2 CHAPTER 1

He looked around and felt very satisfied with the party he had thrown for his teenage daughter. He had raised her for most of her life. He was twenty when his girlfriend told him that she was pregnant and there was no way he was going to let her abort. His mother had a thing for children and he was going to give her a grandchild one way or the other. She gave birth to a lovely daughter and everything was fine for a while. They were married and their marriage lasted for only two years. Apparently he wasn't good enough for her even when he had all the money he could give her. They divorced and he won custody of his baby girl Jewel. Jewel was his everything, he loved her and so did his parents. They did all they could just to give her a warm home even without a mother in it.

Now he couldn't believe she was sixteen and a woman. She probably has a boyfriend but that was just something he didn't want to even think about.

Dressed in a silver dress he recently bought for her when he was on one of his business trips; she looked amazing like a princess. She walked up to him and kissed both of his cheeks.

'Thanks daddy,' she said her face full of smiles.

'As long as you are happy, princess.'

Jewel began to look around and so did he. What was she looking for when all of her friends were present?

'Jewel, is something wrong?' he asked.

'I have a guest who is supposed to be here, but I can't see her.'

'Who is she? I know all of your friends.'

'She is someone I recently met. She is different from all the girls I have seen,' his daughter said.

'Tell me more about this girl,' he was now curious. It wasn't everyday his daughter praised anyone.

'I met her a few days ago; there was this guy who was bothering me.' she didn't get to finish when he cut her in.

'Something like that happened and you didn't tell me?'

'I'm sorry daddy; I didn't want you to worry. I'm a big girl and you should stop worrying about me,' she told him and somehow it hurts but made sense at the same time.

'Okay but if something like that happens again, just tell me.'

'Okay daddy. I will tell you.'

'Okay, now continue.'

'So he was bothering me and I shoved him off and he got angry. He began to be a bit violent and you know that I can't even throw a punch at anyone. I was scared and so were my friends. He grabbed me by my hand and pulled me away but she appeared and told him to piss of. Do you know what that guy did?'

'Tell me.'

'He insulted her and told her not to interfere with his business and the girl got angry and grabbed the guy by his collar.'

'There is a girl that is that violent?'

'It was my first time seeing something like that but that was just the beginning. The girl told him that if he doesn't leave right there then he was going to regret. So the boy left and we thought everything was okay. The girl left and never said anything to us which worried me a lot. We decided to go home and on our way we saw the guy following us with his friends. We began to run and hide but we found ourselves in an alley and they trapped us. I thought we were going to die but she appeared like an angel and beat the crap out of the four guys. I have never seen a girl fighting like that before,' she narrated.

'So the girl saved you and you invited her to your party?'

'I didn't know what else to do. I should at least thank her right?'

'You should but what do you know about her?'

'Daddy, I knew you would be like this which is why I didn't tell you in the beginning. What matters is she saved me and I'm okay right now. You should be grateful to her too.'

'I'm sorry; it's just that everything is still sinking in. Maybe she isn't coming.'

'She said she will come maybe she is just late,' his daughter said.

To be honest he was more worried about this girl and not his daughter anymore. He was rich and many women used all kind of schemes just to get close to him. What if this girl was using a different scheme just to get herself embedded with his family? If she comes to the party then he was going to investigate and find out who she really was.

His daughter was still looking around when all of a sudden she smiled.

'Daddy, there she is. She came,' she said pointing to the gate since the party was being outside of the mansion.

He looked towards the gate and he saw her. Did that kind of beauty existed in this world at all? He was taken aback by her sheer beauty but he wasn't the only one. He watched as Jewel rushed to meet the girl and saw how her face flushed with joy.

He wondered what the two were talking about when they made their way to where he was standing. There the girl stood right in front of him wearing a black mini dress; her sparkling blue eyes twinkling as if they were buried deep in blue sea.

'Daddy meet Aurora, the girl I was telling you about and Aurora this is my dad, Lucian Ladra,' Jewel made the introductions and Aurora extended her hand to him.

