Hope had taken a cab to the restaurant. She had to admit, that she was looking forward to spending time with her uncle. Perhaps she could now make up for lost time, with the family she never knew. As she entered the restaurant, she informed the maître d' that her uncle was meeting her there.

"Ah yes." Replied the maître d', "Mr. Davenshire is already here, I will escort you to his table." As he showed her to the table, her eyes met her uncle's. He smiled as his face lit up, as she walked towards the table. He then stood up, made his way over to her, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"You look beautiful." He told her as he continued to smile.

She couldn't help but blush, as a part of her wished that they weren't related.

"Thank you." She replied. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"Coming from you that is quite the compliment." He replied.

"May I mademoiselle?" The maître d' asked as he pulled out her chair for her.

"Please." She replied. She then sat down at the table, as he uncle did the same.

"I hope you're hungry." Her uncle said. "The food here is excellent."

"I've never been her before." She replied. "I really don't know much about this town. I'm usually only around for Christmas break, and I never really leave the house."

"Didn't Greg, and Lois take you out at all?" He asked with an inquisitive look upon his face.

"No." She replied with a feeling of sadness. "They were always too busy for me. Even when I was home for break, they pretty much just ignored me. They just bought me a bunch of expensive junk in the hopes of keeping me occupied. But they didn't. All those inanimate things were cold and unfeeling, just as my parent were towards me."

He looked at her with sympathy.

"I'm sorry to hear that." he told her. "All I can tell you is that the Greg, and Lois, I knew loved you very much. They had changed after we got back form Morocco. They pretty much just shut everyone they loved out of their lives. For some reason, that included you."

"Sometimes that happens when people come into vast amount of money all at once." She replied.

"But it was before they won the money." He replied.

"Look, I know you say that you have memories of them loving me." She told him. "But I have none. And they told me that they only reason I was born, was because they didn't believe in abortion. Because of me, they had to get married."

"Then they lied to you." He told her. "It's true that Lois became pregnant with you before they got married, but they were already engaged. And even though they were terrified, they couldn't wait for you to be born."

"I don't suppose you have proof." She said. He then looked at her, and smiled.

"Actually, I have some proof in this valise." He replied, as he opened the small bag that was on the chair next to him. He then pulled out a photo album, and handed it to her.

As she opened it, tears welled up in her eyes. It was full of pictures of a baby girl, who she assumed was her, and her parents. There were even pictures that featured the three of them with her uncle, or some of just her and her uncle. They all looked like such a happy, and loving family.

"Oh my god." She cried. "They never saved any baby pictures of me, I had no idea. I thought they always hated me."

He reached out, and laid his hand upon hers, and gently rubbed it with his thumb. Her uncle then let out a strong sigh.

"It's not right." He told her. "If anyone deserved to be loved it was you." As Hope continued to look at the pictures, she couldn't help but notice the resemblance to her mother. This was especially true in the pictures of her mother, when her mother was in her early twenties.

"Oh my god." She said. "I hadn't really noticed how physically similar my mother, and I really were. As I said before, there weren't really any family pictures, and I saw so little of them. I guess I had never noticed the resemblance before."

"Yes." He replied as he smiled. "You are both very beautiful. I've missed her ever since she no longer became a part of my life. It's too late for Lois, and me, but it's not too late for us. You, and I could be the family we always needed."

"I would like that very much, Uncle Mike." She said as she happily returned his smile. "May I ask you a favor?"

"Shoot." he replied.

"May I hold onto this for a while?" She asked.

"Actually I made that for you." He told her. "I have my own photo albums full of memories."

"Thank you." she replied as she couldn't help but smile. "This really means a lot to me, that you were willing to put this together for me. I honestly do appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure." He told her.

"So, I guess I'm confused about everything that had happened." She stated. "You said they changed after the three of you got back for Morocco. What exactly happened?"

"It was that bottle." He told her, as he's face turned stoic. "It's evil. Listen Hope, If I were you, I would lock it away in a safe somewhere. It contains dark magic like you can't even imagine, and it can't be destroyed. It changed your parents into a cold superficial couple. That bottle is the reason, that they were no longer capable of loving anyone but themselves."

"That's crazy." She said as she let out an uncomfortable laugh.

"I know it sounds crazy." He told her. "But don't you think it's a little odd, how much they changed, after we returned from Morocco? Including the fact that they hit the biggest lottery jackpot, the day after, we all returned home."

