Chapter 2: The Inheritance

"The Inheritance of a distinguished and noble name is a proud inheritance to him who lives worthily to it."

-Charles Caleb Colton-

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“Where are you taking me, Wilfred?” Victoria asked in anticipation with a smile on her face as her husband led her somewhere. She had her eyes closed with a piece of red cloth, thus unable to see anything.

“Don’t worry, my love. You will see in a couple of minutes.” He held her hand throughout the ride until the car eventually stopped. She did not know where they were since he wanted to surprise her but she could already feel something big was coming.

The car door was opened and Wilfred helped her out of the car. He slowly led her by holding her shoulder gently and a few seconds later. They stopped.

“Okay, now I will remove your blindfold.” He gently untied the back of the cloth and removed it from her eyes. Victoria slowly opened her eyes and gasped in surprise when she saw what was in front of her.

It was a house in Knightsbridge area of London. Judging from the size it must have costed at least two million pounds.

“No way, Wilfred. Are you serious?” She raised her voice as turned to him.

“Yes, my love. It’s yours. Consider it a gift from me for being the best wife a man could ever ask for.” He replied back with a warm smile. She leaned closed and hugged him so tightly.

“Thank you, Wilfred. I can’t believe this! It’s like a dream.” Nobody had ever surprised her like that.

She was living with Wilfred since they got married but she had considered purchasing her own home where she could spend time by herself and decorated it to her hearts content. She never verbally told him about it so she wondered how he knew.

It didn’t matter though because the only thing she wanted to do right then was to take a tour of the property.

“Come, let us go inside.” As they were walking in, the sound of the door being knocked woke Victoria up from her sleep. It appeared she had fallen asleep and had a dream about her late husband.

It was a memory from the past from when he bought her the house in Knightsbridge. Victoria couldn’t believe she thought of him so much he even appeared in her dreams. It had been a week since the funeral and she felt like she couldn’t get over it just yet.

As she was thinking of her dream, the knock on the door was heard again.

“Madame, it’s me, Darius.” It was the family butler. She sighed and tightened her robe before opening the door. Darius stood there, already in his uniform and greeted her.

“Good morning, madame. Forgive me for disrupting you so early. I’d like to inform you that breakfast is ready and the lawyer who is handling Mr. Darlington’s will is going to arrive today at eleven.” He informed her.

“I see, thank you, Darius.” She nodded lightly, hoping he would leave so she could take her shower. Instead of excusing himself, Darius spoke again.

“Madame, I know you are still upset. It is not my place to say this, but if you allow me, I will arrange an entertainment this weekend to lift your mood up. Only if you agree.” He offered. She stared at him for a few seconds and looked away.

He was being sincere, there was no hidden motive behind those eyes of his.

She should not have doubted him. It’s just, she found it difficult to trust anyone during that time. Not when everyone she knew was trying to kiss her arse to get a taste of the fortune.

“Sure, you can arrange that. Now you are dismissed.” She stated.

“Yes madame, I will be waiting for you in the dining room.” He nodded politely and left. She walked back inside and got herself ready for the day. Although it was heavy, she needed to carried herself like a Darlington.

Once she was done, she walked over to the dining room for breakfast. It was made by the family’s chef like usual but everything tasted bland since she ate it alone in such a huge room. In the middle of breakfast, she put down her knife and fork before turning to Darius.

“Darius, why don’t you sit down and have breakfast with me?” She asked him. His eyes widened a little since he was not expecting the generous invitation from her.

“Madame, are you sure?” He asked again, still a bit hesitant.

“Yes. Instead of standing there, you should come and have a seat. After all, you have been working with this family for years, even before I was here. You are practically a family. A meal is also better when eaten with a good company.” She told him.

He nodded and pulled a seat. Hesitant to take the meal before him but she encouraged him to treat it like a normal thing.

“Don’t worry. You can eat like normal. When we are seated like this, I want you to consider me as a friend. Not your madame.” She continued. Darius did not know if it was even polite for him to do such a thing since he had always taken his role as the family’s butler very seriously.

Then again, she had been quite lonely lately. If doing her request could cheer her up even a little bit, he was going to do it.

“Thank you madame, then I will eat as you ask.”  The two of them ended up having breakfast together. It lasted for around fifteen minutes before she was done.

“I am going to head back to my room first. Please inform me when the lawyer arrives.” She ordered. Darius rose from his seat as well and nodded.

“Don’t worry, madame. I will.”

Around two hours later, the lawyer arrived at the property. Darius did his job and informed her of his arrival. Only this time, Victoria already saw him coming from the balcony of her room.

She could never forget the familiar black Maseratti that only appeared when something bad was happening.

Only this time, the one he was looking for was not Wilfred, but her. They welcomed him into the house and they went straight into business.

“Mr Louv, thank you so much for coming here.” They exchanged handshakes and went to take a seat.

“It’s my duty, Mrs. Darlington. You must know the reason why I am here today. I am going to read his will to you and you can make the decisions on what to do with it afterward.” He stated before opening up his document and reading it.

Victoria sat still as she listened. Everything read no longer came as a surprise to her. Everything Wilfred ever owned, the Cigar and distillery business. Their properties in England and Europe. All the investments and other assets. All of them fell on her hands.

“Since the two of you never had a child and you are his legal spouse. All of his fortune is yours now, Mrs. Darlington. Whatever you do with them is completely up to you. Although, there is one more thing I need to mention to you.” The lawyer stated.

“What is it?” She wondered.

“One of his will is for you to take over his businesses. He wants you to operate them better than he ever did. For that, he wants you to meet up with some important faces in the business and get acquaintance with them"

"What, I never heard about this." She protested.

"Before he passed away, he paid me extra to send out the invitation to these people. All you have to do is to come to his head office this Saturday at three to meet them.” Victoria couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do. It was too much for her.

“I have never had any experience with business before. How can he easily entrust these companies to me? What if I make a mistake?”

“Don’t worry. You will get some help.”