Lucian took her hand and it was warm, she smiled at him and said, 'I have heard so much about you Mr. Ladra, it's nice to finally meet you.'

'It's a pleasure to meet you too,' he said.

'Since you have both met, how about I show Aurora around dad? I will see you around,' Jewel said and stole her friend.

He watched his daughter showing Aurora around and he called his P.A over.

'What can I do for you sir?'

'I need you to find everything you can on that girl walking with my daughter as soon as possible. Dig out every tiny thing you can,' he said.

'I will start right away.'

Getting bored with seeing the kids playing he went back inside and went to his office. On his desk there were pictures of his parents and daughter. Those were the people that mattered a lot.

...

Jewel couldn't help it but show off her new friend. Aurora was beautiful and older than her. She didn't know much about her but she liked her.

'It's a beautiful party,' Aurora said as soon as they sat down having some cocktails.

'My dad put a lot effort in it,' she said.

'I can tell, he is a nice man,' Aurora complimented.

'Do you mind if I call you Rora?'

'No, I don't mind. I like it,' she replied.

'That's good then. You promised me that you will sleep here tonight right?'

'But your father, will he agree to it?'

'Of course he will. Don't worry about anything.'

'If you say so then I'm relieved. I almost forgot, here is your present,' Rora said and took out a small wrapped gift box from her purse.

Jewel took it happily. She had never received such a small present before. Everyone was always trying to please her and yet this girl was just different. She took the wrapped box and tore it immediately, she didn't want to wait and open it with the other present. Inside the box was a hairpin. She looked at it closely and still didn't get it.

'I'm sorry if you don't like it. I didn't have much time to prepare for a present but took something my mother left for me,' Rora explained and she felt bad for reacting that way.

'Where is she?'

'She passed away a couple of years ago.'

'I'm sorry to hear that but you didn't have to give me an heirloom.'

'It's okay, I want you to have it,' Rora said.

'Thank you. You can take a look around; I will go and check up on my friends. Have some fun and don't disappear,' Jewel said and left Rora sitting there.

To be honest she didn't know what to do after the way she reacted. She just wanted to leave and come back when the air had settled. She began to mingle with her other friends and had a time of her life. When she turned around to look for Rora, she was gone. She wondered where she was.

'Who are you looking for?'

'The girl I was with. Did you see her?'

'She went towards the restroom, don't worry. She is a big girl after all,' her friend Anna said.

'That's true, let her have some fun too,' Wendy said.

'Okay, I will let her be. Let's have some fun,' she said.

Jewel was raised by her dad and grandparents. Her mother visited once in a while but she divorced her dad when she was barely two years old. Why they divorced she never really understood. Her father didn't like to talk about it and she just let it be. Some other things were better left unknown; that's what her grandma told her the other day.

She just knew how much her dad loves her and that was a lot for her. She just wanted to make him proud and see him happy but he was just so busy with work. He was well known for being the top bachelor; many women were after him and yet he took none of them. She always wondered if her dad gave up on having a family again. What would it be like if her dad took another wife? Will that woman mistreat her just like how Cinderella's mom did to her?

All the women her dad dated in the past, they all pretended to like her on the surface while deep down they will be trying to make themselves appear to be good to her dad. Her dad must be suffering big time because of them and she just didn't know what to do.

Her dad had left earlier and it was only the kids having as much fun as they could. While she was dancing she spotted him; the guy she had been crushing on ever since she turned fourteen. He was hot, handsome and awesome. Every girl loved him, he was popular and came from a rich family like hers and yet he never tried to pursue her even for once.

She couldn't go to him and confess her feelings. What if she gets rejected? What if he does the same thing he did to this other girl and humiliated her? She didn't want to see herself in any situation like that, which is why she will just love him and never say a word at all. She would shield her heart from any harm and just be happy with what she had at that moment.

...

Lucian finished going through his emails and decided to take a walk in the back garden and check up on the kids. He spotted Aurora making her way towards the back garden and wondered what the young girl was up to. He followed her quietly making sure she didn't notice him at all. He was surprised when he realized what she was doing. He watched as she took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled one from the box, took out her gold lighter and light up her cigarette. She felt as if she was home, he thought. What made such a kid to smoke? Didn't she know that it wasn't healthy at all? After watching her for like two minutes he walked up to her.

