Veiled Auction Queen: Bidding For His Ex-Wife's Heart

Emilia pulled in a long, measured breath.

The dread of being recognized crawled over her skin like a chill, and she had no intention of remaining there even a heartbeat longer. And there was absolutely no chance she would ever consent to setting foot in Zloigas.

"Not everything has a price," she declared, brushing past Daniel before walking away with brisk, determined steps.

He did nothing to halt her, yet his eyes followed her retreating figure the whole time.

A delicate scent lingered around her—not the sort of perfume one would expect, but something strangely familiar, though he couldn't quite recall where he had encountered it before.

There was also an oddly distinctive quality about her that awakened a piercing recollection of Emilia within him.

Emilia had always appeared delicate, yet beneath that softness there had always been an unyielding core.

She had been fiercely independent and unwaveringly resolute.

For example, once she made the decision to walk away, she never reconsidered, granting no one a second opportunity and leaving no room whatsoever for negotiation.

Daniel realized that his thoughts had wandered back to Emilia yet again. His brows drew together. Over the past five years, she had surfaced in his mind again and again, particularly the image of her when she was seven months pregnant, and his thoughts would drift toward their unborn child as well. He would catch himself thinking that if she had not chosen to end the pregnancy back then, their child would now be five years old.

In those days, his feelings for her had not been especially deep, yet divorce had never even entered his mind, and he had quietly looked forward to the arrival of their child. At that realization, a cold edge settled over his demeanor.

"Daniel, Amelia Morgan certainly has quite the temper. Why don't we find someone else for your grandfather? There are plenty of experts who understand antiques," Isabel suggested.

Daniel's expression darkened with a frown. "There may be, but Grandpa specifically wants her. Archie, look into her background. I want every single detail."

"Why would you need to investigate her at all? Are you… interested in her?" Isabel asked with careful hesitation.

Unease gnawed at her; ever since Emilia had disappeared, she had stayed at his side, yet he had never once mentioned marrying her.

Fortunately, naturally aloof and difficult to approach, he had never shown even the faintest interest in any other woman.

But the way he had looked at Amelia earlier ignited a brief, uneasy flicker of alarm in her heart.

"I'm not interested in her. But since Grandpa wants to see her, it's better to make sure we know who she is," Daniel replied coolly.

At that, Isabel relaxed somewhat, convinced that he was only having Amelia investigated because of his grandfather.

She also presumed Amelia was merely some ugly woman concealed behind a veil, someone he could never possibly find appealing.

"Let's head back to the hotel," Daniel said, turning around and striding away.

Emilia returned to her office, pressing a hand against her chest as her heart pounded violently.

Now she realized that Daniel intended to bring her back to evaluate a few antiques. After three years of marriage, she understood better than anyone just how commanding and overbearing he could be.

He would probably come searching for her again. She had allowed him a glimpse of her today, and she couldn't figure out whether recognition had flickered in his eyes or if he would soon begin probing into who she really was.

She couldn't risk him discovering anything about her, least of all the truth about her children.

She seized her phone and dialed a number. The call was answered almost immediately, and a deep, unhurried male voice floated through the receiver. "Sweetheart, what's going on?"

"I need a favor. Someone might start digging into my life. I can't let him uncover anything," Emilia said.

On her own, she had no power to stop Daniel from investigating her past, but the man on the other end of the line certainly did.

"Alright," he said with effortless indifference.

The instant his reply reached her ears, Emilia understood that the matter would be handled.

"This makes the third time," the man remarked abruptly, his tone slow and deliberate.

"What?" Emilia had no clue what he was referring to.

"In the five years we've known each other, I've stepped in for you three times now. So tell me something. When the count reaches five, will you marry me?" the man teased lightly.

Tall and strikingly handsome, he lounged across the sofa with lazy confidence, his bathrobe slipping open to expose a perfectly sculpted set of abs, while a mischievous smile curved along his lips and lent him an air of dangerous allure.

Emilia shivered. Marrying him was the last thing she intended to do. This man was very likely even more terrifying than Daniel.

"That will never happen. You help me, and I earn money for you. That makes us even," she replied briskly.

"I'd prefer you manage my fortune instead of simply making it grow," the man said.

"Then go find yourself a gentle, virtuous wife to handle your fortune. I'd probably run off with every last cent," she shot back.

"Heartless woman," the man teased.

Emilia hung up, sent her manager a message requesting two days off, inhaled slowly to steady herself, and pushed open the door to her office. "Olivia, I'm done. Let's go… Olivia?"

