Chapter 140

My excitement grew from the moment I opened my eyes the following morning. I climbed from my bed and went outside onto my balcony to stretch and breathe in deep gulps of the fresh morning air.

The sun's warmth shone on my face, and I spun in a circle as I chuckled to myself. It was going to be a wonderful day!

After showering, I put on a wraparound dress that fell to just above my knees. With the dress, I wore simple gold jewelry and low-heeled sandals.

Jennifer said I look perfect. The outfit was dressy but functional.

Alex was in the family dining room having breakfast and coffee when I wandered into the room.

“Have a wonderful day, sweetheart,” he said. “I wish I could go with you, but I’m not sure if I’m up to it yet.”

I kissed his cheek and sat down to have some toast and scrambled eggs with him. Victor was picking me up before noon, and there wouldn’t be much time for lunch.

But I was too excited to eat much and ended up waiting for him by pacing the foyer. I ran outside when I heard the Lamborghini race up the driveway and hopped in the car without waiting for Victor to open the door for me.

Victor laughed at my eagerness. “Oh, hello, Daisy. Are you ready to go?” he teased.

“Absolutely,” I said.

Victor and I arrived at the auction an hour early. Along with William, we performed some last-minute chores assigned by Lana or Lily and then waited for the guests to arrive.

I walked around, checking out everything that would be offered in the auction. There was designer clothing, shoes, and accessories, along with jewelry, rare books, works of art, and enlarged photos of Lana’s old Bugatti.

The car was parked outside behind velvet ropes where it could be viewed by small groups. It had been immaculately detailed and waxed until the paint and chrome sparkled in the sunlight.

The waitstaff was ready in the conservatory with trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres to offer the guests. And Lily, Lana, and Harry held clipboards near the entrances to assign bidder numbers to the guests.

Bidder numbers allowed guests to win expensive items without anyone knowing their identity. Not everyone wanted it known that they would be transporting an object like a twenty thousand dollar necklace in their car later that evening.

At the designated hour, a large crowd began to pour into the conservatory. They were eager to examine all the donated objects and participate in the silent auction.

There were even a few last-minute donations that we added to the roster, and I helped display and tag them so the guests could easily find them.

Everyone was chatting happily and examining the merchandise, and the bidding sheets were filling up. It was official. The auction was a hit with the wealthy Alphas!

“I haven’t been to one of these silent auctions in years,” I heard one woman tell her friend.

“They are so much fun,” the other woman agreed. “I simply must bid on this pocket watch for my son.” She stopped and wrote on a page on the clipboard next to the watch.

I was so pleased that I couldn’t stop smiling as I watched the crowd. The event was going to make a lot of money to help those in need.

Once again, Victor read my mind. “Your mother would be proud of you, Daisy,” he said and draped an arm around my shoulders.

“I didn’t do it by myself,” I said.

“But it wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for you,” Victor replied.

“Isn’t this fantastic?” William said as he walked up to us. “I’m glad you got my family involved in the auction, Daisy. It’s fun, and it will do a lot of good for the Beta and Omega community.”

“I’m grateful for all your help,” I told him.

And just when I was at the happiest point of my day, things took a dark turn.

It started with a feeling of unease. I knew I was being watched by some hostile force that made my skin crawl.

The whole crowd started to seem uneasy. The laughter and easy banter stopped, and people began to move away from someone at the entrance.

Then I saw them. John Cameron and his daughter had arrived. They followed the path of the other guests, moving from one display of auction items to the next.

They stopped at various items and commented loudly about their quality or condition. Nothing was good enough for them to bid on.

The donors of the items were present. Their unhappy grumbling rippled through the crowd. They didn’t like having someone call their donations fake.

Karen spent several minutes with the designer clothing. Despite the signs forbidding touching them, she roughly handled the expensive garments before leaving them in crumpled heaps.

Lily hurried over to rescue the items she had donated. “Good heavens, can’t you read? No one is supposed to be touching these garments except whoever wins them in the auction.”

“How am I supposed to know if they’ll fit?” Karen argued.

“The sizes are plainly visible on the tags next to each item,” Lily replied. “And there was no need to leave them lying on the floor like this.”

Karen rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing here worth my trouble. Nothing is of true designer quality. I can tell. They were all made by cheap knock-offs …imposters,” she declared.

“That isn’t true,” Lily objected. “All of the items I donated have been certified as genuine by the designers. Why are you here making trouble?”

“You don’t know what you are talking about,” Karen snapped. “Everything in this joke of an auction is trash that nobody wants. It’s sad and pathetic.”

“If that’s true, why don’t you leave?” Lily argued.

“I received an invitation like everyone else here,” she said. “I was looking for a gift for my mother’s birthday. But I can’t find anything worth bidding on.”

While Karen attempted to rifle through the jewelry, John crossed the room and came my way.

“Your test is in less than a week,” he reminded me. “I thought you would have enough sense to be studying. But then I suppose you know you will fail and don’t want to waste your time on a lost cause.”

I held back my tears as I heard the indignant cries of some of the jewelry donors across the room. It felt like everything was under attack, and the situation was out of my control.

Even Lana and Lily had been horrified into silence.

“What do you mean the diamonds in my grandmother’s necklace are fake?” one Luna hotly asked Karen. “It’s been in my family for years, and it has been appraised at twenty thousand dollars.”

“It’s fake costume jewelry,” Karen insisted. “Every item in this auction is a rip-off for Daisy Wilson’s fake charity. I’ll bet her father lost all his money, and the profits from this auction will go into their pockets.”

While the shocked crowd digested her words, John enjoyed my dazed expression. I was too upset and angry to defend myself as I watched some of the crowd moving toward the door.

The auction was ruined because of the Camerons! All the planning and hard work had been for nothing because of these two greedy Alphas.

I had to do something, yet I couldn’t move or speak.

But seeing the glee in John’s eyes flipped a switch inside my mind.

My anger swelled in the pit of my stomach until it erupted and began to fly from my mouth.