Back at the ancestral house. Irene's mind was in a hyperactive mood.
She hasn't done any laborious chores around the house ever since she discovered the existence of the gold nuggets.
Soon, she will hire people to do the heavy stuff and make the ancestral house clean and livable again. She also needs to hire skilled carpenters to repair and renovate the house.
The ancestral house has to be ready before her family can come here. Wait, there's also her mother's hospitalization! She needs to put her mother's health problem on top of her list now that she already has lots of gold nuggets at her disposal.
Tomorrow, she will leave the ancestral house and sell the golden nuggets in Evergreen City and afterward return home to bring her mother to the hospital. Then she will oversee the repair and renovation of the house.
After her family's successful return to their ancestral house, she will go on a country tour and sell the rest of the golden nuggets in different parts of the country.
She smiled brightly, feeling pleased with her perfect plan!
She went back to bed and scooped the golden nuggets with her hand, smiling triumphantly.
She is a wealthy woman now!
Such a nice feeling to have!
She and her family will no longer have to worry about money ever again. She will built successful businesses so that the proceeds from the golden nuggets will multiply and can last for many years.
She no longer have to work for other people anymore!
"Yesssss! I'm rich!" she raved.
From now on! She and her family are finally free from poverty!
Overwhelmed with happiness and a grand plan for her bright future, she returned to the basement. She checked the golden nuggets making sure that they were still there, intact and secured.
The rest of the pouches containing the golden stones were still there!
Great!
Feeling elated and satisfied, she left the basement and returned upstairs, going to the kitchen to prepare her meal.
Hours went by.
Nighttime finally comes.
After she finished eating her dinner, she retired to her room.
She stood beside the window enjoying the evening breeze.
She looked heavenward, the night is still early but the stars are already shining brightly in the sky.
"What a beautiful evening!" she murmured to herself.
It's a nice feeling to have knowing that she no longer has to sell the ancestral house and she will never worry about money ever again.
Irene went to the drawer and removed the book that she was reading since last week. She will read the book for a while, then sleep afterward if she already feels sleepy.
She flipped on the pages, arrived at page 100, and begin reading.
Two hours later.
Irene starts yawning. Feeling sleepy already, she dropped the book in the drawer and placed the pouch of gold beside her on the bed. She will sleep together with the gold pouch tonight to make sure that it won't disappear from her sight.
Tomorrow, she will wake up early so that she can go to the city and sell at least two nuggets. Then go home to her family and bring her mother to the hospital, that's her top priority right now.
She smiled brightly while staring at the pouch of gold on the bed. Her lucky charm!
She lay down on the bed, covered her body with the blanket, and shut her eyes to sleep.
Twenty minutes later.
Irene was already snoring lightly.
Half an hour before midnight, Brent's invisible form appeared in the middle of the room.
He smiled happily while gazing at his woman's pretty face. He walked towards the bed and spotted the pouch of gold on the bed. 'Silly girl, sleeping with a pouch of gold!' he muttered to himself. He picked up the pouch and placed it on the side table beside the lamp.
He hopped in the bed, hugged Irene's sleeping form, and buried his face on her neck. "Sleep tight, sweetie..." he said and closed his eyes to sleep, savoring her addicting scent.
...
The following day.
Irene woke up at 7:00 in the morning.
Opening her eyes wide and looking beside her to find the pouch of gold, to her horror it was no longer in the bed in the exact place where she put it last night before she went to sleep!
Oh, my God!
Where is it?
When she looked at the side table, there it is!
The golden pouch!
Her heart leaped in happiness as huge relief washed over her.
She grabbed the pouch. "Thank you so much, Lord!" she gushes, feeling grateful that she didn't lose her treasure.
She quickly left the bed and rushed to the basement to check on the rest of the gold there.
When she arrived at the basement everything looked the same, nothing is out of the ordinary. She moved aside the wooden closet and checked the hidden drawer attached to the wall. She counted the pouches, there were 19 of them and each of them contains the same number of gold nuggets.
She released a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, God! Not a single pouch is missing!" she said, smiling happily.
Time to go back to the house and prepare for her journey toward Evergreen City.
She left the basement, locked the door securely, and went to the kitchen to prepare a sandwich and coffee for her breakfast.
She relaxes on the chair while munching on her meal.
Half an hour later.
Irene was back in her room. She went inside the bathroom to take a shower. A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom already wearing black skinny jeans and a red sweatshirt.
She continues drying her hair with a towel while checking the messages on her phone. She sent a text to her mother, informing her that she will visit them tomorrow.
Half an hour later.
She's ready to go.
She exited the bedroom wearing a brown bag on her shoulder. She was walking in the hallway, heading to the staircase when her phone beeped, alerting her of a new message.
She fished out her phone from her shoulder bag and read the incoming message, her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, my gosh! The buyer is already outside the gate!" she blurted.
OMG! Her mind was preoccupied with the golden treasures that she had forgotten to inform the buyer that she no longer wanted to sell the ancestral house that she inherited from her grandmother.
Sighing, she hurriedly descended the stairs and exited the house. She put the padlock in place on the main door before she proceed to the gate.
Outside the rusted iron gate, she saw a smiling guy waving at her, standing beside a luxury car.
He is Mr. Dave Russel, a businessman in the city, the first person who contacted her after seeing the ads she put in newspapers. He was interested in buying the ancestral house, including the whole property.
She waved back at him.
She opened the rusted iron gate and smiled brightly at the handsome guy. "Hello, Mr Russel! It's nice to see you again!" She greeted him.
"Hello, Miss Lopez. I'm here to see the whole property. I hope you can give me a tour today!" Dave said excitedly.
Irene scratches her head. "Um... I'm so sorry, Mr. Russell. My mother and I have decided that we no longer want to sell the whole property. I apologized that I wasn't able to inform you right away. My mind was preoccupied lately and I forgot to inform you right away. Please forgive me," Irene said apologetically.
Dave stared at Irene's pretty face in disbelief. "Oh, so I came here for nothing then-?" he said. A look of disappointment marred his handsome face.
"I'm so sorry," Irene said softly.
Dave sighed deeply. His eyes were drawn to the silver ring that Irene was wearing on her finger. A glimmer flashed in his eyes for a few seconds. "What a nice ring you have!" he commented.
Irene looked at the ring on her finger. "It belongs to my grandmother," she replied casually.
Dave noticed the inscription on the ring. "May I know what is written on the ring?" he asked curiously.
Irene smiled. "It's nothing..." she said.
"May I know, please?" Dave repeated his request.
Irene looked at the ring on her finger, "Till Death Do Us Part! That's the words engraved on this ring," she told him.
"Ah, okay. Nice!" Dave commented with a smile, a glimmer flashed in his eyes. He noticed that she was dressed up. "By the way, are you going somewhere?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm going to Evergreen City," Irene replied.
"Ah, okay. I'll give you a ride. I'm heading back there as well," Dave offered.
Irene hesitated for a moment.
"Don't worry, I'm a harmless guy. You are safe with me," Dave said, trying to convince her to board his car.
"Okay," Irene finally relented.
They get into the car.
Before Dave started the engine, he looked at Irene. "Do you still have my calling card with you?" he asked.
Irene nodded her head. "Yeah..."
"Don't hesitate to call me if you and your mother change your mind. I'm still willing to buy the entire property," Dave said.
"Okay, I will," Irene replied.
Dave started the engine of his car and drove the vehicle back to the main road.