Chapter 6: The Party

"You can't break the rules until you know how to play the game."

-Rickie Lee Jones-

***

“The tracker is off. She seemed to notice it. Do you want me to do anything about it?” Ian was smoking his cigar in the living room when he heard the news.

“You noticed it a little too late. I’ve seen it this morning. It’s connected to my device, after all.” Ian replied before blowing off the smoke. Lucas wondered why his boss seemed so calm about it. Perhaps he had expected more reaction out of him.

“This woman, Victoria. She doesn’t seem to be as stupid as we thought.” A smirk appeared on Ian’s face. He put the tracker inside of the watch just to monitor her move. Having it off did not mean a lot to him, so there was no need for him to make any drastic move.

“But boss, I don’t think it was her who did it. That woman doesn’t seem that smart and cautious to know that you put a tracker in the gift. Maybe she has someone else. Someone who’s more cautious than her.” He reasoned. Ian leaned forward and grabbed a glass of whiskey and drank it in one shot.

“Wilfred must have left behind some men to guard and assist her. The man was truly in love with her. He must have known about this day and planned it long before he was gone.”

“I thought he thought of you as his friend. He seemed like a gullible man.” Lucas said.

“Do you think a gullible man would be able to build an empire like he did? Don’t be foolish, Lucas. Wilfred might seem friendly. A little bit eccentric and odds at time, but he was a clever man. We have been focusing our attention so much on Victoria we forgot he must have had others watching her back.” He explained. Still, Ian did not seem bothered by it at all.

“Don’t worry, doesn’t matter. Victoria is still new at this. She may be older than be, but experience wise, I have seen more than her. I’ll just get close to her as we planned, make her love me and agree to sell twenty percent of her stock and then we can discard her and move on with the plan.” It sounded so easy coming from his mouth.

“My godson’s birthday party is in five days. It will be held in Mayfair. I will have to pick her up and drive her all the way there. It’s going to be the perfect time to get her attention.”

Days passed by and the time for the party eventually arrived.

“Darius, I will be heading out tonight. You remember the guy I told you about? Octavian. He invited me out to his godson’s party. I refused him but he insisted. He’s an important part of the business so I thought I should be on a good term with him. Please watch over the house while I’m gone.” She told him as she was getting ready.

“Is that so? Will he pick you up or will you be driven by Jasper?” Jasper was the family’s driver who always drove Wilfred when he was alive. He was a man in his mid-forties who knew the road of London like no other.

“Jasper would drive me to a nearby shopping center and he would pick me up from there. You know me, I don’t feel comfortable allowing a stranger to my house. Especially not now that Wilfred is not here.” It made Darius feel a little bit at ease but still, the thought of her being in that man’s car alone really disturbed him.

“Okay madame, then I hope you have a wonderful night.” He helped her put on her coat since it was rather cold and gloomy outside. She went into the car and they started driving away. Not long after she went. Darius walked inside and went to his room. He quickly changed to a formal attire.

One that was suited more for a black tie event. If the party was going to be held in Mayfair, he needed to blend in. He took the elevator and headed straight to the basement. Took one of his car and headed out to follow her car.

Even though Victoria had lived in her mansion for years, she did not know there were a few cars Wilfred had hidden from her for situation like that. Like she said, she stopped in front of a mall’s lobby. Probably just waiting for the ride to arrive.

It did not take long because a few minutes after she arrived, a black Ferrari stopped in front of the mall and judging from her expression, it was her ride.

The driver opened the door for her and she was on her way. After reaching a good distance, Darius started his car and drove to follow her.

Around fifteen minutes later, she finally arrived at the hotel. Victoria looked around to see if Ian was anywhere to be seen. Soon enough, he walked out of the door and welcomed her.

“Victoria. I am glad you are able to make it here. I thought you would cancel the plan last minute instead.” He teased her a little.

“I don’t break my promises. Anyway, do you mind if we go inside? It’s a little cold out here.” She stated.  He nodded and started wrapping his arms around her waist. However, she quickly slapped it away since she did not feel comfortable with the gesture.

“My apology, I shouldn’t have done that.” He apologized after he realized she hated the gesture. She did not say anything else and just continued walking in. Once they were inside, he started to introduce her to his friends.

“Victoria, this is my friend, Alberto Windburgh.” The man before her was significantly older than Ian, at least ten years older. His hair had started turning gray he could easily be called a silver fox. The man held out his hand to her and she shook it.

“Alberto, this is Victoria. Victoria Darlington.” As soon as the man heard her last name, his facial expression fell a little.

“Ah, you are the Darlington Widow. My condolences.” Victoria did not know the news of her husband’s death had spread so far. Still, if he was related to Ian, he should know about the news as well. Victoria just thanked him briefly and then he introduced himself properly to her.

“I’m Alberto Windburgh. You may notice it already, but I’m Ian’s friend and mentor when he was younger. Now he is the godfather to my youngest son, Theodore.” A young boy sat beside him.

The boy had a tender gaze. She assumed he must be shielded from the roughness of the world. He couldn’t possibly be older than fourteen. 

“Nice to meet you, Theodore and happy birthday.” She congratulated him and the boy thanked her. The boy was a little bit shy. Even though most kids in the high society were socialized since young age, some personalities just couldn’t be changed.

“I never thought he would finally bring a woman to these events. I just didn’t expect him to bring the famous Darlington widow.” Victoria restrained herself and tried to be polite. She already knew she did not like this Alberto guy.

He kept on emphasizing the fact that she was a widow and Victoria hated it. He implied she did not have an identity outside of being Wilfred’s wife and that was the last thing she wanted to be remembered for.

“Yes, and she is also my business partner now.” Ian retorted.

“Ah, is that so? Good for you, Mrs. Darlington. Now, we have prepared a seat for the two of you. Please, enjoy the party.” He led them to their seat and Victoria settled herself down. In the seat, there are four more people on the same table as them.

Victoria might not be the most experienced, but being married to a man like Wilfred had given her plenty of opportunities to train her conversationalist skills and turned her into an excellent one.

As soon as she sat down on the table, all eyes were on her. One of the man there started to introduce himself and the conversation flew from there. She might seem a bit traditional at times, but Victoria had her own charm and wits.

Before long, everyone on the table was having fun. Not because of the food or the music, but because of Victoria. She had enough sense of humor to break some jokes without offending anybody, yet each words that came out of her mouth was filled with weight.

“Mrs. Darlington, you are such a charming woman. You must have entertained a lot of guest in the past. I wonder why we have never heard more of you.” One of the woman on the table asked. Victoria just smiled politely at the remark.

She recalled memories from the past. Although Wilfred loved her, he was not exactly the most lenient man.

There were some parts in her marital life when he had asked her to remain quiet and hidden during a few parties and meetings.

It was as if he did not want people to know about her. Which was odd since she knew he loved her so much.

It made her wonder if Wilfred was hiding something.

If that was the case, she would definitely find out about it later.