Secrets In The City

30.2: God's Plan

FLASHBACK

IN the month of March 1998, 30-year-old Victoria Phillips, the renowned multimillionaire who resided in New York City, had finalized her most recent divorce. The press was all over her at the Kings County Supreme Court as she came out of with a disappointed look plastered on her face but it was hidden behind her Gucci sunglasses.

It was her second failed marriage and this time, it ended with a scandal that was going to be hard to clean up. Her company was under fire for her ex-husband's actions. A sex tape between her assistant, Fiona Cruz, and her husband, Charles Hall was leaked to the press by an anonymous source.

During the divorce trial, Victoria's lawyers were able to obtain evidence that exposed the unknown source of the leak that happened to be no other than Fiona. The divorce went to trial because Victoria and Charles could not decide on a specific matter which was the division of Victoria's assets. After her first marriage to a fellow businessman, Victoria chose to find love in a man who wasn't of her caliber.

Charles demanded Victoria to leave him the ski lodge in Aspen, the Aston Martin DB7, and the Bentley Continental. The jury was present for the case and Victoria's attorney presented their argument saying that Charles's reason for coming into the marriage was to extort Victoria. When the jury watched the tape, they decided to support Victoria's motion, leaving Charles with nothing.

The case was then dismissed.

Victoria's inability to bear a child strained all her marriages and although Charles promised to work with her, he couldn't handle not being a father especially at his age when men like him were beginning to become fathers. Victoria wasn't open to the idea of adoption because of the pressure she felt from Charles who tried to coax her into it but she begged him to be patient because she wasn't ready to do so.

Ultimately, he grew impatient and that yielded into lust which got the best of him. He stepped out of his marriage and this time, Victoria has to fire her assistant, Fiona. The ruthless headlines on the newspapers, magazines, and Tv stations screamed at Victoria's ego. She needed to find solace and by doing that, she needed to return to her religious roots.

Once she entered her 1998 grey Chevrolet Tahoe, she asked her driver to take her home to pack up her things and go for a well-needed vacation to get away from the drama going on there in the city. She paged her new male assistant, Samuel, and instructed him to book her a flight to Athens, Greece.

Victoria's mother called her after watching the news and seeing her daughter exit the courthouse with her attorney shielding her from the cramming paparazzi. While Victoria was on the phone arguing with her mother and telling her to mind her business, her car got caught by a red light and the sudden pause prompted her to gaze to her right-hand side. She spotted a large cross attached to the top of a Catholic Church on the side of the street.

Which coincidentally happened to be the Parish Katerina was transferred to.

A calming whisper floated into her spirit therefore instructing her to go inside to seek the answers she needed. She hearkened to the instruction and hung up on her mother even though she was still ranting about Victoria's pour choices in men.

Victoria wasn't a practicing Catholic. She was a Baptist member but she always believed God was anywhere you called Him to appear. He's always there.

"Prince." She called out.

Prince, who was 23 years old at the time, kept his eyes on his road but used the rearview mirror to look at her as he answered her call. "Yes ma'am."