Her eyes scanned the room, yet Olivia was nowhere to be found.

Elsewhere, inside the underground parking garage, two tiny figures peeked cautiously from behind a wall. With a quiet sigh, Leo flipped open his laptop to clean up the mess Asher had created.

Asher had covered Daniel's car in scribbles. Eventually, Daniel would check the surveillance footage, and if they were identified, the consequences would be severe.

After breaking into the surveillance system and deleting the recording, Leo finally felt a measure of relief.

A short distance away, Asher stood beside Olivia, eagerly waiting to see Daniel's expression when he discovered what had been done.

"Who did this?!" someone exclaimed.

A group of people approached them, with Daniel leading the way.

Archie's face went rigid with shock as he stared at the enormous words scrawled across the car, and he read them aloud without thinking, "This hartless man abandind his wife and kids. Uh… Mr. Wright…"

A horrified expression spread across his face as he looked toward Daniel.

He simply couldn't imagine who would be bold—or foolish—enough to pull off something like that. He was absolutely certain the culprit had to be completely out of their mind.

"Who on earth did this? They must be completely out of their minds," Isabel muttered, her brows knitting together in irritation.

The moment Daniel noticed the scrawled message, a shadow fell across his face. The badly spelled words made it painfully obvious to him that a kid had been responsible.

"Sir, I'll go pull up the surveillance footage right away," Archie said promptly.

Out of nowhere, a soft ripple of giggling drifted through the air.

Daniel's hearing was unusually keen. His gaze lifted, and he turned toward where the sound had come from. A split second later, he caught sight of two tiny figures peering cautiously from behind the wall.

Asher reacted first. "They've spotted us. Olivia, run!"

"Huh? What?!" Caught off guard, Olivia jerked in place. By the time she whirled around, her brothers were already sprinting far ahead of her.

"Hey, wait for me!" Flustered, Olivia hurried after them, but the hem of her dress snagged on something. After barely taking a single step, she stumbled and crashed face-first onto the floor.

By then, Daniel had already caught up to her. There was no chance of escape anymore. Lying flat on the floor, Olivia quickly covered her eyes with both hands, secretly hoping they wouldn't notice her there.

Without saying a word, Daniel strode over. He paused briefly while looking down at her, then bent and pulled her upright by the arm.

Even then, she kept her eyes tightly shut and her hands firmly pressed over her face, as if that alone could somehow keep him from recognizing her.

"I can already see you. Stop covering your face," Daniel said coolly.

Convinced she had hidden herself flawlessly, Olivia slowly opened her eyes, confusion flickering across them.

She couldn't understand how she had been discovered, because whenever she played hide-and-seek with her brothers, she was always the one who managed to hide the best.

Gradually, she lowered her hands. Dangling awkwardly in the air, she wriggled her small arms and legs, but she couldn't break free.

She gazed up at Daniel with wide, round eyes. It was the very first time she had seen her father from such a close distance. After blinking a few times, she realized her brothers really did look a lot like him.

She felt secretly glad that she had inherited her mom's looks instead of her awful father's.

With that thought, she instinctively lifted her chin and made a face.

Daniel observed her silently and could tell from the expression on her face that her little mind was racing with thoughts.

"Who are your parents, and why did you scribble all over my car?" There wasn't the slightest hint of warmth in his tone.

But Olivia wasn't afraid of him in the least. Instead, she pressed her lips together even more stubbornly.

Her mom had warned her never to talk to bad people, and her dad was definitely a bad person—the sort who would snatch her away and keep her far from her mom—so she refused to say a word to him.

"If you refuse to speak, I'll turn you over to the police, and they'll track down your father," Daniel said.

Olivia blinked.

She thought Daniel was unbelievably foolish, because he himself was her father.

Daniel had assumed that a child her age would be terrified of the police, but she didn't look even slightly frightened.

"When a child causes trouble, it's the parents who end up paying for it. I'm going to put your father behind the bars," he added.

Olivia actually found that idea rather appealing and even hoped he would.

When Daniel noticed that she still didn't react, he changed his approach and said, "Then I'll go after your mother."

"Why would you want to catch my mommy? Go catch my father instead! Not my mommy!" Olivia shouted, planting her hands on her hips and puffing out her cheeks angrily.

Daniel let out a brief, humorless chuckle.

Watching how completely different her reactions were when it came to her parents, he concluded that her father must be doing a truly terrible job.