Chapter 42
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The sound of children’s laughter floated through the air as they ran and chased each other around.
“Children, I told you to stop running around,” the event organizer, who was the owner of the foundation, chastised. But his words fell on deaf ears as the children continued to play.
One of the children was so excited that he didn’t realize someone was approaching until he crashed into the
person.
It was Linda, who immediately had a scowl on her face. Opening her mouth to say something scathing, she stopped herself when she realized the number of people present who were all staring at her for her reaction.
Immediately, she put on a smile and crouched a bit, patting the boy on the cheek. “Careful, boy. We don’t want you getting hurt.‘
Kris watched on with an approving smile, but he wasn’t the only one who’d accompanied his mother. Karen, his siblings, and his aunt had also come along.
“Mrs. Miller, you came!” the event organizer exclaimed in surprise as he approached them. “The Miller family. What a pleasant surprise. I personally welcome you to this charity function.”
“Thank you,” Linda said before her eyes scanned the environment. “Uh, is this where we’re going to have the -function? Outside?”
She felt miserable already. If she wasn’t so desperate, she would never settle for such a lowly function.
“Oh, no. We’ll be having the main function inside. It’s just that since the event hasn’t begun, the guests wanted to observe the kids a bit.”
Linda’s lip twitched. “I see.”
The organizer’s brows suddenly creased slightly as he finally noticed the group of camera–wielding people snapping at them some distance away. “You brought reporters?”
Kris let out a sigh at the surprised look on the man’s face. He’d tried to dissuade his mother from bringing reporters along, but she’d insisted.
“Yes, I did,” his mother responded with a smile. “Why do you have that look on your face? You should be grateful that I’m giving some publicity to your foundation.”
The organizer smiled. “Of course, of course. It’s just that nobody has ever done something like this before.”
“Can the event start already?” Susan groaned, sounding bored.
“Of course,” the man eagerly said before proceeding to call but, “Ladies and gentlemen, shall we go inside now and begin the event?”
A few seconds later, the guests made their way into the hall. The children were not allowed inside. Despite not giving notice of their arrival, the Miller family was given one of the important rows of seats at the front.
The event began with a speech from the organizer about everything the foundation strived to do for the helpless children and how any amount donated could go a long way to make the kids‘ lives better.
“Ugh, do we really have to be here?” Tyler groaned under his breath.
“Shut up,” Linda issued her son a glare.
The donations were going to be made in the form of auctions for artifacts like sculptures and paintings. Some of
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Chapter 42
the artifacts were made by the children themselves.
“Remember, every amount spent here will be going straight towards helping these wonderful children. The first artifact to be auctioned off is the dolphin sculpture.
A beautiful wooden dolphin sculpture was wheeled on a trolley to the front of the hall.
“Auction begins at $1,000,”
The auction went on until the dolphin sculpture was sold at $10,000. One after the other, more artifacts were auctioned off. Kris had made a mental note to donate some money later to the foundation. He wasn’t in the mood for all this bidding.
Linda, on the other hand, was waiting for the most valuable artifact to be announced. She smiled when the time finally arrived after about half an hour.
“And now, our last and most valuable artifact is a painting from the renowned painter Quentin Quinn. He donated this painting to be auctioned so that the proceeds would be invested in this foundation. Many thanks to him. Auction begins at $30,000.”
It was a beautiful painting of a silhouetted woman standing on a cliff and gazing out across an endless sea. The woman’s face was half obscured by stardust. The color combinations were stunning.
A woman immediately raised her hand. “35,000 dollars.”
“$40,000, dollars” another called out.
“50,000 dollars.”
ay!” the organizer said, excitement evident in his voice.“We have $50,000. $50,000 going once, $50,000
twice…”
“1,000,000 dollars.”
Linda announced. The whole room fell silent, their eyes turning to her. It was obvious that nobody else was willing to go beyond her bid
“Oh, poor peasants,” Susan snickered to Karen, and they shared a mocking smile.
Even the organizer had his jaw on the floor before he recovered and excitedly spoke. “The esteemed Linda Miller certainly has a heart of gold. She’s willing to give $1,000,000 just to support the kids in this foundation.”
The other guests began clapping their hands while the reporters Linda had brought along captured everything.
“1,000,000 dollars going once, going twice, and…”
“5,000,000 dollars!” A female voice coming from the back of the hall cut the organizer off.
Kris stiffened because the voice sounded incredibly familiar, and he was right. Turning, he was met with the sight of Thalassa walking elegantly towards the front, looking ever so gorgeous in her self–designed stunning blue dress-
But she wasn’t alone. Zeke Matthews was with her, and she had her hand wrapped around his arm as they walked in together.
Kris gritted his teeth so hard he feared they would shatter.
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Chapter 43
