Chapter 126: Dodging with a Joke

Across the ballroom, almost everyone thought Arthur Snyder had it in the bag.

Even Jude, leaning against the pillar on the west side of the floor, frowned slightly as he looked over at the Snyder family table.

Out of every possible outcome tonight, letting the Heavens Club fall into Arthur Snyder’s hands was the worst-case scenario.

Everyone in the loop knew the Vanguard-Rockefeller group was pulling the strings behind the Snyders; if they got their hands on the club’s twenty-year web of VIP secrets and political power, it would become a massive headache for Jude all across Manhattan.

Still, at this point, Jude couldn’t change the numbers...

The club belonged to Chelsea Lee, and the final say was completely up to her.

Down at the front table, an older banker smiled up at the stage and shouted, "Miss Lee, don’t keep us guessing all night... tell us who won!"

Instead of reading the name off the card, Chelsea turned toward the side of the stage and asked softly into the mic, "Vanessa, you’ve run this floor for five years... who do you think is the most handsome man in the ballroom tonight?"

Standing in her white dress by the stage, Vanessa Canfield felt helpless inside.

Having counted the envelopes herself ten minutes ago, Vanessa already knew the exact name on the winning slip.

But answering a question like that out loud in front of three hundred arrogant billionaires and cocky young heirs was guaranteed to piss off every other guy in the room...

Without missing a beat, Vanessa flashed a polite smile toward the round, fifty-something operations director standing by the stage steps... Mr. Jacobson.

"A woman’s opinion is always a little biased," Vanessa said, tossing the live grenade with total ease. "Maybe we should let Director Jacobson answer that instead. As a fellow gentleman, his choice will be way more fair!"

Standing by the railing, Jacobson’s eyelid twitched as every eye in the ballroom locked onto his bald head.

He knew damn well his boss had just thrown him under the bus to save herself!

Trapped under three hundred pairs of eyes with nowhere to run, Jacobson paused for two seconds, patted his round stomach, and broke into a huge grin.

"To be honest, I’ve always been shameless," Jacobson announced. "If you want my honest opinion, not a single man in this whole place looks half as handsome as me in the mirror!"

A roar of laughter rolled across the room, killing the tension as everyone cracked up at the old director’s joke.

Wiping invisible sweat from his forehead, Jacobson let out a sigh of relief.

Watching from the pillars, Jude couldn’t help admiring how sharp the club’s managers were.

Not only was Vanessa a top-tier operator, even a deputy director like Jacobson had the quick reflexes to shut down a room full of sharks with a single joke.

"Alright, Miss Lee... Jacobson got off the hook, so stop teasing us!"

"Yeah! Tell us who this mystery winner actually is!"

Having waited for over an hour, the rich crowd shouted eagerly for the final name.

Up in the spotlight, Chelsea’s lips curved into a wicked little smile.

Raising her right arm, she pointed straight past the front VIP tables toward the west pillars and spoke into the mic.

"The gentleman I’m talking about... is standing right over there!"

Three hundred necks snapped around at the exact same time, following her finger across the carpet... and froze in shock.

She wasn’t pointing at the front table at all. Her finger was aimed dead center at Jude Lawson!

For three whole seconds, nobody in the room could believe their own eyes...

Skipping right over Arthur Snyder and every billionaire heir in Manhattan, the guy Chelsea Lee thought was the hottest man in the room was Jude Lawson?!

At the front table, the cocky grin on Arthur Snyder’s face froze into stone.

Up on the stage, Vanessa Canfield just smiled, having known the outcome the second the ballot box was opened.

Refusing to believe it, Arthur shoved his chair back and yelled up at the stage, "Miss Lee, what kind of joke is this?! Are you saying Jude Lawson won the Heavens Club?!"

"That’s right," Chelsea looked down at Arthur, nodding. "Jude Lawson is tonight’s winner."

"Impossible!"

"Miss Lee, how much could he possibly have written down?! On what grounds did he win... are you seriously giving away a multi-billion-dollar club just because you like his face?!"

"He’s right, Miss Lee! Every single one of us wired real cash to enter this thing... at least read out his bid so we know it was fair!"

"Read the number!"

Furious shouts broke out from dozens of tables at once.

Hearing everyone yelling, the playful smile faded from Chelsea’s face.

Looking out over the crowd, she spoke in a clear voice, "Jude Lawson’s winning bid... was one hundred thousand dollars."

Three hundred billionaire CEOs and mob bosses stared up at the stage with their jaws dropping straight to the floor in shock. Not a single person in the room could ever have imagined hearing a tiny five-figure number buy the crown jewel of Midtown...

Back by the pillar, even Jude stood frozen.

He had scribbled $100,000 on that paper twenty minutes ago purely as a joke to get Vanessa Canfield off his back... he hadn’t planned on competing in the paper auction at all.

How the hell had a hundred-thousand-dollar joke walked away with the biggest club in New York?!

Down in the front row, Arthur Snyder was breathing so hard he looked ready to spit blood all over the table.

Gripping the edge of the wood until his knuckles turned white, he snarled in a hoarse voice, "Miss Lee, stop treating three hundred people like idiots! Are you seriously telling this room that Jude Lawson won the Heavens Club for a hundred grand?!"

"One hundred thousand dollars exactly," Chelsea confirmed with an easy nod.

That calm answer snapped the last wire in Arthur’s brain...