The building that they were in was a government office. Along with the renowned industrialists, she saw that there were government officials also mingling with them. It was pretty obvious that they all stood in groups, which they supported. It was no rocket science to make out that they had all formed strategies to outsmart each other.

Dawn was aware of the fact that even though Starfish Refinery was closed because of her intervention, she was also aware that each one of them out here was only more thankful that the refinery was up for auction.

​​

"Why do they have to pass such terrible comments, Dawn? Almost all of them know what happened in the Wyatt family. It's not that they are unaware of our family's internal affairs?" asked Cole, drawing her attention.

Dawn circled past a flower arrangement in the center of the room. She sighed. "It's not that they are being vicious because they have ill feelings towards us, Cole."

Cole frowned. "Then why are they speaking so horribly?"

"Look at the sheer numbers they bidders are present here, and then look at the number of government officials who are hovering around them like bees to nectar."

Cole gazed around and it was easy to distinguish between the businessmen and the officials. While the former wore expensive, tailored suits and had smug appearances, the later wore more casual outfits. Yes, the difference was apparent. It was almost disgusting to see the officials lapping up to those in power.

Dawn chuckled. As if reading his mind, she said, "Don't worry. Not all officials are like that, but yes, the ones who are surrounding the influential ones, are most likely the corrupt ones, and I won't be surprised if there is a nexus between them."

A muscle in Cole's jaw ticked. "Why are they speaking viciously?" he asked again.

"Because in such places often you have psychological wars. They see me as one of the potential buyers because of Daryn. They want to remind me that I am nothing without him. They want me to see myself separately from him so that I can get challenged and take stupid, impulsive actions or maybe don't act at all. But what they fail to understand is that he is me, and I am him. We are partners in love and life and everything else." She stopped and looked at Cole who was already seeing her admiration. She held his hand and squeezed it. "Brother, never let them play at you psychologically because they will do everything in their power, in their knowledge to put you down, to snatch the world beneath your feet. At the same time when you will meet them in social gatherings, they are going to be the sweetest, as if their world doesn't move without you."

Cole gulped. Dawn had grown so mature.

"Just let them say what they want to. If you show that it is not affecting you, surely it will affect them." She smiled. "And that's where we are going to win—psychologically."

Cole chuckled. He felt so much better now. He had so much to learn from Dawn. She had been his father, mother, sister and mentor. With renewed energy, he said, "Then shall we go in?"

"Only if you promise me one thing."

Cole jerked his head back. "I don't want to lose the bid."

"You have to be ready to lose it."

"Dawn?" He frowned as sadness crept in his eyes.

"Keep yourself open Cole," she said. She knew that he would be extremely upset if they lost, and she wasn't sure which way the auction would go. There were way too many hawks out there who were looking to get their hands on Starfish Refinery because given a time frame of two years, and it would regain its original glory. It was deemed to be a successful business investment. She had done her due diligence long back.

Cole's head hung low on his chest. Dawn patted his shoulders and exhaled heavily. "Time to go in!" They walked inside the room where the auction was supposed to take place.

The room wasn't very big. Chairs were arranged neatly in rows in front of a dais where behind the podium was an official standing and talking to people behind him. Dawn and Cole went to sit in the front row. With only half an hour left, the room started to gradually fill. People began to take their places. Tension was palpable and everyone spoke in low voices. With Dawn's acute sense of hearing, she could hear all of them. None of them talked about her, rather they were curious as to who would win and what their strategy would be.

The auctioneer announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. We will begin the auction in ten minutes."

Dawn looked around and found people taking places hurriedly. Suddenly from the corner of her eye she thought she saw someone familiar. She whipped her head towards the left and right there in the front seat was the Mayor along with him was the former environmentalist, Joshua Barker. Their gaze met and Dawn's skin pimpled with goosebumps. The bastard was there to win the auction in order to continue his scientific experiment, which involved her dragon. Joshua lifted his glasses on his nose and gave her a twisted smile. Dawn did everything to look as stoic as possible. She turned her gaze back to the dais.

The auction began.

"The auction will begin with a minimum bid of ten billion dollars," announced the auctioneer on the mic. He went on to explain the rules. Once he had explained, he said, "You may start."

The first bid came from behind, which was a raise of five billion. Another raise from the far right corner of two billion came. As and as the bid amount rose, Cole got anxious because Dawn hadn't even started placing her bids. He elbowed her lightly and whispered, "When are you going to start?"

She lowered her gaze and whispered back, "Till I am able to assess each one out here."

"What does that mean?" he asked with irritation.

"Watch it patiently," she growled to keep him quiet.

Cole became quiet but his hands were sweaty, and he clutched his pants. It was easy to lose patience in this war.

The bid was now standing at eighteen billion dollars. Most of the room fell silent.

"Twenty billion," a voice from the left boomed.

Dawn smiled. It was the first time the Mayor had placed the bid. Now the race began. She knew that almost fifty percent of the bidders were already filtered. Still she waited for others to bid. The fact was that a functioning refinery would be priced at around thirty billion dollars, and a closed one like Starfish wasn't more than twenty-three billion. Each billion dollars wasn't a joke. It was a lot of money, and she knew that many banks had to stand collateral to guarantee that kind of money.

She raised her plaque and according to the rules, the bid was placed at twenty-one billion dollars.

Cole crossed his arms across his chest. So this was what Dawn had planned. He smiled when he heard murmurs across the room. In general there was panic.

The Mayor raised his plaque and the bid went up to twenty-two billion. Joshua looked at Dawn with confidence, as if she was a lamb to be butchered soon.