Chapter 2

Everyone’s eyes shifted towards me, including the woman, as a few seconds of silence befell upon the auction room. Despite the lack of light, I could feel the lady in red’s piercing glare at me. I stared back at her with a grin.

“Seriously? You increased it by only 100 dollars?” Kyle hissed, but I ignored him.

“$500,100! Now, that’s new!” The host chuckled. “Going once!”

The lady in red raised her hand with a peace sign. Despite only seeing her hand for a few seconds, I caught a glimpse of a red gem on her finger.

“$600,000 from Buyer 50!”

“$600,100!” I screamed while waving my number.

The others started to whisper among themselves while some stifled a laugh. The lady in red? I bet she was fuming deep inside since her glare somehow grew sharper than before. I simply flipped my long hair as the host continued to scan the crowd, looking for any bidders. Not a moment after, he pointed at the lady again.

“$700,000! Now, that’s a record-breaking price! Any more bidders?”

“$700,050!” I shouted.

“Are you crazy?” Kyle whispered, which I immediately nodded to as a response.

“$700,050! This new bidder is quite the joker, isn’t she?” the host commented, clearly amused with my stunt.

The lady in red, obviously annoyed, stood and showed another peace sign to the host. Whatever that meant, I did not care.

“$800,000 from Buyer 50!” The host spread his arms. “Are we going for a billion dollars now? I think that’s what Xavier Hawthorn is worth!”

I grimaced when I suddenly felt dizzy, probably because I hadn’t fully recovered. Luckily, Kyle held me up.

“Are you okay? Should we go now?” he asked, concerned.

“Yeah, let’s end this already,” I replied and raised my number. “$1.5 billion!”

Audible gasps filled the room, but the only person I looked at was the woman in a red dress. Her fists were clenched and she seemed to be gritting her teeth. I grinned at her, waiting for her to raise her number again. Yet it never happened.

With no one else saying another word, a loud bang resounded.

“Sold! Xavier Hawthorn is going home tonight with the young miss in a hospital gown!” He then smiled at me. “Young miss, please come to the stage for the completion of the transaction.”

I told Kyle to wait for me, hence, I walked up the stage while feeling everyone’s gazes on me. I brought out my checkbook, wrote the amount, and signed it. With all of that done, I motioned this Xavier guy to follow me. One of the staff members on standby handed me a key so I immediately removed the handcuffs that bound my newly-appointed guard.

“Be a good boy and follow me,” I told him without taking a good look at him since I was not really feeling well at the moment.

Heading back to the car, I told Kyle to drive me back to the mansion so I could properly rest for the remaining night. I removed my mask yet Kyle did not remove his mask so I furrowed my brows.

“We’re already out of the auction house so why are you still wearing that?” I asked yet he said no single word.

He merely looked at the man in the backseat through the front mirror, telling me that he did not want Xavier to recognize him. I did understand him since he was a police officer, yet it made me laugh somehow.

“There is no need to hide behind the mask, Kyle West,” Xavier said after being mum ever since we left the auction house.

I looked at him, then to Kyle, who just went stiff, before letting out a laugh. Well… This only showed that my dear friend here was not just popular among his peers but with men like Xavier as well.

“For someone who has not fully recovered, you seem more energetic,” Kyle commented after shaking his head. “Anyway, you better call for your doctor to check up on you just to make sure you are stable enough to discharge yourself from the hospital.”

I merely nodded my head before leaning my head on the headrest. Aside from worrying about my health, I also had to worry about making up for that billion dollars in exchange for this Xavier guy. I just hoped he was worth it or my pocket money, which I had been saving up, would all be for nothing.

“As for the contract, I’ll draft one tonight and send you a copy by tomorrow. If you want some changes, then just tell me,” Kyle added.

“Wow… I really love being sick since you are going this far for me,” I jested, only to catch a glimpse of him rolling his eyes.

“This will be the last time. Anyway, do you know the woman you had been competing with?”

I shook my head and chuckled upon recalling that woman’s splendid reaction when she could not top off my bid.

“I just love her reactions. The cherry on top was her defeated expression. Have you seen it? It almost healed me if only she burst out in a fit of rage.”

“You gotta really watch yourself. It’s that attitude of yours that attracts enemies.”

I shrugged my shoulders. I already have a lot of enemies around me so adding another one made no difference. Upon reaching the mansion, Kyle immediately left since he still had some business to do so I led Xavier inside.

“Miss Lisa!” Nana greeted as she approached me and checked if I was hurt anywhere. “I called your doctor so let her examine you first before anything else.”

Her attention shifted to Xavier, who stood just behind me. The wrinkles on her forehead became more prominent when her brows furrowed.

“And who is this man you just brought home?”

“Thanks for worrying, but I am fine, Nana,” I replied, giving her a reassuring smile. “I just left briefly to go and fetch my bodyguard. This is Xavier Hawthorn. From now on, he will be occupying the room next to mine. Tomorrow, summon the tailor to get this guy’s measurements for his clothes and suits and all of that. That’s all for tonight. I need to rest and you should, too, Nana.”