He stopped behind her and she turned her head around and smiled at him.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to spoil your garden but I was getting a little bit bored,' she said and turned around to fully face him.

She stomped on the cigarette and threw a sweet in her mouth.

'I'm just wondering why a young girl like you took up smoking.'

'Let's just say life isn't fair and can make you do things you never thought would be possible.'

'So what did life do to you?' he asked.

'I wish I could answer that but I'm afraid I don't discuss my private life with friend's parents,' she said.

'Is that so? So let me ask you a question Aurora. What are you really doing here?'

'I wish I could tell you the answer to that question but I don't have. I'm asking myself that question too. Why did I agree to come to a sixteen year old birthday and let myself drown into boredom? Now I just want to go home.'

'I just hope that you stay away from my daughter. I don't want her to be influenced by someone like you,' he told her.

'I do understand. I wouldn't want my child near me too. Since you told me that I guess I should just take my leave and find something interesting to do. I fulfilled my promise to your daughter and showed up for her birthday. I will send her a text and tell that something came up, so you don't have to worry Mr. Ladra. Take care of yourself, there is so many wolves out there to get you,' she said and walked away.

How could such a young girl have guts to utter so many words like that? For now, he would just let her be and wait for his P.A to come up with something. After a while he just felt worried about her so he went to his underground parking and took one of his cars. His underground parking took him directly to one of the roads which made him to avoid disturbing the kids who were having a time of their life.

He was driving wondering where that girl went when he saw her walking down the road as if it wasn't dark and at night. She was walking as if she owns the road and there was no danger at all. He continued to watch her until he couldn't and drove straight to where she was and he stopped his car. He rolled down the window and called her; that's when she stopped and she looked at him.

'What have I done wrong again sir? I have left the party, haven't I?'

'Get in, I will send you back home.'

'Are you worried about me?'

'No, I'm not. I just want to make sure that you won't turn around and come back,' he said.

Aurora opened the door and settled herself in, he could see that silky skin not covered by the mini dress she was wearing and she doesn't seem to care at all.

'Where do you stay?'

Aurora told him where she was staying and he just sighed.

He drove her to where she told him and he couldn't believe it. Why would she be staying in such an environment? It wasn't safe at all.

'Thank you for the ride,' she said and got off.

He didn't leave and watched her walk down the road before turning and entering a building. After making sure that she was in, he then drove off and returned back to his mansion.

He parked his car and returned to his office and met his daughter who was looking for him.

'Where were you?'

'I had to do something. Is anything wrong?'

'It's Rora, she just texted me and told me that there was an emergency. I didn't get to say goodbye,' she said.

'By Rora you mean Aurora?'

'Yes, her.'

'You will see her again. You already have her number, which is something.'

'Yes that's true. She had promised me that she would sleep here, guess she is mad at me,' Jewel said lowering her voice.

'Why would she be mad at you?'

'She gave e a present and I reacted badly, only to find out that it belonged to her mother and she is gone too. I didn't know what to do so I made a lame excuse and left her alone. I feel bad and she is gone,' she said.

'Can I see the present?'

'Sure,' she said and gave him the present.

He couldn't believe his eyes. He knew that hairpin and now he was curious as to who gave Aurora that hairpin too.

'Do you mind if I keep this with me for a while?'

'No, just don't throw it away.'

'I won't. Now go and have a nice party and behave.'

'I will daddy. I love you.'

'I love you too.'

His daughter left and he locked himself in the office. He went through his albums and found the one he was looking for; the family album. He went through all pictures and found the one he wanted. It was a picture of two beautiful women standing next to each other and wearing identical gold butterfly hairpins, the same hairpin as the one he was holding right now. How did Aurora get this when these two hairpins belonged to his mother and her younger sister?

What was the real identity of Aurora and what was her motive for entering his daughter's life? He was going to strip her naked and turn every stone that would be in his way.