CHAPTER 6: DANGER ALERT

CORA 

“Hello Cora, I've heard so much about you; it's so nice to meet you. My name is Alicia.”

“It's so nice to meet you, Alicia. You are one beautiful woman.”

“Thank you.” She chuckled.

“Mama Cora's the coolest person ever.” Magix bounced over to her, and she hugged her.

This was a scenario I couldn't identify with because my mother was never that warm with me. 

 “You should give all the clothes to your sister,” Mama said nonchalantly. 

 “But Mama, you just bought them for me last night.”

 My six-year-old self murmured in annoyance. Every time I got something since they brought her back, she took everything I owned without remorse and would even smirk while they weren't looking.

 Mama called me her innocent little sister, but she was on a deliberate mission to ruin my day, and apparently, my life. 

 Claire was the adopted child who got better treatment than the biological child, which had never made any sense before, now that my father was her greatest fan. At the same time, my mother protected her and never made me a scapegoat to protect her precious Claire.

Diamond's wife was spectacular, and she had a calming aura about her that made her seem like an angel.

 There were always different pictures of her in every magazine and on television stations, fashion glam reports, and more.

 Alicia Kex was the definition of beauty and charm. She was a runway model and a fashionista who had made her own billions before she married Diamond.

 “Hello, babe.” She looked at me, then smiled before walking to her husband, giving him a hug and a kiss. The twin ran up to her and hugged her with giggles alongside her sister.

 “Mama, look, it's Cora. She's our new friend; Daddy brought her back home, and she is the coolest one ever.”

“Thanks for having me, Alicia.”

 I had assumed that she was going to be cold and indifferent the moment she met me, but she was the exact opposite. 

 She immediately welcomed me over to her side with her warmth as she showed me around the pack, the mansion, and the garden with the girls who were busy having so much fun.

 Every single person in the pack was kind; no one looked at me weirdly. No one acted like I was any competition to them, and instead, they were welcoming.

 Hours after exploring the places we set out to explore, Alicia and the girls showed me to my floor. 

 Yes, they had actually prepared a whole floor for me to ensure that I had the utmost privacy without anyone's intrusion.

 Immediately, I walked up to the floor.  It felt like home, and I loved it there.

 They had taken time to investigate because everything inside was carefully tailored to my taste.

 I moved to the walk-in wardrobe and checked all the beautiful clothing that had been kept there in my size. 

 I took a long bath before coming out to dry my hair calmly; then I wore one of the short dresses provided and paired it with flats.

 Two hours later, the butler summoned me for dinner, and as I put my hair in a bun, I saw three systems set up in the room, and I frowned because they weren't there when I went in for my bath.

 (He did tell you that he needed you for a job and you would be well compensated for it, Cora, so rock with it. This family is harmless, and they'd protect you as one of theirs, so you shouldn't be so suspicious of them, especially Alicia. She'd be your closest friend eventually.)

 Katiana was right, and I needed to be less suspicious of them; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to handle even being cordial with them.

 I remembered Tobias at that moment, but no matter the level of nostalgia, there was nothing I could do to undo the past. I had been breaking my back doing my best to be the best mother to him, but he had been fraternising with Claire and had clearly known about his father's affair with her.

 Hopefully, one day, he'd have some common sense and locate me later on as he grew, but right now, I needed to get a grip and deal with the present situation I had before me.

 I joined them at the dining table for dinner as a young, boisterous, very handsome but cocky young man walked in.

 “Uncle David.” The girls screamed in excitement.

 “No girls. We're having dinner, and you can't be noisy at dinner.”

 “Yes, Mama.”

 They chorused, and we all laughed.

 Dinner continued, and after dinner, Diamond introduced his brother and Beta David to me.

 David was very funny and completely free with me, also immediately putting me at ease because I had thought he'd intentionally made things hard for me, but he didn't.

 We were all together in the cinema room when suddenly a whirring, squishing sound blared through the house, indicating an attack.

 “I thought you'd have more time to prepare, Cora, but it seems time is up and you are needed now. I need Zen Core right now to solve this.”

 There was no time to keep questioning things, as I immediately took up a system and its network, dealing with the immediate attack, finding a sophisticated routing location bug, but after a series of code inputs by me, the place was finally secured.

 I rerouted the security codes and adjusted some settings. I checked through the Pack's files and other details, then discovered that Diamond was someone I had saved in the past after I broke into a very complex organisation to wire billions from their account to Daniel's personal account, which had saved his family from bankruptcy. 

 No one had been able to find a whiff of the thief who broke into a Mafia's den, stole from them, and even helped a prisoner escape.

 I exhaled and looked at him. “All done.”

 He placed a card immediately beside the system and some papers. He later informed me that he had transferred thirteen billion pounds into the single card, and the paper contained ten per cent of his company's shares that he had now given to me as a form of settlement. 

 I was about to say something to him when I got a text message alert on my phone.

 “You should come back home by yourself before I find you and hurt you.”