"It's just a coincidence." She said. "I don't understand what you are talking about. Just what happened in Morocco?"

"Well-" he began to say.

"I hope I'm not interrupting." A man's voice said. Hope looked up, and was surprised to see John standing before them.

"John!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the mood for Italian food." He told her. "And after you told me that you were meeting your uncle here for dinner, I thought I would try it. It was never my intention on intrude on your family reunion, but I thought I should at least say, 'Hi.'"

"Umm..of course." Said Hope as she was taken aback by what was happening. "Um, Uncle Mike, this is John Beckmann. He was my parent's lawyer."

"Actually, Hope." John interrupted. "I am now technically your lawyer, and my job is to protect your assets."

Both men were staring each other down, as if their looks could kill one another.

"Right." She said, as she laughed uncomfortably. "Anyway, John, this is my Michael Davenshire, my uncle."

"Mr. Davenshire, Lois's brother." Said John with an obviously fake smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry about your loss. Greg and Lois were friends of mine, which is why I was at their memorial service yesterday."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Beckmann." He replied. "I always wanted to meet the man that held my sister's purse strings. I'm sure you are completely well worth the insane amount of money that Greg paid you."

The situation started to get heated, as Hope became increasingly uncomfortable. What was John doing here? They were supposed to meet tomorrow night. Why did he feel the need to interrupt her dinner with her uncle. It was almost as if he didn't want her to have a family.

"I should probably let the two of you, enjoy your dinner." John sneered. "After all you are her long lost uncle. I mean you just show up the day after your wealthy sister's memorial, and then try to reconnect with your niece. You know, the sole beneficiary. I mean that doesn't seem suspicious at all."

"That would be a good idea." Her uncle replied. "I'm glad you're not afraid that I might point out, how a greedy lawyer might want to take advantage of a beautiful and naïve young woman who has just inherited half a billion dollars."

John let out a sarcastic chuckle. "You know, for someone who hasn't had any contact with his estranged sister in the last sixteen years, you do seemed to know a lot about their net worth."

"It made international news." Her uncle replied. "I mean one man is the sole winner of a five hundred million dollar lottery, making his the biggest single winner of any lottery throughout the world, that's going to make news. Needless to say I recognized my sister, and brother-in-law, after their faces were plastered all over the news."

"Yes, I'm sure that's why." John replied in a sarcastic tone. "Why not just cut that bullshit? Why don't you just tell Hope why you are actually here?'

"I'm here to reconnect with my niece!" Her uncle replied in anger, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to protect my client, form those who would try to take advantage of her." Growled John.

"Bullshit!" Her uncle exclaimed. All of a sudden the restaurant went quiet, and everyone was staring at them. Hope had never felt so embarrassed in her life.

"You know what!" She exclaimed. "I've lost my appetite, I'm going home!"

"Let me give you a ride." Said John.

"No!' She cried. "I just want to be alone, and I don't want to look at either one of you right now. I'm just going to get a cab. So why don't the two of you stay here and play Alpha male. I'm leaving! Please don't either one of you follow me, I can't deal with either one of you right now."

"Hope!" Her uncle began.

"Don't!" She exclaimed. "I just need to be alone right now." With that she grabbed the photo album, and left the restaurant as quickly as she could.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Filled with anger, both John, and Michael stared at one another.

"I don't now what game you think you're playing." Growled John. "But I can assure you it is a dangerous one. If you know what's best for you, you'll stay out of my way."

"Wrong!"Michael exclaimed in anger. "For your sake you better stay out of mine!"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hope slammed the front door behind her as soon as she got home. How could they embarrass her like that, and why did John have to interrupt their evening? True, it could be argued that John had instigated the whole thing, but her Uncle Mike was just as bad. Why did hey both have to act Ike such jackasses?

She knew she was eventually going to have to deal with both of them. After all John was her lawyer, and Mike was her uncle. But at that moment she couldn't stand either one of them. An hour ago she found them both attractive. But now because of their childish behavior, they were anything but.

All of a sudden Hope could feel a migraine coming on, maybe she would feel better after a good nights sleep. Maybe she could even forgive them in the morning. She just decide to sleep on it, and push the whole entire evening out of her mind. Hopefully things would be better tomorrow.

She must have been even more exhausted than she had actually realized, because she started to drift off as soon as her head hit the pillow. As sleep slowly began to take her over, she heard the genie's voice reverberate inside her head.

"Don't worry my love, I will make you feel better!"