Since the doctor was already here, I let her check up on me. She told me to get adequate rest and take the medicines she was going to prescribe, then see her after a week. When she left, I thought I’d be able to hit the bed, but it was just wishful thinking when Viola’s voice echoed in the halls.

Oh, right. I forgot to tell her about tonight’s sudden appointment. Heaving a sigh, I waited for my secretary to approach me despite seeing her fuming expression. Her heavy stomps became more audible as she drew closer yet I still wore a smile, hoping it would fan off her anger a bit.

“Where. Have. You. Been?!” she shouted.

I pointed at Xavier.

“I just purchased this super limited edition bodyguard so I forgot to contact you a while ago. No worries…”

I paused upon noticing Viola’s sudden change in reaction. Her once enraged expression suddenly vanished and changed into a look of admiration. I followed her gaze and it was directed at Xavier, who was staring back at her with a deadpan look.

“Wow… His eyes are pretty,” she said in a low tone of voice.

His eyes? I looked back at Xavier. It was only when I stared at him properly did I notice that his left and right eyes differed in color. One had blue like that of a ‘forget me not’ flower while the other was sea green with a tinge of gold, which were indeed pretty.

A rather playful smile suddenly formed on his almost thin lips.

“My eyes may be pretty, but they are not for sale,” he said before staring back at Viola. “And you are way prettier, milady. Why don’t you admire my eyes while riding me later?”

My jaw almost fell after realizing what he meant. I immediately stood between them while glaring

at him. A fucking playboy!

“I hired you to be my bodyguard, not a whore for my employees.” I raised an eyebrow. “Dare to use that tiny weenie of yours and I will not hesitate to cut it off and feed it to the pigs.”

“You can join us if you want to,” he responded, which sent a shiver down my spine.

“He is making me blush,” Viola commented with a high-pitched voice so I turned to her.

“By the way, I just spent $1.5 billion so make sure the bank processes it as soon as possible,” I said, which quickly widened her eyes, making me think that they turned into tapioca pearls.

“What for?” she questioned. “Don’t tell me you are planning to use that as a reward to anyone who would bring forth the culprit who poisoned you?”

I shook my head and pointed at Xavier.

“I bought him just a while ago.”

A moment of silence filled the room. Viola blinked a few times as if her brain had a hard time processing what I just said.

“I think you used the wrong word. By ‘bought’, you mean you hired him, right?”

“No. I bought him. Literally.”

Out of nowhere, my secretary just laughed out loud. It puzzled me though since none of my words were funny. But then, I saw her eyes rolling up and before she fell on the hard floor, I caught her just in time.

“Viola? Viola?” I shook her, but she never opened her eyes. “She fainted.”

I let out a sigh. Spending a billion dollars was most likely not the shocking thing to her, but the fact that I used it to purchase a person. Even I did not expect to be buying a human being, but what other choice do I have? If I wanted to see the next sunrise, I had to find a way for that to happen.

I called for Nana to take care of Viola. Well, I needed to explain to them the details more properly tomorrow so they’d have time to process this sudden announcement. Either way, I badly needed to rest or I would be the next one to pass out, especially since I started to hear this sharp ringing in my ears.

“Since your room is yet to be arranged, you can stay in mine. The couch’s pretty much enough for your size. You can do whatever you want except killing or hurting me or letting anyone do it. Let me sleep in peace,” I said as we walked towards my room, which was located on the left wing of the mansion.

The moment I hit the bed, I immediately drifted off to dreamland.

**“Lisa… Lisa…”

That voice… It was definitely Mom’s. I looked around to find where she was.

“Mom? I’m here! Where are you?” Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision yet I continued to wander around in the darkness.

“It’s your fault, Lisa!” Mom’s voice echoed around me, making it impossible to locate her.

Her voice was filled with malice, stopping me from running. M-My fault?

“It’s your fault that we are dead, Lisa. I am very disappointed.” That was definitely Dad.

Tears streamed down my face as I continued to search for my parents.

“Mom, Dad! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I… I didn’t mean it!” I shook my head. “Please, forgive me–”

“Forgive you?” Their voices synched together as if almost they were about to merge into one.

Mocking laughter filled my head.

“You are unforgivable, Lisa. You cannot be forgiven so you must suffer!”

Those words shattered me. I could feel my heart being torn apart. Piece by piece. Slowly. I wanted to ask for forgiveness yet the words I wanted to say were stuck in my throat. Only then did I notice the hands gripping at my feet.

“You will never be forgiven!”

“You will never be forgiven!”

I tried to call out for help yet no matter how I screamed at the top of my lungs, no sound came

out of my mouth. I waved my hands, searching and finding anything I could hold onto to stop myself from being dragged deeper into the darkness. Yet no matter what I did, the hands continued to claw and pull me deeper.

I… I couldn’t breathe…

Am… Am I going to die? **