Chapter 279 Victoria Meets Esme's Former Subordinate
The next day, Victoria went to meet the two people Alfonso had mentioned.
The address wasn't in the city center but out in a suburban villa area.
She pulled up to Villa No. 9 and rang the doorbell.
After a bit, a man in a suit, looking like he was in his fifties, came out.
Nicholas Lee looked pretty surprised to see Victoria standing outside the gate. He wasn't shocked she found the place—they had spread the word—but he didn't expect her to show up so soon.
Three days ago, Leroy and Eric Ford got called in by the police. They used that chance to let Victoria know about them through the cops, making sure it didn't catch too much attention.
Victoria noticed his slight reaction.
Once inside, she took a quick look around the living room. It felt very lived-in, like they'd been there for a while.
This was Nicholas's first close-up look at Victoria. She really did look a lot like Esme.
He broke the silence with a friendly smile, "Ms. Kennedy, nice to meet you. I'm Nicholas."
Victoria could tell he wasn't a threat, but she stayed on high alert. She'd learned to be cautious from a young age. The only person who could make her drop her guard quickly was Alexander.
"What are Leroy and Eric to you?" she asked directly, her eyes locked on him.
Nicholas wasn't thrown off by her cold attitude. Her wariness was normal and would take time to ease.
He didn't hold back and told her straight, "Leroy is my son, and Eric is my nephew."
Victoria narrowed her eyes a bit. So, they were family. "What's your relationship with my mother?"
Nicholas replied, "I was your mother's butler, and you could say a close friend."
Upstairs, a room had an LCD TV showing the scene in the living room. The TV reflected a figure half-lying on the bed, looking pale and a bit scary. The person was very thin, but their eyes were strikingly beautiful.
Downstairs, Victoria asked, "When did you start placing people around me?"
Nicholas answered, "Since you were seven years old."
A flash of surprise crossed her face, and she frowned slightly before asking, "All the time?"
Nicholas nodded and added, "Leroy and Eric were placed around you after you turned eighteen."
The two mentioned were also hiding in a room, watching the scene downstairs.
Eric said, "Why do I feel like Nicholas is trying to butter her up?"
Leroy replied, "Be confident. He is trying to butter her up. No one would accept this easily. He's trying to get Victoria to lower her guard against us."
Eric raised an eyebrow, "Nicholas wants her to trust us quickly. That's a tall order."
Leroy pursed his lips and stayed quiet. This time, he agreed with Eric.
Over the years, they had been secretly following Victoria. They had seen everything she went through and had experienced it together in a way.
They also knew many of her secrets.
Her strength was far greater and more ruthless than the person in the innermost room.
They admired her for being just an eighteen-year-old girl back then, enduring what ordinary people couldn't and breaking through limits that everyone thought were unbreakable. Even they might not have survived that place, but she did, and as a victor.
What puzzled them was that Nicholas didn't let them rescue her back then, only telling them to wait patiently.
It wasn't until Victoria left the villa that the two of them ambled out.
Nicholas had just returned.
"Nicholas, should we keep following her?" Eric asked. After all, Victoria now knew about them.
Nicholas replied, "Yes, follow her openly."
The two of them exchanged glances and shrugged.
Nicholas headed upstairs to the room at the end of the hallway.
Meanwhile, Kimberly had been waiting in the car. Victoria had told her to stay put before she went inside.
Half an hour passed, and Kimberly started to worry. Just as she was about to get out of the car, she saw Victoria walking towards her, head down, looking deep in thought and a bit serious.
Kimberly wondered, 'What happened?'
"Mrs. Howard, what's wrong?" Kimberly called out as Victoria was about to pass by.
Victoria looked up, saw Kimberly, and replied, "Nothing, just thinking. Let's head back."
The morning sunlight filtered through the branches outside the villa and through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor, casting a warm glow on the floor. A person sat in a wheelchair by the window, with Nicholas standing beside them, both watching the distant black Mercedes.
"Give her some more time," Nicholas sighed, his voice heavy.
The person in the wheelchair didn't speak, but their eyes stayed fixed on the distance.
As the car left the villa area, Victoria's phone rang. It was Lila.
Victoria answered, "Lila, what's up?"
Lila immediately said, "Hey, I want to visit Marlowe later. Can you give me the address?"
Victoria frowned slightly, almost instinctively saying, "Don't you already know the address?" But sensing something off in Lila's tone, she changed her response, "Marlowe said she doesn't want to see anyone right now."
Lila glanced at Grant sitting across from her, shrugged, and silently raised an eyebrow as if to say, "See, I told you Victoria wouldn't tell me."
Grant looked like a devil, his lips tight and his eyes cold and terrifying.
"Alright, we'll wait until Marlowe wants to see us," Lila replied casually.
Victoria said, "Okay."
Lila hung up and looked at Grant with a helpless expression. "Grant, Marlowe is determined to shut you out. She won't even see us. There's no point in glaring at me. I really don't know."
Lila pouted, looking aggrieved. She hid her emotions well and acted convincingly, as if she truly didn't know.
Grant's patience was wearing thin. He had searched all of Ridgewood, even all of Stellaria, but couldn't find any trace of Marlowe.
"Lila, you better not let me find out you're lying to me!" Grant's face was stern, his voice cold and threatening.
Lila immediately put on a fawning attitude, grinning. "Don't worry, every word I said is true. If there's a single lie, may I never get married!"
After saying that, she silently added in her mind, 'If I can't get married, I can always marry myself. It's still a wedding.'
Grant left her with a straight but menacing back.
As soon as he left, she slumped over the table, holding her face in her hands. It was too scary.
Grant was ridiculous. He didn't cherish her when he had her, and now that Marlowe wanted to leave, he was clinging on. He deserved it.
Lila definitely wouldn't help Grant.
But it was the first time she had seen Grant so frustrated. There were things even he couldn't accomplish.
Meanwhile, Kevin saw Grant's stern face as he came out and knew he hadn't gotten any information about Marlowe from Lila.
After getting in the car, Grant took out his phone and sent a message.
At Vertex Holdings Group, Alexander was in a meeting when his phone vibrated. Without opening it, he saw the message.
Grant: [Send me your wife's number!]
This didn't look he was in a good mood at all.
Alexander ignored it and continued the meeting.
After all, he wasn't the only one with Victoria's number. Grant could ask anyone, given their many mutual friends. But the fact that Grant asked him specifically showed that Grant was very angry at Victoria, and was taking it out on him.
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