Chapter 11: The Joker

Vivienne had gone to a luxurious and spacious restaurant, and for the first time, she sat with a clear conscious as she wondered how a lot of things had been happening lately. Her thoughts were mostly entangled with confusion. She wanted to understand the dynamic that caused all these scenarios but she still didn't get an answer. She was sick and tired of being blamed for everything.

It was so unfortunate that Damian had to die at the very moment she was about to start setting up her plan for revenge, but why? It felt like things were happening too fast. Who killed Damian? she kept asking herself that question as if Damian would appear there by himself and yield that answer. Now that she was demoted as the CEO of Lancaster Enterprises, she feared that her father might be disappointed in her and instead of sitting alone and crying about things she couldn't fix, she could actually focus on something, getting back her father's company and chasing away her evil step-mom and step-sister.

This is where Adrian came in. Although, Adrian seemed like a very mysterious man, he looked like someone she could trust and now that they were going to get married on the day they were going to bury Damian, what was the general public going to say? It just had to be two elite families.

"Excuse me Miss. Would you like anything else? said the waiter after he served her a cup of coffee.

"Thank you, No need, I'm fine," said Vivienne. Then the waiter left to serve another customer.

However, this customer that he was serving turned to stare at Vivienne even though she didn't notice them. His eyes looked at her intently with a mix of worry and curiosity. It was Adrian Blackwood, she had been following Vivienne since the day she proposed to her at the engagement ceremony.

That day, when she cried in her room after a verbal quarrel with Annie and Carla, Adrian was already in her room. He watched her cry, and even though he wanted to console her, he couldn't, where he stood with her emotionally wouldn't let him. He didn't want Vivienne to think that he cared. He only wanted Vivienne to care that he didn't. 

Adrian knew already what troubled Vivienne and even though he wanted to move closer to her and tell her that everything would be okay, he still kept his distant for certain reasons that won't be revealed now.

--

"A lot has been happening to the Whitmore's and Lancaster's Dad, aren't you worried?" asked Lydia Nobel as she took a sip of water while they ate dinner.

All the Nobel's were taking their dinner in silence, until Lydia broke it. Lydia was always the most talkative one and after they heard the news of Damian's death being not so much of a suicide and rather being of murder, who was to say they weren't next on the roster.

"I think we shouldn't indulge ourselves in this kind of topic Lydia, we have always been a secure family and careful with our decisions, no one would target us," said her father. Liam Nobel more calmer than usual. 

However, after Lydia's question, it got him thinking, were they really safe and what was Liam Nobel not telling his family that always kept him up on most nights. Why wasn't he telling her wife the very thing that was disturbing him, that at one point he was lovers with Walter Lancaster and that he has been cheating on her wife with a man who he claimed his friend, for the longest time up until he was locked up and that's why he worked so hard to get his lover out of prison.

When it came to all these Elite families in the city, everyone had a secret, even the most powerful families, and it was only a matter of time before things blew up out of proportion.

--

Adrian stood shirtless with his abs facing the large wall of glass in his room, with one hand placed above his head on the window as he leaned just slightly, just thinking and he suddenly received a call, he went back to his bedroom stand to answer it. The number that showed on his screen was a private number.

"Did you manage to find the person that killed him?" 

"She was a bit of a puzzle but I managed to find her," said the caller with a satisficed tone, proud of his hard work.

"She?" asked Adrian unexpectedly.

"Yes sir, it's a woman. I'll send you the details immediately." Then the caller hang up.

A notification sound followed, the caller had sent the information to Adrian and once Adrian took a look at the profile of the person who murdered Damian, he was shocked.

Adrian, Mathew and their father were taking breakfast when Adrian suddenly told Mathew, "You need to be careful wherever you go from now on, Mathew, it's not safe."

"What is it again, Adrian? Is it one of your buddies threatening you?" asked Mathew in a serious tone.

"I don't need to explain myself Mathew," Adrian deadpanned as he looked at him straight from his coffee mug.

Mathew always knew the drill with Adrian if anything came up that was serious. Something serious that even made Adrian alert him on his safety. It meant it was bad.

Well, their father, let's just say, he knew how to protect himself, he didn't need to be warned. As much as their father wasn't much involved in the company, he still made some important decisions and he still attended some meetings even though they were minimal. Otherwise, he used the rest of his time reading books and playing poker with his friends.

Mathew on the other hand, was a big player. A notorious fucker, but he knew when to play fetch and when to not.

Their relationship was quite unique. Daily brother to brother banters, More work. Breakfast and Dinner together.

For the longest time, Mathew had wanted to join the Blackwood Holdings, their company, but Adrian was very strict with him, even their father feared him sometimes because he never knew what truly ran in his mind but today, Adrian had promised to introduce Mathew to the company.

"By the way Adrian, you promised I would start today at the company, I hope you won't go back on your words." Mathew clarified with a grin.

"Yes, you are. I'm sending you to Iraq."

While Adrian said it so non-chalantly pissing off Mathew, Their father just chuckled.