Karma

Miranda waltzed through the front door sporting one of the newest dresses made by Armani. It was a form fitting knee length red cady draped dress, with a crossover neckline that dipped quite low. The three-quarter length sleeves were flawless, and the garment stopped just above her knees showing off her long-toned legs.

Anthony watched from the couch as she passed by ignoring him completely. They had been married for 4 years now and this was an everyday occurrence. He had been constantly treated like air for the entire marriage and honestly, he was tired of it. Although they live in the same house, they never slept in the same room or together for that matter. They have separate rooms and lead separate lives. He doesn't even stay at the mansion most of the time.

After they wed, he made sure to buy an apartment of his own in a secluded complex with moderate security. Their marital home was bought for Miranda by her parents, and they had refused to even think about putting his name on it. Which was fine with him since the mansion was in an upscale neighborhood and had more rooms than they could possibly need. The interior decorations were gaudy and screamed wealth and upper-class.

Miranda and Anthony were total opposites in personality as well. Where Anthony was a quiet introvert, Miranda was an extreme extrovert. She loved to be the center of attention. That was one of the reasons he was ready to divorce. In two days, it would be their 5-year anniversary and rather than celebrate like others would with a nice dinner out at a restaurant to at least keep up the pretense, she made sure to find a random excuse to be out in the center of high society. Recently, she has started making excuses to go out alone.

He was fine with that though. He had other things he could immerse himself in such as looking for a loophole in the marriage contract he stupidly signed or work.

While he was still sitting on the couch, she came breezing back into the living room.

"Oh, there you are. I'm going out. Make sure you clean up my bedroom, bathroom, and well, you know the drill by now. Just make sure everything is clean. I don't give you a monthly allowance for your good looks. Get off your butt and get to work."

Anthony knew what the answer was going to be before he even asked the question, but he had to ask anyway. "You realize our 5-year anniversary is coming up in two days. Would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

"No. I have a charity banquet to attend for work that day. You can go by yourself."

"That defeats the purpose."

"What! I don't need your sass," she retorted flipping her hair. She turned around and strode toward the large oak front door, her stilettos echoing throughout the large entryway.

BAM!

The sound reverberated through the empty mansion before silence eventually enveloped him. With a heavy sigh, Anthony stood from the couch and exited the cold empty shell of what was supposed to be a home. He climbed into his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, started the engine and drove away.

The Grand Marshall Hotel is the most prestigious hotel in the country and is owned by none other than Axel Huntington. The mysterious CEO of Huntington Security. It is said that he has never shown up to any of these fancy banquets and has never shown his face to anyone. Rumor has it that he is an overweight old man with a terrible come over. Rumor also has it that the man is single, with more money than is possible to spend in one hundred lifetimes.

The banquet being held there today was located within the Grand Ballroom. The Grand Ballroom looked like its name described. The room was enormous, with floor to ceiling windows on its two outer walls and was decorated to resemble a King's throne room. Marble floors were polished to perfection, The windows were spotless, and the ballroom had a small stage constructed against the long inner wall. That is where the auction will take place later on in the evening. This charity auction was to build quality housing in areas with low-income families.

Although there were many wealthy socialites and celebrities there, none of them sincerely cared about the cause. In honesty, they were only there to show off their wealth, try to create business connections, introduce young daughters to promising sons and the final reason was curiosity. Another rumor had spread that today's banquet was special and Axel Huntington himself was going to make an appearance since he is the one hosting the banquet.

Miranda came strutting through the entrance, completely entranced by the beautiful setup. She always turned heads at social gatherings, not because of her beauty, but because she is known to be a married woman. Yet every time she is seen in public, she's on the arm of a different man. It could be said that her beauty wasn't even skin deep, it was an enhanced beauty. More money was spent on her face, breast and b**t than many people ever earned working all their lives.

Believing this charity banquet would finally change her life for the better, she walked over to the small sign in table for those who wished to be a participants in the auction to register and receive her numbered placard. Also on the table was a list of items to be auctioned off. The last one was a dinner date with Axel Huntington himself. After quickly registering, Miranda accepted her paddle, then left the table in search of her friends. She had only taken a few steps when she heard her name being called.

"Miranda, over here."

She looked to where her name was being called and found Melissa waving at her. Melissa is Melissa Prince, wife of Toby Prince, founder and CEO of Prince Entertainment, the largest entertainment company around.

"Miranda, did you ditch your husband again?"

"God, yes, he may have a hot body, but he's an absolute dunce. Excuse me a poor hot dunce."

"Why don't you divorce him already?"

"I will as soon as I find someone that piques my interest, and I think that someone will show themselves soon."

"Oh, that means she has her eye on someone already," said Brittany Gellhar as she approached the table.

"Brittany, just because you married a regular man that built his own company from the ground up successfully doesn't give you the right to criticize others. I made the mistake of marrying someone based on their looks and potential and he turned out to be a failure." Miranda sighed.

"Yeah, but at least he's good looking. Is Patricia, Kacie, or Violet coming?" Melissa asked.

"They will be here. Violet heard about the CEO, Axel Huntington being single, and Shawn and Arik want to talk business with him to secure security contracts through Huntington Security," Brittany replied.

"Well, Violet may as well give up, because if this mysterious CEO has decent looks, I will be divorced in no-time."

The three women continued their conversation until the innermost lights dimmed, gaining everyone's attention. Immediately following was a deep sensuous voice.

"Greetings everyone. I would like to welcome you to this year's Huntington Charity Auction. All proceeds obtained from this auction will go to building quality housing units such as apartments, duplex housing, and single-family homes for those less fortunate. Every item listed on today's auction list has been authenticated and appraised by the highest experts in their respective fields. I hope everyone is in the giving mood. Relax, enjoy the food, and get ready as the auction will begin momentarily."

"My God, Miranda. Did you hear that voice?"

"Yes, Melissa. I most certainly did. I think I've found my reason to divorce Anthony now. Just you wait, I will be the next Mrs. Axel Huntington."

"But you've only heard his voice, you have no idea what he looks like."

"I don't care. His voice is enough to turn me on and set my nerve endings on fire."

Suddenly the room became completely silent as a man appeared from behind the curtained area on stage. He was tall, maybe 6'5 or 6'6. The charcoal grey suit he was wearing looked custom tailored and hugged his body in all the right places. Underneath the unbuttoned jacket he wore a fitted white collar dress shirt with the first two buttons unbuttoned. While his body (what we could discern of it) was absolutely breathtaking, his face had been marred by a scar that ran from his hairline down his forehead, across his left eye, and continued straight down stopping mid-cheek. You couldn't see his eyes or any other distinct features on his face since a crowd had already surrounded him.

Miranda watched with hooded eyes as he started walking around to each individual table greeting his guests and stopping briefly to chat. As he approached their table Melissa, Miranda, and Brittany felt a change in the atmosphere. Axel's aura was so domineering and intimidating that the women froze in place. Toby introduced himself quickly, shaking his hand and trying to break the awkward atmosphere.

"I've heard of Prince Entertainment. If I am not mistaken, we already hold a few contracts with a few of your top stars. I am Axel Huntington. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"I am Michael Gellhar, of Gellhar Company." He introduced himself while holding out his hand to shake."

Axel shook his hand and nodded at him then asked, "and who are your lovely companions?"

Toby stepped up next to Melissa, "this is my wife, Melissa."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Huntington."

Brittany stepped closer to Michael, "this is my wife, Brittany."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Huntington."