CHAPTER 31: FINAL BID: EMERGENCY CALL.

After some time, Mr. Rick walked back on stage. "We are sorry about that. There is a new bidder who has offered hundred percent to the final bid. And by the rules, the highest amount to bid on any product is two billion dollars. Since we have already reached the final limit, that would come to the end of the bid of Starlit Haven. Thank you." With that, he hit the hammer on the table, and chaos fell into the hall.

I stared in shock at the man, my mouth slightly agape. I never expected this to happen. I had thought that coming here meant getting my necklace, but it was snatched off again at the last minute, and that wasn’t even the worst part, the bidding was over. What was going on?

"Seith, does that mean I can’t get the necklace anymore?"

Seith frowned, clearly not expecting this either. "Quite obvious... but wait a moment, I will go talk to my uncle."

I nodded, then Seith got up and left. I sat there, trying to process everything that just happened, when suddenly my phone rang.

Taking it out from my bag, my heart skipped a beat upon seeing who it was. It was my father. After about two months, he finally remembered he had a daughter who had gone missing. What did he want from me?

"Father..."

"Anna, I want you to come home now!" I could hear the urgency and panic in his tone.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Don’t ask questions and come quickly," he said lastly and ended the call.

I stared at the phone, my hands shaking slightly. I wanted to ignore it at first, then thought, what could probably be happening at home to make my father call me of all people?

I needed to know.

So, without waiting to say goodbye to Seith, I stood up and found my way out of the auction hall. Outside the mansion, I hastily boarded a cab, and soon I was on my way.

Thankfully, my father’s estate wasn’t very far from Mr. Rick’s auction, and within a few minutes I was already there.

The house was silent, which was strange. Our house was always bustling with activities, either from Claudia’s parties or my stepmother’s gathering with her fellow wealthy women.

I opened the door of the first floor, and there I found my whole family. My birth mother and stepmom were sitting, looking as though they were mourning someone, and my father was standing in the middle of the room, tapping his foot on the floor in anxiety. The air was thick with tension and it was suffocating. What was happening?

"Oh, you’re here." Irene was the first to notice me, and they all turned to me.

My father stalked towards me, his eyes were dark and had lost their sparks. He looked quite thinner than I remembered.

"Is something wrong?" I asked when he stopped in front of me.

"Seraphina," he called. Seraphina was my mother’s name, and immediately she came to me and tried to take my hands in hers, but I stepped away to avoid her. That was odd. She never once acted like that until now. Even when I got bullied and tortured with steaming iron by Claudia and her mother, she never said anything and acted as if she never existed.

Noticing what I did, she awkwardly cleared her throat and began, "Anna... your father was conned by a man... And about eighty percent of his assets are gone..."

I couldn’t believe my ears. She hadn’t seen me in months, and that was the first thing she said to me? Not even ask how I was doing or what happened to me?

Well, what did I expect?

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Because you know who he is, Anna."

Now, I was confused. "And who is him?"

"Alexander Vaughn."

I took a step back in absolute shock. "What?!"

"Yes, Anna."

"Why would he do that?" I asked, still surprised.

"We don’t know... that’s why you must help us."

"Help you? How?"

My mother took a step forward, her gray eyes looking as pitiful as possible, then said, "you’re his wife... you can help your father by getting him the paperwork regarding your father’s assets. They are under Alexander’s control."

It began to make sense. They called me home, not because they wanted me back, but because they needed my help in stealing from Alexander and making my father great again. What could have probably hurt more than that?

"I’m sorry for disappointing you, mother, I can’t help you," saying that, I turned around to leave, but my father grabbed my arms to stop me.

"You have to, you stupid brat," he said through gritted teeth. "Will you enjoy seeing your father go down without a penny and get chased around by creditors?"

"Now you admit that you’re my father? Remember you disowned me right from birth, if it wasn’t for Grandma, I would have died. You never cared about me. Even that night Claudia chased me into the river, you never found me, or saw if I was even alive... and now..." my voice cracked as tears filled my eyes, "now... all you have to do is to look for me when you need my help. I can’t help you, father. Let go of me..."

He released my arm, completely taken aback, not by my confession, but the audacity. I have never spoken to him that way before. Hell, I wouldn’t even dare look him in the eyes.

"You don’t speak to your father like that," Irene warned from where she was sitting. But I ignored her and turned towards the door.

"I’m sorry for the disobedience. I will take my leave now."

"At least know that you are not safe with him. He’s dangerous. He is a threat to all of us," my father said before I could leave.

"I don’t care. I would rather live and die with a dangerous man, than spend the next second with you. You never treated me like I was a human, anyway." With that, I walked out of the room and slammed the door shut.

Rushing away from the estate, I couldn’t see where I was going because of the hot tears that blurry my vision. I just hoped that whatever all this was, it was a bad dream I would wake up from. First it was my necklace, now it was my family. Why was everything happening all of a sudden? What have I ever done wrong? Maybe my stepmother was right. I was a jinx, something that shouldn’t have existed, because I would always have bad luck attached to me.