Phoebe Faulkner heard the phone ringing and rushed to answer it. A high-pitched female voice immediately came through the line. "You idiot, Phoebe! Did you get so drunk last night you lost your phone? I've been calling you nonstop. Why weren't you answering?"
"Kitty, I was set up." Phoebe Faulkner concisely explained what had happened last night, adding that she was in urgent need of ten million. "Kitty, do you have any money?"
There was silence on the other end of the line, followed by an outburst of curses. "Phoebe Faulkner, how could you be so stupid? You know damn well your cousin Hailey Faulkner wishes you were dead, yet you still fell for her nonsense about wanting to make up? And you drank the wine she poured for you? Phoebe Faulkner, is your brain filled with shit?"
Phoebe Faulkner was speechless.
"Alright, fine. It's not like this is the first time you've been an idiot. Just tell me, how much are you short? I'll go check my balance. We'll pool our money and see if we can scrape together the ten million."
"Kitty, I love you! Mwah!"
"Give me a break! You should count yourself lucky you ran into a good guy. He spent ten million to buy you and just let you go home. You have no idea how messed up those underground auctions are. I used to…"
"What?" Phoebe asked, her curiosity piqued.
She hadn't told Kitty that the man had slept with her, nor that he might have spent a billion to buy her. She was afraid of making her friend worry. She simply said that she had been set up and bought, and now she just needed ten million to pay the man back.
"It's nothing. I only have three million. Is that enough?"
Phoebe Faulkner glanced at her bank account balance—she only had a little over four million. Even if she sold everything of value in her room, she would still be at least a full three million short of the ten million.
"If it's not enough, I'll ask my brother…"
"Kitty, don't…" Phoebe Faulkner pleaded. "Don't let your brother know about this. I don't want him to worry."
"Phoebe Faulkner, I swear, you'll be the death of me. I'll figure something out. If worst comes to worst, I'll tell my brother I want to buy a new car and I'm short a few million. He'll give me the money."
"Kitty…"
"Save the sappy stuff. Let's focus on raising the money. I'm hanging up now; I'll call you when I've got it." With her characteristic efficiency, she hung up the phone to start fundraising.
Phoebe Faulkner stared at the phone after the call ended, a warmth spreading through her chest. At least she still had an amazing best friend like Kitty.
While Kitty went to raise money, Phoebe Faulkner didn't stay idle. She started taking pictures of anything she could sell and posting them online. Most of it wouldn't fetch much money. She had some valuable designer bags with sentimental value that she couldn't bear to part with. But she only had two days. After much hesitation, she finally took photos of the bags and posted them for sale as well.
While Phoebe Faulkner was busy trying to raise money, her second uncle, Kenneth Faulkner, received news of her safe return. Kenneth was utterly astonished. There was no precedent at that auction for "prey" to leave their buyer alive. This was especially true for Phoebe Faulkner, whose identity he had personally leaked and who had fetched a price of thirty million.
'He had plotted for so many years, all for this very day. He'd even had his lawyer start drawing up the paperwork to take over Phoebe Faulkner's shares and inheritance. And now they were telling him she hadn't become some rich man's plaything? That she had returned home, safe and sound?'