lady sighed before speaking up. “It’s me, Helen, the girl you saved at the Armani store, remember?”

Darius nearly dropped the glass of wine on the floor when he heard her response.

This beautiful lady was Helen?!

Of course he remembered Helen. However the image he had of her and what he saw now were

completely different!

The Helen he saw was definitely not as beautiful as this!

He looked at Helen again and saw that she was staring at him closely. He coughed lightly before

speaking up.

“Ah yes. I remember you now. How have you been?”

Helen smiled wholeheartedly again. She was incredibly glad that her prince charming in Darius

remembered her. More so, he even asked her how she was doing!

“I’ve been fine thank you.” Together, the two of them made small talks. When everyone saw them talking

and conversing with each other, they were shocked.

Helen friends who had come with her were even more shocked than others. They had seen when Darius

arrived in a very fancy sports car, so they knew that he was not someone on their level. How then could

Helen, the poorest of the lot converse freely with him? Heck they even looked like they were long term

friends!

Darius finally ended the conversation with Helen and was once again staying on his own. He took

another sip of wine from his glass cup when he heard the man’s announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the main event of the charity gala, the auction!” the man

announced.

The auction was the main event and highlight of every charity gala. During the auction several items like

paintings; sculptures and so on would be displayed for the audience to bid on. The highest bidder would

then win the item while all the money generated would go to charity.

The man clapped his hand lightly and three men dressed in black and white uniform appeared with an

item that was covered with a cloth.

The man signaled the uniformed men to remove the cloth from the item; and when they did so everyone,

including Darius sucked in a cold breath.

The item was an abstract painting of nature which was incredibly beautiful! The complexity of the

painting gave the artwork so much beauty that they were instantly smitten.

“This is a painting by 11 year old Chekrav Russels. She titled it “The beauty of Nature.’ As you can see, it

is an incredible stunning piece. It will be a great addition to your collections.” The man in charge of the

auction explained.

Everyone clapped lightly when they heard the man’s information about the artwork. They all looked at the

artwork with fire in their gazes. They were determined to get it.

“This artwork is valued at $30,000 as its starting bid, with increments of no less than $1,000. Without

further ado, we shall proceed with the auctioning of the artwork.”

As soon as the man commenced the auctioning, the bidding war started. “$31,000!” “$32,000!”

“$35,000!” Darius smiled when he heard their bidding prices. Didn’t they always look down on him

because he was unable to donate $200 at the last charity gala? This time around it won’t be the

case.

Two minutes passed and by now the bid had risen to $50,000.

(

“$50,000 going once! Twice! …” Just as the man was about to announce the third and final confirmation,

a loud voice abruptly interrupted him.