AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Instagram
BookBub
Pinterest
Goodreads
TikTok
DARK SOVEREIGNTY SERIES
A complete dark and suspenseful series set amongst the elite of a London society intent on finding power in the wrong place.
Legacy of Succession
Tainted Reasoning
A Father’s Insistence
CHAPTER ONE - VICTORIA
I swear I must have read the same page in this high society gossip magazine at least five times. You know the sort: who’s marrying who, which couples are divorcing, and who’s running around Chelsea in nothing but their bra and knickers. It’s boring! But then again, it’s more interesting than the life I have. The highlight of my day would be if the cook changed the strictly ordered meal plan that I’ve eaten every week, without fail, since I turned sixteen. Five years of the same food is enough to send anyone crazy. But I shouldn’t complain. My father, Arthur Cortland Hamilton, Viscount Mayfield, is a wealthy man, and I lead a life of privilege. I’ve never wanted for anything: clothes, makeup, books, they’ve all been produced within hours of asking. My days are often spent lounging around by the indoor pool after swimming a hundred lengths, as I am now, but I want something more. I didn't go to regular school like normal people — I was educated at home by a governess. My brother, Theodore, Theo for short, went to a local private school. He would always come home with tales of the friends he’d made and the games that he’d played. My games would consist of reciting my times tables, so I didn’t fall asleep from the monotony of the day. I once asked my mother why I wasn’t allowed to go to school, and all she would say was ‘to protect your reputation’. I have no doubt my gravestone will read, ‘Here lies, the honorable Victoria Hamilton. She died from boredom, but at least, her reputation was intact.’
I give up on the magazine and place it down on the ornately carved sixteenth-century table. I take off the towel, which I’d wrapped around me after my swim. I’m dressed in only a small black bikini. It’s the one I always try to choose because of the inlaid embroidery of a rose on it. It’s my favorite flower.
“Miss Hamilton?” I turn my head toward the middle-aged butler when he addresses me. He bows.
“Yes.”
“Miss Bennett is on the telephone for you.” He hands me the phone, and I wave him away before squealing into the receiver.
“Tammy, how are you?”
She's excited about something. I can tell from the hyperventilating breaths coming from the other end of the phone.
“I did it. I’ve taken my last exam, and it feels so good. I’m sure I passed it. I answered nearly every question.”
“I’m so happy for you. That’s amazing news.”
Tamara Bennett is my only friend. She’s the same age as me. We grew up together. She made life tolerable in this mansion of no fun. Her mother, Elsie, is lady’s maid to my mother and me. She doesn’t know who her father is. Her mother tells her it isn’t important. We used to make up stories that he was a hero off fighting for his country, and one day, he would come back for her and Elsie. He never did though, and the truth, about him being a father who abandoned a pregnant woman, seems a lot less exciting. Still, I’m glad she came to live with me because it means I can live vicariously through her. She’s been at Oxford University for the last three years, studying law. I’ve missed her so much.
“All I need to do is pack up all my stuff and I’ll be coming back to London.”
“When?” I try to temper down my excitement a little bit, but her giggle tells me she knows I’m practically climbing the walls without her here.
“I’ve got a few end-of-term parties first, so a couple of weeks.”
“A couple of weeks,” I say sadly.
“I know. It’ll go quickly. You’ll see.”
“I wonder if Daddy would let me come up to see you at the parties? Theo could accompany me. That way, I wouldn’t get into any of the trouble he thinks would befall me if I happened to leave the house.”
“Victoria.” Her answer is ominous. Not because she doesn’t want me to come, but she knows my father would say ‘no’ immediately.
“I just wish for once he would trust me.”
“He does trust you.”
