C6 900 Million For a Land

Since the room had dim light, I could not distinguish the face.7 days had passed in a blur. It was true when they said that time passes and you don't even know it when you are happy in your space.

Taking out a black dress from the closet, I was alleviated.

I was finding an occasion to wear it, and this current time could not be any better.

"All the preparations have been done, Boss. We're waiting for your orders."

I nodded, my words oozing with confidence, "It's time to get our land back."

Reaching there, the first thing I did was to meet the one who allowed the land to be a part of the auction.

"Nice to see you again, Mr Kingsley."

"M-Miss Ford, you're here..." Douglas Kingsley let out a nervous laugh.

"Mr Kingsley, you don't seem happy after seeing me." I raised a brow.

"N-No, I am! I am delighted to have you here. It's just... I'm surprised to see you attending today."

"Well, I got an invitation," I flapped the invitation card in front of his face. "You see I couldn't let it go to waste."

"Oh, the invitation card... Ah, yes... It was given to the Ford family too." He mumbled.

It was a good thing that he expected I could come here without an invitation.

If I had no invitation with me, I still would have come nonetheless.

"Do you want me to leave, then?" I asked with amusement, not breaking eye contact with him.

"You are an important guest. How can I dare to ask you to leave? You normally don't show up on events like this..."

"Something that I want is being auctioned today. I'm here to get it back."

"I hope you make people sign the agreements as proof here. Otherwise, any random man can come to claim our property as his own at any time."

I should have made him sign the contract first. That way, I would not need to give attention to this auction.

One thing which boosted me was watching a man like Douglas Kingsley becoming a nervous wreck in a woman's presence.

It was a sight to behold.

However, I started to sense so many curious eyes behind my back that I had to refrain from catching all the attention on me.

Too much attention could become a catastrophe for my plan.

I decided to play low-key and left the hall. I was retouching the make-up in the restroom when I received the message from Michael which said:

That the mysterious shareholder was going to be here.

Quickly giving him a call, I asked, "Do you know what he looks like?"

"No, but I've managed to discover that he will attend today." Mr Shareholder, you better stop playing cat-and-mouse.

"Alright," I declared. "I'll meet you in the main hall. Bring Stacy with you."

It was 4:30 pm when the auction officially started. Most of the people were here to either auction their property or they were here to bid.

"Ma'am, are you here to auction an item or take part in the bidding?" A man approached me. He had a list in his hands.

"The latter."

"And what name you will choose to bid from?" He wrote something down.

"Victoria Ford."

The man's hand stopped writing and he looked up. Noticing my face at last.

"You're from the Empire...?" I could tell that he was stunned. Empire usually did not show their face when not needed.

"Yeah, the CEO." I threw a smile at him.

"I've got a question for you."

"Please, ask." He was more courteous than before. I think I even heard an 'Oh, my God.'

"When will the bid of Marigold begin?"

"...That land," The man thought for a while before he answered, "It's the last item that will be displayed, so it will take an hour utmost. If you're in a hurry, may I disclose it right after the next item?"

My lips arched up.

He's such a smart person. Kingsley was extremely lucky to have someone who knew how to read the mood.

When I was about to respond, Michael nudged me and mouthed, 'no.'

Oh, I forgot I had an intelligent person next to me as well. I was lucky, too.

Thankfully, Michael stopped me or else I would not be able to see the face of that mysterious shareholder.

I needed to have a meeting with him and negotiate the shares he had as soon as possible. Any individual below the merit, yet having Empire's shares could tarnish the company's image.

"No, that won't be necessary. Thank you, though." I politely refused and the man left.

More than half an hour had passed and my patient was running thin.

The auctioneer kept making people exhausted with his words still people had to act like they were enjoying it.

From time to time, my eyes darted toward the entrance. Hoping to see that one person who we had been searching for.

My eyes lit up when the picture of the land was shown on the projector and Kingsley was holding a document— precisely one that belonged to Marigold.

"For the last item of this auction, we present you the land, Marigold. The starting price of this land opens from $478k."

I gazed around to see if others were raising their bid boards. Qualm, this was what they had on their faces. They were unsure whether they should buy this land or let it go.

"How much amount can we currently release and proceed with?" I asked Michael, my eyes never leaving the screen ahead.

"Approximately $700 million," Michael answered, tapping on his iPad with a frown. Was pressure getting to him?

"5 million from Empire!" I raised the bid board.

Watching me calling out the price, the bidders started to take an interest and several of them raised the value to the maximum of 8 million.

"18 million."

Some even attempted to compete.

"35 million." This was my final price. No one dared to raise the value again. Kingsley's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"35 million going once," The auctioneer excitedly shouted.

"35 million going twice."

I smirked and leaned back in my seat.

This land was mine.

"35 million going-"

"70 million." A voice announced and everyone turned their head, following the voice.

My eyes narrowed. Who was daring enough?

But the voice undoubtedly belonged to a male.

"Who's this?" I whispered to my assistant. Curious about the man who had compelled others to take a look at him.

