Chapter 109 ZERO
❦ Rosalind ❦
My victory was short-lived.
The message box flashed red across my screen like a wicked taunt.
YOU HAVE BEEN OUTBID.
My jaw clenched so hard it promised an ache.
I turned to look at the balance in the corner of my screen.
God.
Almost five hundred million was already gone. My pulse pounded in my ears, louder than the insidious hum of the laptop as I watched the bidder IDs fall over themselves, bidding nonstop.
It had been an hour of climbing and fighting for every inch of ground, only to watch it ripped away at the last second by some asshole behind a screen God knows where in the world.
I took a deep breath, my fingers hovering above the keyboard. The timer ticked down once again like it had the last hundred times.
The timer reset to thirty seconds every time a bid was made.
If your bid held for thirty whole seconds, it meant victory. A clean win. And in the last twenty minutes, the crowd had actually thinned.
The IDs that once filled the scrolling list fell away one by one until only those as stubborn and as desperate as me remained.
That’s when it appeared. Bidder 2778.
It wasn’t new.
Every account had to be pre-registered. Which meant they’d been there the whole time. Watching from the shadows and letting the rest of us fight and bleed out our wallets before they made their move.
And when I’d offered four hundred and fifty million, certain that no one would dare step higher... five seconds left, my breath caught, my hands already trembling in relief… they swooped in.
Five hundred million. I’d been outbid.
That was cold.
Now I sat up straight, my knees pressed close under the desk as I glared at the screen. Ten seconds left. No movement.
I struck.
“Five-twenty.” My voice cracked out loud as I typed it, punched it in, and slammed the enter key with vengeance.
The message turned green.
YOU ARE NOW THE HIGHEST BIDDER.
Relief surged through me, but I didn’t hold my breath.
The timer began to count. Twenty-five. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten…
I clasped my hands tightly in prayer. Just this once…
And then.
Red. Again.
Bidder 2778 has placed 570,000,000.
YOU HAVE BEEN OUTBID.
The number glared like a wound. My chest hollowed. A fifty million increment. They were climbing in leaps while I was dragging myself up by mere steps. For the first time since the auction began, a true, trembling panic clenched my chest.
No. I couldn’t lose this. Not to whoever the hell bidder 2778 was.
I imagined a potbellied mob boss on the other side of a computer, trying to sink grubby hands into my property.
“Five-ninety,” I whispered furiously, my fingers slamming the keys before my brain even caught up.
The green message flashed again, but my victory felt brittle and thin. My pulse thundered as I snatched up my phone, nearly dropping as I jabbed at Dante’s number.
He answered immediately. “Rosa?”
“Are you seeing this?” My voice cracked, betraying my panic.
“Yes,” he said calmly, as if this wasn’t quickly turning into a disaster. “I’m watching.”
My chest heaved as my eyes stayed locked on the timer. Twenty-five seconds. Twenty. Fifteen… come on.
Red again.
I gasped. 650,000,000.
“They…” I couldn’t even breathe. “They just topped me by sixty million. Dante!”
“I know, I see it,” his voice tightened, a bit of urgency bleeding into his tone now. “Don’t panic. Stick to the strategy. Twenty million increments. Its safe…”
“Safe?” I cut in with a near-screech. “They jumped by sixty million, Dante!”
The numbers blurred in my eyes. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might bruise my ribs from the inside. My inheritance, my future, my choice was slipping, slipping…
“Listen to me,” Dante cut in sharply. “I just added another hundred million to the account. You’re not out yet. Keep going. Stay calm.”
Stay calm. As if that was even possible.
My hands shook as I stared at the glowing red words on the screen.
YOU HAVE BEEN OUTBID.
Confidence surged through me from the transfer Dante had made.
My chest heaved, lungs too tight for air as I slammed the numbers in—680 million. I wasn’t playing anymore. If bidder 2778 thought they could toy with me, I’d show them exactly who they were planning with.
The screen blinked, refreshed, and the numbers reset. The timer began again.
30… 25…
My fingernails dug into my palms.
15… 10…
I already knew their game. 2778 always waited until the last dying seconds before swooping in. It was a deliberate taunt.
I snarled at the glowing screen, silently wishing their laptop would crash, their Wi-Fi cut out, or they’d spill a fucking drink all over their keyboard. Anything, just once, to ruin their smug little strategy.
As expected, the box flashed red.
YOU HAVE BEEN OUTBID.
My heart thudded.
But the ID wasn’t 2778 this time. It was 6101. They’d clawed back in with 700 million.
So they’d gone to scrape together more funds. Pathetic.
I sneered, heat flooding my cheeks, and typed in 720 million.
The system blinked again.
I sat back, my heartbeat competing wuth the roar in my head. It looked like 2778 had finally run out of steam. Served them right for being smug and reckless.
The timer ticked lower.
6…
My lungs seized.
5…
My eyes stung, tears welling at the corners.
4…
I clasped my hands together so tightly my knuckles popped. “God, please,” I whispered.
3…
I leaned closer to the laptop, my eyes glued to the glowing numbers…
YOU HAVE BEEN OUTBID.
770 million. By 2778.
My gasp tore through the quiet like a gunshot. Rage scorched my throat, and before I knew it, I was screeching, my hand flinging the food tray beside me. It hit the floor with a violent clatter, cutlery scattering everywhere.
I froze.
Viktor. If he heard the noise, he would come up…
I shot to my feet, panicked. I sprinted to the door, twisted the lock hard, and pressed my back against the wood for a beat. Then I bolted back to the desk.
The timer mocked me. 5 seconds left.
Shaking, I stabbed the keys, pounding out the numbers—800 million. My fingers slipped on the slick surface, but the bid went through just as Dante’s voice buzzed in my ear.
“I’m sending another fifty, but this is it, Rosa. It’s all I can liquidate.”
He sounded far away, muffled, as if I was hearing him from underwater. But none of it mattered. Nothing mattered except the screen.
2778 struck again.
820 million.
Hot tears blurred everything, my body trembled so hard I could barely see the keys.
I shoved in every last cent I had.
850 million.
YOU ARE NOW THE HIGHEST BIDDER.
“Please,” I whispered. My lips trembled as I mouthed the names. God. Papa. Mama. The universe. Anyone who could hear me.
The timer started again.
30…
My pulse pounded.
20…
Every second felt like fire crawling over my skin.
10…
My chest rose and fell in frantic bursts, I pressed my hands to my mouth to quiet the scream rising.
5…
My heart tripped and skipped.
4…
I leaned toward the screen, clinging to it like it was the only thing keeping me alive.
3…
I was crying outrightly now, begging beneath my breath, unable to stop.
2…
The glow of the numbers seared into my vision.
The cursor blinked once, twice…