CHAPTER 89: [CHAPTER - 80] - MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

Chapter - 80

"Of course I know him. We met on our Little trip to Udaipur," Lucius grinned, talking about Marcus, "Your father tried to kill me."

"Almost had me buried alive."

And as soon as the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the room grew tight. All heads turned towards Lucius, and among them was Iris as well, surprised by the revelation.. She didn’t know this.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence.

Victor stared at Lucius, his polite smile stayed on his face, but it felt a little thinner than before. Then he suddenly laughed softly, as if something had clicked in his mind.

"Ah, yes," he said with a nod, "Now that you mention it... My father did mention something like this about what happened during his trip to Udaipur."

He turned his body fully toward Lucius now, giving him a more direct look, "My father talked about some... some nobody who caused him a small hiccup. A slight hindrance, nothing major."

He smiled wider now, with just a little more sharpness behind his eyes, "Ever since then, I have been curious about the man who managed to disrupt my father’s plans slightly."

"And to think I would run into him here of all places," he added, placing one hand on his chest, "Truly... Fate indeed has a funny sense of humor."

"Though it wasn’t planned," Victor continued, "But it is a good thing we met today. I wouldn’t mind learning a thing or two from you, Lucius."

Lucius tilted his head, his lips curving into a calm smirk, "Sure," he said casually.

"I wouldn’t mind imparting a bit of my vast knowledge on Marcus’s son. Son of my friend is almost like a son to me. Hahaha"

"So the first lesson for you son is to not make an enemy of me. Your father tried and failed miserably. So don’t try too hard. Son!"

"Heh..." And a tiny, short laugh escaped from Iris’s lips before she could stop herself. It was soft, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Iris’s aunt snapped her head toward her with a sharp glance, but Iris had already returned to her usual cold expression.

Then her aunt quickly decided it was time to ease the tension before it got out of hand.

"Victor, darling," she said quickly with a gentle smile plastered on her face, "It’s already dinner time. Why don’t you stay for dinner with us?"

But Victor stood up with a slow shake of his head, "Thank you, but I must decline. I have another engagement this evening," he said politely.

He smoothed out the front of his blazer and continued speaking with the same calm, collected tone, "Actually, the reason I came here today was to invite Iris and Cassey with me to an event."

"One of our schoolmates is hosting a private charity auction tonight," Victor explained, "I would have taken Cassey with me, but since she is not here right now..."

Iris’s aunt’s smile froze just slightly. Behind that smile, she was mentally cursing her daughter, ’Useless girl! Can’t even show up when it matters most.’

But her expression remained all warm and filled with kindness as she turned to Iris and placed a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Iris, dear," she spoke with affection, "Why don’t you go with Victor? You work so hard, so it will be good for you to ease up a bit. Go have fun."

Victor extended his hand toward Iris in a gentlemanly gesture. Iris turned her eyes slowly towards him, her face still unreadable.

"It has been so long since all of us have gotten together," he told Iris, "For today we can enjoy some nice wine, music, and meet some interesting people."

But Iris didn’t say anything, instead, her eyes flicked to the side, towards Lucius.

She was waiting... Waiting for Lucius to say something. To crack a joke like always. To tease Victor, and to make him look like a fool. She wanted Lucius to send Victor packing from there.

But Lucius just leaned back on the couch and gave a half-laugh, "Will there be good food?" he asked jokingly. "And some nice single women for me ?"

That made Victor chuckle, "Absolutely. There will be exquisite wine, gourmet delicacies from across the world, and yes... some very beautiful girls,"

he said with a knowing smile.

"But unfortunately Lucius, you won’t be able to enjoy them. You see... It’s a private event. Invite only."

Lucius shrugged like it didn’t matter, "Then I guess I don’t care."

And those words landed harder than he thought. Iris’s eyes flicked to him again, but this time, they stayed there.

She looked at his face, and something snapped inside of her. Then without looking at Victor, she said in a quiet voice.

"I will come with you. Just give me half an hour."

Her voice had no joy in it. No warmth. She just spoke and stood up from the couch slowly and walked past them all without another word.

She didn’t glance at anyone, not even Lucius. Victor watched her leave with a smile on his face. Her aunt looked at her with a delightful smile, cursing her daughter for being absolutely useless.

And Lucius? He just sat there, one arm resting over the back of the couch.

[Master...]

The System broke the silence in his mind.

[You do realise that you just failed a test you didn’t even know you were taking, don’t you?]

Lucius said nothing.

[Seriously, how can someone be this clueless? She wanted you to stop her. Even I saw that.]

’Don’t you know? We are leaving them all behind. Soon we will be out of their lives. It doesn’t concern us no more."

’What happens to her is no longer in my hands, and is not my concern.’

’We have known each other for a bit more than a month. That is not enough time to even make friends, let alone something else.’

[Well, I can see people getting married to people without even looking at their faces. You have atleast see her almost naked]

’Enough! We have to be somewhere else as well.’

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