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.