Auction night opens with Vivian bidding boldly until another bidder sneers, "I'd love to see how you handle it when you can't pay." Vivian wins the first lot at one million. The second item, a white jade carving, escalates from a 1.5 million start to a five-million sale. For the final lot—a royal Sun Crown—the room gasps as the starting bid is ten million. Bids accelerate and someone calls twenty million, sharply raising the stakes and leaving Vivian to choose whether to match that amount or concede the crown, her decision unresolved.