Chapter 2

ARES

I walked towards the main entrance of my company, one hand holding my phone to my ear. I nodded to the greetings of my workers while I walked.

I was currently on a phone call with my mother, Aurelia Grey. And she was being such a huge pain in the ass at the moment.

“No, you listen to me, Ares Grey! I don’t care whether you’re interested or not, but you have to help those girls. Even if it’s just one-”

“Mother-”

“I am NOT done talking, Ares. Put yourself in their shoes. What if you were one of those girls?!”

“Well, I am not one of those girls, mother,” I replied calmly as I got into my car. “And I am certainly not in their shoes. I will go there, just because you want me to, but I will not buy anyone.”

“Ares-”

“Goodnight, mother,” I cut her off and ended the call. I could imagine her shrieking with smoke coming out of her imaginary horns right now.

Like I mentioned earlier, Aurelia Grey was a huge pain in the ass. Let’s say my mother was feminist, because she was deeply concerned whenever it came to the female gender. Just like she is doing now.

I got an invite two weeks ago to attend an auction at a brothel – a popular one in the city – last week, and I had made a mistake of telling my mother about it. Now she’s instructing me to buy one of the girls being auctioned off. Even though she knows fully well that there is a court marriage paper involved in the process.

Is it even legal to auction girls? Young girls at that matter. They weren’t up to nineteen years of age. Isn’t that an abuse to their rights?

My brothers were also invited to this auction. And I had no doubt she had told them they also had to buy girls.

The thought of it made me cringe.

I, Ares Grey, going to an auction to buy a girl I do not know? And the fact that I had to sign a marriage paper for it!

I was the last of four kids. Atlas was the first. Hermes, the second. Teresa, the third. And I, Ares, the fourth.

There was an age gap of two years each between the four of us. Atlas was twenty-eight. Hermes was twenty-six. Teresa was twenty-four. And I was twenty-two. And at this age, my brothers and I were billionaires over the world. And my sister was a renowned successful fashion designer.

My brothers and I had a childhood friend. Adela. She came from a wealthy home like me. She is our best friend but she was closer to me. That was why she decided to become my assistant, so she could be close to me. Not that she did anything at work anyway. She had her assistant, which helped with all my work.

My siblings, and Adela, are one of the few people I could manage to stand their presence for over an hour a day. My siblings and I barely see each other, due to our work differences, but Adela was always availablee.

My phone began ringing, and I raised it up to check the caller ID. Well, speak of the devil and she appears. Or calls, in this case.

I answered the call and put the phone in my ear.

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, ARES?!” She yelled into the phone. I winced, rolling my eyes a bit as I drew in a breath.

“It’s nice talking to you too, Adela,” I answered.

“Your brothers are here. And the auction is starting in ten minutes,” she snapped, totally ignoring my sarcasm, which was unlike her.

I looked out of the window as I noticed the car reversing. My driver was parking inside the compound of the brothel. Looking around, I sighted Adela standing at a corner right next to the entrance of the brothel, a wide scowl on her face. She was dressed in a blue evening gown which hugged her body tightly. Her hair was made into a low bun with some strands falling in front of her face. This was one of the rare days I get to see Adela’s hair made. It was mostly in a messy bun, or a loose pony, or it was let down.

I opened the door and got down.

“Oh for fucks sake, Ares, don’t go mute on me!” she added when I didn’t say anything.

“Well I’m walking to you right now and I would love it if you would just calm down,” I replied with an exasperated sigh. I continued walking while she looked around in search for me. She rolled her eyes as soon as she saw me, then hung up.

“Why do you make an habit out of being late?” she questioned harshly as she began walking towards the entrance of the brothel. I shrugged, walking behind her.

The brothel was a big place. A tall, white building that had been built as though it was from the 90’s. It had many opened windows, and I could see some ladies poking their heads out of some.

As I walked in, I noticed people lining the reception, some people talking while others taking photos as though this is a big event of some sort.

I waited while Adela went to speak with the lady I guessed to be the receptionist. I let my eyes roam over everyone there, and if landed on a girl sitting on a chair and staring at a woman in heavy makeup.

