Emma woke up at 9 in the morning. She had gone to sleep after midnight.
'I have to talk with Kale regarding Bella's circumstances.' Emma thought as she forced herself to get up from the bed.
Freshening up, she turned on her phone to find several missed calls from her grandpa and a message from her mother asking about her safety.
She replied to her mother's text and didn't bother to call back her Grandpa as she knew Kale would inform him.
She heard a knock on her door as she finished replying to her mother's query. Knowing well who could be at the door, she simply opened the door and unsurprisingly Kale was standing there.
"Have you had your breakfast?" Emma asked as she gave way for him to enter.
"No," Kale got the first-aid box and began to look for the ointment to apply to her hand.
Emma didn't obstruct him and put forward her hand. After applying a fresh bandage, Kale got up.
"I have a request." Emma began. She didn't know how Kale might react to her request and said cautiously as she studied Kale's face to look for any discontentment.
"Yes," Kale put back the first-aid box and gave her full attention.
Emma wasn't used to him being so attentive and didn't know what to say. She was embarrassed as she had previously tried to ditch Kale, but now she was asking him for a favor.
After some contemplation, she bit the bullet and said, "I need your help to take care of something."
"Something?" Kale turned his head slightly looking confused.
"My "friend" from last night needs your help to get back on her ex." Emma tried to test Kale's patience by showing him the tip of the iceberg.
"You hate her," Kale said in a low voice. He was befuddled by Emma's request. Although it didn't show on his face, he was surprised that Emma asked him to help her enemy.
"Now I don't. You don't need to concern yourself with these matters," Emma said dismissing Kale's statement. "You just need to pretend that you have been in a relationship with Bella."
Emma did not want to tell him the whole plan altogether. She would feed him the information little by little so Kale could not reject her on the spot and could act accordingly.
Kale didn't answer immediately and asked, "Breakfast?"
Emma was dumbfounded by his evasion. She wanted to blackmail him into accepting this situation but feared that he might tell on her so she held back.
'At least he didn't reject me instantly.' Emma calmed her heart down.
"Let's go to a nice restaurant. Bella told me that "Jacob's Iron Grill" is a hot topic on the cruise. We'll have breakfast there." Emma informed Kale as she closed the door to her cabin.
Probably because Kale was with her, she didn't encounter that nosy neighbor of hers. They safely made it to the restaurant without any delays.
Emma immediately spotted Bella. It would be difficult to ignore her presence considering how she was occupying the central communal table at the busy restaurant.
Emma facepalmed at her outrageous behavior. It wasn't unsettling how the waiters and other customers were giving her dirty looks but looked scared to go near her.
Albeit her reluctance to sit at the same table as her, Emma thought about their colliding interests and swallowed the unwillingness.
"Couldn't you reserve another table for us?" Emma asked as soon as she sat opposite to Bella. Kale sat on Emma's left.
"When I came, only this table was free. It was the universe telling me that I deserved to be the center of attention at all times." Bella replied in a lofty manner.
"I doubt you wanted to have this type of attention." Emma looked at the group of people who had been glaring at Bella for some time now.
"They are just jealous of my beauty." Bella lightly commented as she rang the bell for the waiter.
Emma was at a loss of words as she stared at this "beauty" who was wearing an ugly old-style tattered cardigan with ripped jeans. Even her pretty face failed to save the look and she looked like a beggar instead of her possibly intended carefree look.
Emma refrained from commenting on her style of clothes as she didn't want to start a fight in the middle of a diner.
They ordered breakfast and while they waited, Bella started, "Have you done your part?"
Emma glanced at Kale who was reading an article and replied, "When have I not?"
"Give me some proof." Bella also looked at Kale as she demanded.
Emma lightly tapped Kale's arm to attract his attention and said, "Kale, she's the one I was telling you about. What do you say?"
Kale looked at Bella who was smiling and looked back at Emma who was eagerly telling him to say yes with her intense staring.
Kale nodded and went back to his phone. Bella saw his bland reaction and turned to glare at Emma who shrugged her shoulders.
"I have told him about the specifics. And he has agreed. Now it's your turn. Tell me." Emma monotonously said.
Although Bella wasn't convinced, she decided to trust Emma.
"I asked some people to ask around. There is indeed such an event taking place at this cruise." Bella said slowly as she looked around to confirm that no one was listening to their conversation.
"Where?" Emma slightly hunched over the table to listen closely.
"On the 67th floor. Hall# 18. It was difficult to find as it is a secret auction where only those people who were given certain passes can attend. If you don't have the pass, you can't even go to that floor." Bella went quiet as she saw the waitress bringing their food.
They ate in silence for a while before continuing their discussion.
"How can we get these passes?" Emma was the first one to ask as she observed Bella trying to look for any deception. She didn't fully trust Bella as they had both been enemies before, so it wouldn't be surprising if she gave false information to Emma.
"You can't buy these passes as they were given as a token of appreciation to people who had bought certain items. The last one to get such a pass is a girl who is also traveling on this cruise." Bella stressed that these passes are not available for purchase. But Emma didn't focus on that part at all. She was interested in this girl who possessed the last pass.
"What is the name of the girl?" Emma thinly asked.
"Emma, you can't just snatch tickets from other people. If you could, I would have presented them to you. These passes have a certain barcode over them that details the items bought by the owner and their identification as well. Which is why you can't fabricate them as well." Bella calmly explained. She didn't want Emma to get in trouble before she could help her with her revenge.
"I was just casually asking." Emma relaxed her shoulders. "So, are these things still available for buying?"
"No, they are not." Emma frowned deeply at her words. Apparently, she had no way to get the tickets to the auction. But could such a hurdle stop Emma Woods when she had decided on something? The answer would be no.
Bella sighed as she saw Emma's eyes shine. 'I did not sign up for this.' Bella wanted to yell.
"But, there is a way to get these passes." Bella finally decided to tell Emma as she would find out anyway.
Emma raised her brow as she leaned over.
"If the owner could not make it to the auction, they could ask someone to go on their behalf and this needs to be done at least 5 hours before the auction begins."
Emma was overjoyed at this and smiled heartily. "Since I asked you to get these passes in exchange for my help, I'm assuming you have already taken the necessary steps."
Bella looked at her plate full of food and felt her appetite vanish. "I have gotten in touch with a few of the people giving out the tickets but they are asking for a lot in return. Even if we go to the auction, the losses would be great."
"How much are they asking for?" Emma asked nonchalantly. She believed that she could afford to cover the costs of some tickets.
"$1.5 million is the starting price. Some are even asking for $3 million." Bella stated gingerly.
Emma was startled by the exorbitant price of the tickets to this auction. She had never heard of a ticket selling for so much money.
It either meant that those passes were worth that much money or they were getting scammed.
Emma knew that she could not fork out so much money without alerting her parents and was deep in thought. She contemplated for a while.
"I can help you get into the auction if you like," Asher stated, slightly raising his head from the table behind them.