"He's..." Michael was about to reply when the man came forward from the darkness, exposing himself to the light.

The man had dark black hair with outstanding facial features; a straight nose and dark eyebrows, thin lips and a perfect sharp jaw carved by the God of Beauty himself.

With a tall noticeable height and wide shoulders, each step he took– was equivalent to gracing the ground as if he were a living Greek God.

Following him behind was a man with glasses who said, "75 million from the Atkinson Groups." He must be the assistant.

Whispers broke out in the hall and the people peered at me and then at him.

A hint of recognization passed my eyes as I put the man under my scrutiny who had seated himself opposite the row I was in.

Aaron Atkinson, the current CEO of the Atkinson Group. The very company which dominated the entire country. Its influence over other businesses was highly remarkable.

Many people looked up to it and the person leading it successfully had finally appeared in the public.

The only times I saw him were when he was on the front cover of magazines beside a famous model coming out of a renowned hotel with him.

Each time the model would be different, but the flow remained the same. His complete face was never truly captured on the cameras, so I was not aware of what he truly looked like. Furthermore, I had no business with him.

He was more handsome in person compared to the pictures. That was a fact.

One thing I knew was that this man could not be taken lightly under any circumstances. He had everything controlled when he came into the market.

Unexpectedly, our eyes met and it was me, who turned away first.

He wants to snatch my land away? Heh, dream on.

Empire might not be the first leading company, but it did come as the second most influential after Atkinson Groups.

"120 million."

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the assistant he brought with him whispering something in his ears.

"280 million." His low voice sounded out in the hall. He smirked when he noticed me staring at him, making me roll my eyes at him inwardly.

"348 million!"

Kingsley had beads of sweat forming on his forehead when he watched the scene of the two most powerful companies fighting over a small land.

"500 million."

Gritting my teeth, I furiously lifted the board again. He was playing with me.

"650 million!"

"Boss..." Worried, Michael tried to stop me. "We are about to reach the limit."

"900 million." The man threw a calm, yet challenging glance in my direction which irked me completely.

People watched me expectantly, wondering whether I would bid higher or give up. I remained silent.

"900 million going once."

"900 million going twice." My nails dig into my flesh. It was just a land. I could still get it or get something better than it.

"900 million going thrice and the land belongs to the Atkinson Group!"

"Stacy, Michael, let's go." Clenching my fists, I rose from my seat and left the hall, taking long steps.

"But that shareholder..." Stacy initiated.

"Not now." I glared.

Nervous, Michael and Stacy trailed after me.

I was livid and could even hit someone if needed, but the tabloids would name me violent.

The thing I was planning to have for a long time was in someone else's hands.

Aaron Atkinson, today you have just made the worst enemy for yourself.

***

No one in the company dared to approach me.

They knew if they bothered me, they had another thing coming at them.

My cell phone rang and I growled, "What!"

"Woah. Easy there, tigress. What has gotten into you?" A lazy voice appeared in my ears.

"Uncle," I acknowledged, my voice turned calm. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, but my pretty niece doesn't seem like she's in a great mood."

"Yes, Uncle. I'm frustrated to the point I want to commit something unethical."

"If you want to kill someone, go for it. Uncle has got your back."

Why did it feel like Uncle was not being sarcastic, but actually encouraging me to murder?

"...Not that frustrated," I murmured.

Uncle did not say anything after that. Instead, I heard him laugh silently making me sigh.

"Uncle, it's a serious situation, but also a not-so-serious situation where I would like to kill someone. It's just that someone stole the land I had my eyes on for a long time."

"And my vengeful little niece let him take that away? How's that possible?" I could imagine him raising his eyebrows at me.

"He bought the $478k land in $900 million." Thinking of it, made me laugh. "Kingsley must be in the seventh heaven right now."

Although I badly wanted the land, I was not a fool to spend this ridiculous amount of money.

"Pfft, that's my niece."

Maximus Leinster— A rebel with a cause and the little brother of Evelyn Ford, my late mother. Grandfather took him in when he saw the fierce and bold spirit in Young Maximus when he once visited the orphanage.

He would amuse grandpa in more than many ways anyone could imagine, going against him and doing things his way.

He was not interested in the company, Empire, rather he wanted to explore the world. Grandpa wanted him to help in business, but he straightforwardly refused and tried to flee from their mansion.

As a result, Grandpa had him captured and grounded.

Both the siblings were close to each other and after my mother's death, he was after Stefan Ford's blood and could kill him any minute.

Thankfully grandpa stopped him and sent him out of the country himself.

Grandpa never admitted but everyone beside him could see how much fondness he had for my uncle even though he was a little brat.

He still acted like this and he was going to be twenty-nine next year.

"Pretty niece, I'm coming back in 3 months. I'm notifying you in advance so that you could prepare a huge gift for your uncle. Don't let me down." Huh? Was I hearing it correctly?

I frowned, "Wait, you're coming back? I didn't hear cor–" The call was cut after that.

Annoying uncle.

I laid my head down on the table.

Sigh, why was everything happening at the same time?