CHAPTER 2

"What happened to you that caused you to be injured?" Julius' worried tone could be heard as he instinctively clasped Aurelia's hand in his. She chuckled and released his grip on her hand.

"Don't worry about me; we should be concerned about what's inside first," she replied, standing there watching the door slowly open.

She was elated as she watched the door slowly open. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She had been looking forward to this moment for months, and now she would be able to see what had been hidden in that deep cave. After the door stopped opening, no one dared to take a step forward.

Attempting it will be insane in any case. Aside from that, she was terrified of the place due to its darkness.

"Bring torches!" yelled Julius. After Julius yelled, men ran in and out of the cave looking for lighting equipment. Aurelia has seen a lot of strange movies in her life. She'd seen men get eaten by strange animals after entering tunnels like this. Some people were killed by hilarious traps, but she wasn't going down without a fight.

Aurelia threw some stones into the caves as a result, but nothing happened. They all stood there for a while, unsure whether or not it was safe.

After being outfitted with safety clothing and lamps, the troop ventured into the darkness. To be honest, everyone's interest was piqued when they entered the dark cave. After all, it wasn't all that bad. There was nothing inside, but the more they looked, the more interesting things they found.

There was a hallway inside, and the further they went, the more she noticed that there was some lighting. They lit up the place as they went deeper into the unknown. She was giddy with excitement as she set out on this new adventure.

It was terrifying, but hey, no pain, no gain, right?

After ten minutes of walking and following the path, they arrived at another door. As she saw more symbols similar to the ones on the previous door, she cursed under her breath. This amusing place was most likely created by a troubled individual.

What was it that she needed to lose so much blood in such a short period of time? She pulled out the blade and cut herself again, but this time there was an audience watching, and they were not amused.

They calmed down after she gave them stern looks. Something else was etched on the wall, and she realized it the moment she gave that flower her blood, she'd developed a bond with something she didn't fully comprehend. But she was so intrigued that she offered her blood once more. The door opened quickly this time, with dust flying everywhere, but none of them were affected because they had planned ahead of time.

Nobody said anything as soon as they walked inside. Her gaze was fixed on the object in front of her. She couldn't believe her eyes and had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't a dream. She took a step deeper into the room, her gaze fixed on something specific.

She felt compelled to go, as if she were supposed to be there. She suspected it was the last seal she broke when she entered the inside cave. It didn't matter; she wanted what she was looking at and she had it.

She took the golden box and carefully examined it before opening it. She was in awe, in love, and couldn't be faulted. On the inside, she had one thing she treasured. It was fortunate that she owned this island and went to the garage sale despite the fact that it was not her style.

Julius stood next to Lady A, admiring the short dagger she held in her hand, and murmured, "That's one treasure."

"It was well worth the effort; I absolutely love it!" Aurelia shrieked, completely unaware of the cave's age and potential for harm.

Julius smiled as he watched his mistress's delight. In three years, he hadn't seen her with such a bright smile. She was the first woman he'd ever seen with a dagger, so he knew she had a thing for them. She'd discovered some treasure, and he knew this dagger and the treasures that filled the entire chamber had a long history. How can someone be so lucky?

Aurelia proceeded to catalog her newly discovered prized treasures while holding the dagger. The fact that the place was packed was reassuring to her, especially since she needed money.

When she sells some of these items, she will undoubtedly make a lot of money.

"I need you to record and identify every single item in here!" she yelled, and everyone got to work.

Julius had a video of the items taken while they were being recorded. As she walked around the large room, she noticed something else interesting. She thought she was Indiana Jones' female counterpart.

Because the box was dusty, she dusted it before pulling it open. Within some linen she didn't even recognize, there was something tapped. She opened it slowly, not wanting to ruin whatever was inside.

The moment she revealed it, her heart began to ache. Something was wrong with the book she was holding. The cover had a symbol scribbled on it that she recognized. She'd seen it before, but she couldn't place it. She was tempted, but she knew it wasn't the right time. She was going to take her time unraveling the mysteries of the cave. She had all the time in the world, after all.

"How do you think we should handle it?" Julius inquired, and she turned to face him.

"We have a lifetime to think about it, but first we need to investigate the situation. I don't want to end up in a muck because we did things blindly. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"I wholeheartedly concur. I'm going to find a trustworthy person and get this over with. We should leave right away; it's still dangerous to stay down here without assessing the situation in its entirety," Julius said, and she agreed.

Aurelia and Julius left the cave after seeing her men do an excellent job. This was her child, and she couldn't wait to see where it would take her next; she had a strong feeling that things in her life were about to change. She was ready to accept whatever reality threw at her. She'd seen almost everything in her life, after all.

The room was dim and darker than usual, but that was to be expected for the person standing in front of the massive glass wall overlooking the brightly colored city. Because it was late at night, one could hear the noise made by people who were having fun at a busy hour of the night.

The busy streets were bustling with people of all walks of life. It didn't require any fortune-telling abilities to see the monsters that also walk and wander around at this time of night.

A predator was lying in wait, just like those predators looking for prey. It didn't take long for this particular predator to turn around after hearing the door open.

Aurelia put on a faint smile as she walked into her office and sat in the huge chair. She felt at ease and at home in this place. She could be herself or the persona she'd been constructing for the past few years. If it had been her eight years ago, she would have sworn on her forefathers' graves that she would never be the person she was at the time.

When Julius appeared in front of her, she asked, "Is everything settled?"

"Yes. All of the treasure had been successfully moved into one of the safe warehouses, and I have placed surveillance on it," Julius replied, and she smiled as she heard the good news.

"Good. What about the next piece of news?"

"I've scheduled a meeting with one of the underworld gurus. I'll bait the hook and see how far he'll go."

"Don't put yourself out there too much. How much do we need to raise the army?" she asked, popping a mint-flavored candy into her mouth.

"If we still have to take in all of those kids now, we'll need around $50 million. At the moment, we only have about ten secret reserves. We can make at least $20-$30 million if we sell the other two paintings. We just have to make sure it gets auctioned safely, but after the commission is deducted, we could be looking at $25 to $20 million," Julius informed her, and she nodded.

This was extremely stressful. Why was it so difficult for her to collect all of the money she needed?

"Okay. We don't have a choice because it's that way. Select some of the jewelry and vases and sell them for as much as you can. Use some of that money to help our men. Give them specific instructions to triple that money within a year or face the consequences!"