The girl was dressed in a short, tight, sequined green dress, and there was a number tag on her dress that read twenty-five. Her red hair was tied to the back. I couldn’t make out her face because she was looking at the woman, but with the way she kept on dragging down her dress, I could tell she was nervous and uncomfortable.

She was probably one of the girls who would be sold out to men who didn’t give a fuck about them tonight.

I was still staring at her when Adela grabbed my arm and began leading me toward an elevator. “Let’s go.”

*

Irritation rolled out of me in waves as I kept my eyes on the glass of whiskey in my hands. I wasn’t looking at the girls all lined up on the podium, dressed in sinful outfits.

I was angry at my mother for forcing me to come here. But the only thing that offered relief was the fact that my brothers were here too.

I turned my head to look at them. Hermes had his usual playboy smirk on his face, eyeing the girls while his fingers traced the tip of his glass cup. Atlas, on the other hand, had a permanent scowl on his face.

I didn’t need anyone to tell me to know that my Atlas had already made up his mind not to get any girls from here. Hermes on the other hand, I wasn’t so sure.

I eyed him and traced his gaze to one of the girls' standing on the podium. Her black hair was made into a low bun, and from where I sat, it seemed like some strands were already falling from the bun. She was dressed in a white, body con gown which only covered her necessary bits. She wore black heels, and her arms were crossed over her chest, although I could still see the tag number 24 there. Even her blank look was even blanker than mine. For a moment, I thought she was looking back at Hermes.

The girl on her right was dressed in black, the dress hugging all her curves in the right places and stopping mid thigh. She had on black heels. Half of her curly blonde hair was swept over her right shoulder and covering her breast. I couldn’t see her tag number. But I was sure she was the 23rd.

The girl by her left…I recognized her as the girl I saw at the reception. Her mid thigh length, sequined dress seemed too short on her body, and the girl didn’t even look comfortable as she kept dragging down the dress in a subtle manner. The coils of her hair were almost falling out of the bun. Her red hair made a nice contrast to her green dress.

Something stirred in my chest and all of a sudden, the event was going at tortoise pace. Every common sense I had flew out immediately as I set my mind to the worst decision ever. I was going to get her. Regardless of the bullshit marriage papers. I became restless, drumming my hand on the table as I watched the auctioneer do his work. Unfortunately, he was still at number tag 8.

I inhaled deeply, opening my mouth to speak, just the same time by brothers spoke.

“500 thousand for 25”

“500 thousand for 24”

“500 thousand for 23”

The three of us turned our head to look at each other, relieve shining on our faces.

“Gentle men, it’s not their turn yet-” The auctioneer was saying, but I could see the glee on his face as a result of the auction going well.

“We don’t have much time to waste,” I said, cutting him off. “We offer a million for each of he three girls.”

“You three better know what you’re doing,” Adela said in a clipped tone as her eyes swept through the three of us, then back to the auctioneer.

“one and half million dollars for 25,” one person yelled from behind.

Oh hell no. I am a billionaire. I could as well spend the money however I wanted.

“10 million for each of them. We want no negotiations,” I snapped. I turned to my brothers. “Unless you’d rather loose the girls to these perverted men,” I said lowly.

Atlas clenched his jaw, eyeing me for a second before he turned his gaze back to the auctioneer. Hermes look like he couldn’t care less, his smirk growing each second as the auctioneer sputtered. “10 million for the girls….going…going ….sold!”

My siblings, Adela and I got up just as a lady, the one who I suspected to be the owner of the brothel, led the girls into a compartment.

“Adela, you’ll bring her home to me,” I said, fully aware that my voice was bossy. I couldn’t see my brothers anywhere around.

“I will not –”

“You are my assistant. If I tell you to bring her home to me, then you will,” I interrupted, leaving no room for arguments. “I’ll go ahead and sign those papers now, and leave.”

“You better increase my pay if this is the kind of work I’ll be doing for you,” se muttered, storming away.

I chucled, shaking my head as I made my way back to the reception.