Chapter 31

Daria ran after him, but was held back by Ludwig as she entered the north side.

“You can’t go in” he said holding her by the arm, “Ludwig you have to let me go, what is wrong” Daria pleaded .

“You know I can’t tell you anything, please don’t let me hurt you” he said and Daria gave up, staring at the door as if she was seeing through it.

“Daria” Ludwig called her and she stepped back, determined to get the truth. That day passed and Daria didn’t see Nicholas again.

Daria knew she couldn’t resume work so that she wouldn’t raise suspicions,

“What am I going to do?” Daria asked helplessly, staring at Maria.

“Have you tried to talk with him?” Maria asked, “yes, I tried asking several times, I even tried finding out by myself but he just wouldn’t budge” Daria replied.

“There’s one thing you could try,” Maria said with a little smirk.

Intrigued, Daria turned her attention to her, “pretend not to care about whatever he's doing, ignore his taunts then you’ll see a loophole in his game and then you can find out everything” she advised.

“Are you sure?” Daria, asked hesitantly, “it’s worth a shot “ Maria replied.

“Can you come over for dinner tonight, maybe give me some encouragement, Elena’s on a tour for the whole year I’m going to need support”  Daria pleaded.

Maria was hesitant, “no I don’t want to get involved, your husband scares me a little” Maria replied.

“A month ago I would have definitely disagreed with you but now I agree” Daria began.

“But I need you, for this” Daria continued, “you can leave once you have thought that you have had enough” she suggested.

Sighing deeply Maria, nodded, agreeing to tag along.

“Dinner is by 7pm, I’ll be expecting you” Daria said excitedly “but for now let’s enjoy this and talk about something else”. Daria let out a small laugh.

It was dinner time and Daria sat at the table dressed beautifully, when Nicholas walked in, “Donald is the food I asked for ready?” Nicholas asked, ignoring Daria’s presence.

“Yes sir Donald” replied, signaling for the food to be served, “Donald serve one more plate I would be having a guest” Daria informed him.

“Yes ma’am” he replied, “with whose permission did you make the invite” Nicholas finally spoke to her.

“I didn’t know I had to ask for permission to invite someone to my home for dinner” Daria asked calmly.

“This is my house, and only I have the right to bring anyone in here, cancel it” Nicholas ordered.

“This is my house as much as it is yours” Daria replied, and a loud bang on the table erupted as Nicholas stumped his fist on the table startling her.

“Did you invest a dine in these halls, did you lay on brick, the only thing you did was try and break it” Nicholas answered.

“I may not have built it but we got married and I have rights” Daria stated.

“This marriage means nothing  to me, it is nothing” Nicholas roared. 

“This should be the last time I would say this, if you want to keep your guest pride you know what to do” he added storming away.

But Daria got in his way, “ you do not expect me to live like this, I am not a weak woman Nicholas, I could leave you and still survive” she said.

“Oh really with what your fathers, wealth?”Nicholas smirked.

“I guess he didn’t tell you about selling 60%of his company shares to me and our marriage gave me your 20%” Nicholas said as his smirk curled into a smile.

Daria’s eyes grew wide, “you are so..” she couldn’t complete her sentence.

“I would advise that you keep to your level” Nicholas warned as he walked past her.

Daria couldn’t believe her ears, just then Maria scams in accompanied by Donald, “you look pale, sorry I was held up in a surprise meeting” Maria explained.

Daria looked up at her and fell into her arms, Maria immediately set her down on the chair while donald brought a cup of water for her.

“What is wrong?” Maria asked worriedly, “I can’t play the long game, I need to find out why Nicholas would do this” Daria replied sternly.

“What happened” Maria looked confused, Daria immediately took her arms and rushed upstairs to her room.

“Why are you with a veil?” Daria finally noticed that Maria had a veil on, “it’s from my meeting, my client has this fetish, I forgot to get rid of it” Maria replied.

“Why are you suddenly changing plans” Maria asked, “Nicholas has made a full proof plan, I am completely trapped” Daria explained what had happened.

“So what do you want to do?” Maria asked, “I have to find out what he claims I did, and it begins with whatever is inside that room” Daria replied convincingly.

“What if it’s not” Maria stated, “then I have nothing to lose” Daria said.

“Do you know exactly how to do that?” Maria heaved a sigh, sitting on the bed stressed from the drama.

“No, that's why I need your help,” Daria looked at her, “I can't come up with anything right now”.

“Like I said before you have to find a loophole, since the north side is guarded, maybe you have to find a way to get them apart or pull them away from there” she suggested.

“How did you know the room was on the north side” Daria asked confused, “oh you mentioned it earlier” Maria responded but Daria’s brows scrunched together.

“Look Daria, you don’t have to do this, you could just walk away from this, and divorce him” Maria suggested.

“That’s not possible, our marriage cannot end for the next three years, Nicholas added it in our marriage contract” Daria said.

“What!?” Maria looked stunned, “didn’t it look suspicious to you?” She asked.

“It didn’t I never put too much thought into it” Daria replied disappointed at herself, “for a business woman like you, I wasn’t expecting this” Maria commented.

“I know, I was in love, I still am and I want to get to the bottom of this” Daria confessed sadly.

“Okay, I will help,” Maria offered, “but you have to keep me updated on everything.

Daria nodded that she had mixed feelings but she couldn’t tell what it was for.