Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
Madeline put her hands together and begged. “Please, will you just save my daughter? I can pay you anything. Money isn’t an object. I just need your help.”
Celeste only glared at Mrs. Windsor and slowly shook her head.
Madeline cried out in agony and collapsed to the ground just like the witch had a few moments before. Mrs. Windsor crawled to the witches’ feet and grasped onto her robes.
“Please, I beg you!” she yelled. “My daughter needs your help:”
Ava stood from the table. “There’s nothing that Celeste can do if you don’t tell us the truth,” she said in a commanding voice. “Magic doesn’t care about money. The ritual won’t work if you’re not honest.”
Madeline’s face grew even more white with fear, but her body collapsed with defeat. “Alright, I’ll tell you everything,” she relented.
Once the three women were sitting at the table again, Mrs. Windsor let out a loud sigh. “When Chole was in high school, there was an… accident. A friend of hers tragically passed away very young. A few people thought that Chole was involved somehow, but that’s not true!” she cried vehemently. “It was all just a big misunderstanding. My Chole was and is-innocent in that unfortunate incident.”
The room was silent for a full minute.
Mrs. Windsor wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m not here to talk about that, though. I want to help my daughter, who is about to get married.”
Alexander and I looked at each other at the same time.
Here we go.
*Olivia*
Mrs. Windsor had to be lying about Chole not being involved in the accident. What if Chole had been involved in her friend’s killing and the powerful Windsor family had covered it up with their money and connections? We’re they afraid of it coming out and ruining Chole’s future?
I let out a quiet gasp of realization. My hands shook with fear as I realized my mistake. Alexander glared at me since my gasp could be the reason that we were discovered eavesdropping.
I held my breath and waited to see if anyone had heard my gasp. Only Ava looked over in my direction for a fraction of a second, and I wondered if she could sense my presence. Thankfully, Celeste and Mrs. Windsor kept their eyes on each other.
Ava seemed to come to the same realization as me because her eyes widened with understanding.
“That isn’t the full story, and you know it!” Ava said in a powerful voice. “You are still being dishonest, and you have displeased the spirits! You have angered the undead witches. You must go before they take out their wrath on you!”
Ava pointed to the altar, and it began to shake. The gold cup fell over, and Celeste’s blood dripped onto the floor and stained it.
“No!” Mrs. Windsor cried. “I can’t leave until you help my daughter.” She turned to Celeste. “Please, is there anything you can do that will protect her?”
The witch was silent for a moment, then she pulled out a string of white beads from around her neck and took it off of her.
“These are necklaces that have been blessed by thirteen witches-our most powerful and sacred number. They might help protect your daughter,” Celeste said in a grave tone. “But there is little I can do if your daughter has secrets that she is trying to bury. Some day, those secrets will come up from the grave to haunt her until the day she dies.”
Mrs. Windsor shuddered in fear, but she accepted the necklaces.
Ava nodded, going along with the act, and picked up a small, clear vial that had purple liquid inside. “This vial has been blessed by the same thirteen witches. But it has already been reserved by a more devout believer, Mrs. Allen. She has agreed to pay ten million dollars for it.”
Madeline took out her purse, and her eyes sparked with determination. “I will give you twenty million dollars for it. I will pay anything to protect my Chole.”
Celeste pretended to ponder her offer. “Hmm, it is true that Mrs. Allen has already reserved that vial of protection potion, but since your daughter’s life is at stake, I’m sure that she’ll understand. You can write me a check for twenty-five million dollars for the necklaces and the potion.”
Once the purchase was made, Celeste warned Madeline that the necklace must be worn at all times and she must keep the potion with her 24/7 or else Chole’s life will be in danger in less than three days time.
These words made Mrs. Windsor’s face grow whiter than I’d ever seen it. “Could my life be in danger, too? Is there anything else I can buy that will help keep me safe?”
Ava began to shake her head no, but Celeste stood in front of her and blocked her from sight. “There is,” the witch said. “We have many more protection jewelry and potions that are available to purchase…for the right price.”
Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Windsor was loaded up with necklaces, bracelets, rings, and vials of liquid. And Celeste was a whole lot richer.
“I’ll see you again next week,” Celeste promised in a cryptic voice. “Then you can purchase more protection items because these will lose their magic by then.”
Mrs. Windsor nodded, collected her purchases, and left the room.
After the two women were sure that she was gone, Celeste collapsed in her chair.
“I hate these eye contacts,” she said and began to remove the contacts that made her eyes nearly black. “They always make my eyes water.”
Ava was studying the white stone altar. “How did you make this shake on its own, and how did the cup fall?”
Celeste waved her hand. “It’s easy. Both are connected to a machine, and I hit this button under the table.” She pointed under the wooden table. “It’s a neat trick that gets everyone to purchase a lot more protection items.”
My mouth dropped open in shock, and Alexander’s expression mirrored mine.
Of course, Celeste wasn’t a real witch. She was a scam artist.
“You were great with that vial trick” Celeste said after she was done taking out her contacts. “I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership.”
Ava held out her hand for the other woman to shake. “I agree. This will be a way for me to get justice for my friend.”
My stomach jolted when I realized she was talking about me.
“And you will rake in even more money for me,” Celeste said and shook Ava’s hand.
I stood in shock as I witnessed my friend agreeing to help scam people out of their money to help me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
Alexander took me by the hand and pulled me back into the waiting room. “I don’t want Celeste to know that we had witnessed her scam,” he whispered.
Thankfully, when the witch came to collect us, Alexander and I were sitting next to Rose and Richard like we had never left our seats.
“I’m ready for you,” Celeste said in that cryptic tone of hers.
It didn’t make the hair on the back of my neck stand up anymore now that I knew she was a fraud.
Celeste led the four of us back into the dimly-lit room. To my disappointment, Ava was no longer in the room. It was only Celeste.
“What questions would you like me to ask the undead witches who came before me?” Celeste asked as she swirled her hands above the crystal ball on the table.
“I’d like to know who I’m going to get married to,” Alexander said.
I whipped my head around to gaze at him in surprise, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. He was only looking at Celeste.
The ‘witch’ nodded and passed him a pencil and a piece of paper. As she lit the candle on the table, she instructed Alexander to write down his date of birth.
“You do it,” Alexander told m?.
Everyone looked at me, and I flushed under the scrutiny. With no choice, I just wrote down a random date.
Celeste read the piece of paper, looked between Alexander and me, then dipped the paper into the fire until it curled and turned black. As Celeste blew out the small fire, she closed her eyes and hummed.
When she opened her eyes, she looked right at Alexander. “The witches tell me that you need to cherish the person beside you.”
I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. Really? Celeste couldn’t do any better than that?
But Alexander turned his head and looked at me with such burning intensity that it made my breath catch and my hands shake.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?