Redress (gxg)

Chapter 37 "The Return"

Lauren

"A wine auction?" Becca eventually asked as soon as she saw the card I handed her, a deep frown immediately marred her face while reading the content. Apparently, the Coldwells invited me to the wine auction that they were going to host in the weekend, and up until now, I still couldn't decide whether I should go or not, it was why I came to see Becca, and call Mike and Knowles to come, just to hear what they were going to say about it.

"Yeah..." I mumbled, looking at Becca as she handed the card to Knowles, "and honestly, I got a bad feeling about it."

"Trust your gut Lauren, there's no need for you to go," Becca replied immediately as she handed the card to Knowles.

"Have you ever been to one they hosted?" Knowles suddenly asked thereafter, and eventually, a thought crossed my mind.

"Yes, back when I was still newly engaged with Ethan. It was just an ordinary auction, although...I remember there was an after-party that I wasn't invited to, and come to think about it, they actually asked me to go home before them..."

"And that didn't make you curious?" he added, looking at me sternly.

I shook my head, "Not really, I thought it was just only for their business partners, so I didn't bother."

"Could still there be an after-party in this auction?" Mike finally said something, and I shook my head in response as I didn't have the slightest idea about the upcoming event. The Coldwells just mailed the invitation to me without saying anything about it, and somehow, it made me suspicious as they still invited when they knew all too well I hated them, and I was no longer affiliated with them. I could only think of it as a trap, I mean, what else could their reason be for inviting me?

"What do you think I should do?" I asked, meeting their gazes, hoping that they could help me reach a decision. Even if my gut was telling me it would be a bad idea to attend the auction, not knowing what they had in store for me there, frankly, I was still really curious about the after-party, whether there would be one or none. There was a huge possibility that it would be the time to do something illegal.

"You don't have to go Lauren, it's dangerous for you out there," Becca answered first, and I nodded in consideration.

"I don't know..." Knowles mumbled a moment after, raising Becca's brow, "but we might find something there to use against them if you go, Lauren," he suggested, earning him a frown from Becca.

"Excuse me? Are you seriously suggesting Lauren should go to the auction, when we all know it smells danger?" she asked angrily, glaring at Knowles who looked nonchalant.

"It's not like she's gonna be there alone," Knowles retorted, "Mike and I will go too.

"Even if you two are gonna be there, what if something would go wrong?"

"We'll stay close to her, and make sure she's okay," Mike butted in, supporting Knowles, and Becca snorted sarcastically. She then stared at them carefully, clenching her jaw at the same time as she slowly shook her head.

"Yeah? You'll keep her safe? Really?"

"We'll do anything we can to make sure nothing would happen to her," Mike continued.

"Well...tell that to Knowles who was nearby, but still wasn't able to save Alex!" Becca suddenly snapped, causing the guys to instantly purse their lips while I was caught off guard by her sudden outburst . "You had a perfect plan, right?" she continued, now looking at Knowles, "stay close to Alex, and make sure she's safe, but what did you do when it went wrong, huh?!...You did nothing, but let her die, Knowles!" she added angrily, briefly stabbing her forefinger to Knowles' chest.