6 Chapter 6: For Good Cause

Half an hour later, She found herself in the backstage chatting up a bunch of other random women that Maggie had picked up and dragged back with her. Apparently, they were going to be auctioned off for a dance and a date. It was all for a good cause, but she could tell some were just there to see what their worth was. Like some girl seated in the corner all by herself admiring herself in her pocket mirror. She was really pretty though, she had a strange feeling towards her. She was sure she'd get a huge price. She had dark brown hair with blonde highlights. She'd worn a beautiful black dress with red details that made her boobs look humongous and curved her ass pretty nicely. She knew she was pretty. Occasionally she'd send her a pitiful glance that seemed to say, "What are these losers doing here?" but the looks she was sending for her seemed to be on a personal level.

One of the girls had already become her friend, Jenny, pulled her aside.

"Do you know Ashley?" she asked her in a whisper.

She shook her head waiting for her to continue to talk.

"She's your husband's ex-girlfriend. Actually, we all thought they'd get married. No wonder she's sending you all these hateful glares, you stole her man!" Jenny exclaimed dramatically with a slight glimmer in her eyes.

She looked over at her and weighed her over. If worse came to worst, she thinks she could take her. She'd probably beat her to a pulp, she guesses. She smiled slightly at that thought.

"You should be careful though, she's kinda a psycho," Jenny whispered in a smaller voice.

"Ladies, get ready, you're about to go on stage."

They went back to the other girls and started fixing each other's hair and psyching themselves up.

Her phone vibrated a bit and she quickly got it out and checked. A message form Maddie:

"Where are you?" his message

"Hang on to your pants, you're about to find out." She quickly sent it then she heard the MC voice booming.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, for the last part of this auction, we bring you a surprise ...come on, ladies!" that was the cue to go on stage. Now that she was thinking about this, she saw such a thing happen in movies and books. Who knew it would ever happen to her. She smiled nervously and followed behind.

"Presenting, these beautiful ladies are offering dance and date to the highest bidder, all for the dear orphans in the streets and orphanages. A round of applause people!" a short round of applause followed. She could feel the crowd's excitement and she was beginning to get a little scared.

What if no one bid on her? For one, she couldn't see Maddie anywhere; at least she was sure he'd spare a couple of hundreds for his wife. She could hear the MC talking in the distance and the crowd's excitement was also getting loud but she just wasn't there physically.

When she finally came back to her senses, they'd gotten to the lady before her, Maddie's ex, Ashley.

"Let's give a round of applause for the beautiful Ashley Zhang. Looking as beautiful as ever gracing our stage." He paused giving the crowd a minute to appreciate her beauty then continued, "Let's start the bidding at-"

"75,000 dollars!" a guy in a gorgeous Milan suit shouted cutting him off. From the surprised murmur that rose from the crowd, she knew that was among the highest if not the highest.

"Okay!! Let's start the bidding at 75,000 dollars, anyone to top Mr. Yang bid-"

"85,000 dollars!" someone else shouted from behind somewhere. Why did they have before her, damn! She glanced at her discreetly and so her victorious smile as she threw her a glance that said, try and beat that bitch.

"120,000 dollars!" the Milan guy shouted again. There was a prolonged silence with excited murmurs.

"120,000 dollars!!! Going once....twice…gone!!!" there was a loud round of applause that followed after and music to go with it. He escorted Ashley to her date for the night giving the crowd some time to settle down. Just as he came back she caught Maddie's gaze way back in the crowd, some lady whispering in his ear as she occasionally threw a glance at her wife's way. Hopefully, she was filling him in on what was going on and not flirting with him. As she continued surveying she spotted Mary and Peter comfortably sipping on some wine. She presumed, on some table right in the middle. She waved at her lightly and flashed a smile. She smiled back nervously then returned her gaze to the MC.

He sauntered back to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, the beautiful Jiaye Zhi-"

"It's Mrs. Ji now, actually," she whispered in his ear trying to avoid looking at Maddie.

"Pardon my horrible manners," he rushed out quickly into the mic eyeing her ring. "I'm told she's now Mrs. Jiaye Ji, which only makes her more alluring, don't you think men?" there were a couple of wolf whistles that followed and laughter.

"Shall we then begin at 20,000 dollars, no, 40,000 dollars?"

"50000 dollars!"

Her heart skipped a beat. This was getting more and more exciting.

"75000 dollars" someone shouted

Her heart rate was rapidly increasing.

"75,000 from Mr. Maxwell!" the Mc hollered into his mic.

"100,000!" an elderly voice shouted and she traced it to Peter. She smiled gratefully at him.

"150,000!" a familiar voice shouted as she looked around, she noticed Jayson smiling at her. He tipped his glass towards her and she couldn't help the color that got to her cheeks. This was so intense.

"Wooo!! Things are getting hotter in here don't you agree?" the MC said fanning his face dramatically. "150,000 from Mr. Jayson!"

"450,000 dollars." Maddie's voice rang clearly through the hall. There was a moment of silence as it sank in. Even her mouth was wide open with shock. Holy shit!!!

The MC cleared his throat and she quickly snapped her mouth shut.

"The husband has swooped in to take back what's his!!! 450,000 anyone would bid higher? Going once!" dramatic pause, "Twice!" another dramatic pause. "Ding ding ding!" music blasted through the hall as he led her to Maddie who'd magically appeared right before the stage.

He reached up and hoisted her right down as color flooded her cheeks from the screams and whistles that erupted from the crowd.

He gently placed her right in front of her and took Jiaye's hand and led her to the table where Peter was at.

Today of all days, there was no word she could utter because of the way her heart was running wild in her chest. If she wasn't careful, this man would be the cause of her death, no lie but she have to admit, it would be a pretty sappy way to die. She looked across the table and saw Mary giving her a mischievous smile and a wink. She blushed softly and looked away and return back to the stage.

"Didn't you see anything you liked?" Maddie suddenly whispered awfully close to her, his breath fanning her face, and she could swear she felt his lips on her ears. but, that could just be her being hypersensitive.

"The owner of this ball cornered me before I could get a look at any of the items on display."

"Maggie?" he asked

She nodded quickly twisting her hands on her thighs.

"I never knew you were this shy though. It turns me on."