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“Chloe, Murphy, come on,” I urged them over. “Hurry, they’re starting.”
Mom usually let someone else handle the auction announcements. I’m sure she thought it best in case she won, but I never really thought she cared about winning. She just wanted as high amount as possible for the charity.
“Should we go stand with the family?” Murphy nodded her head toward the rest of the Hawthornes standing together. “I’m going over. Come on, Chloe, I see Mia and Sophie there too.”
“The Hawthorne Foundation would like to thank everyone for coming out tonight. Victoria’s charity has taken care of more people than you can imagine over the years because of your giving. Hopefully, everyone has had a chance to bid on the eggs, because bidding is now closed. And our winning egg tonight is Trey Hawthorne,” Mom’s assistant announced. “Let’s give his egg a round of applause.”
I knew my egg was going to win, mostly because August was never aggressive with me about stuff like this, so he wanted to mess with me before they announced it, for fun.
“Our second place egg is Mia Hawthorne. She is married to Dr. Parker Hawthorne. Nicely done, Mia.”
“We want to know who won the family bet,” Asher called out from somewhere in the crowd.
“We don’t have that calculation yet. Third place is Victoria Hawthorne,” the announcer went on, sounding a little surprised. “A round of applause, please.”
“And last, the Hawthorne Family would like to thank you for all the Easter baskets you brought in tonight. Victoria has asked that if anyone is interested in helping deliver the baskets, to please sign up on the laptop on the check-in table.”
“Was there any doubt that I would win?’ I brushed at my shoulders. “Even cheating you couldn’t beat me, Brat.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Murphy flipped her hair and walked off.
“Way to go, old man,” Asher snarled as he walked by. “I still got the ladies.”
“Try to stay out of the tabloids tonight for once,” I called after him.
“On no, here comes Natalie.” Asher laughed, “I should say the same to you.”
Chapter 28
Chloe
“Oh no, here comes Natalie,” was all I heard before the remaining Hawthornes spread out like someone had yelled “fire”. I was the last person standing there when the red dress bombshell approached.
“Hi, I’m Chloe.” I put out my hand to shake, but pulled it back when she just stared at me. “You’re Natalie, right?”
“You seem to know me, which isn’t surprising, everyone knows me, but I don’t know who you are.” Natalie looked to her cellphone. “Why are you dancing with Trey?”
“I’m dancing with Trey because he asked me to dance.” I tried keeping a light tone with this abrasive girl. “Are you having a fun time tonight?”
“You do know he’s my boyfriend and I just paid a lot of money to have him to myself.” Natalie looked up from her cell. “You should just back off unless, of course, you have three hundred thousand to spend on a date.”
“I wouldn’t dream of interrupting your date, but I’m not sure Trey would agree with you being his girlfriend,” I said back, super sweet. “I have to go dance more now.”
I had no idea what came over me, but I walked away leaving a very rich and very rude girl fuming, and it felt good.
“I heard that, Chloe,” Mia said, putting her hand up to slap. “I have Sophie, you go dance with Trey.”
“Thanks, I think I will. You okay with that, Sophie?” I stopped to kiss her forehead. “Are you getting too tired?”
“No Mummy, I had a nap today so I could stay up late, remember?” Sophie announced proudly. “Can I have more chocolate bunnies?”
“You can have a few more, but only if you finish your dinner,” I smiled, knowing she had already eaten. “I’ll see you in a little while.”
“K, Mummy. I love you a million Easter eggs,” Sophie said.
“I love you a million hair ribbons.” I spun around and glided off to dance.
I looked across the room and found Trey talking to his parents. I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye as I approached, seconds before Natalie swooped in.
