Chapter 315 The Upper Class and the Underground Circle
After Dillon finished speaking, he wanted Rachel to follow him to a private room. Just as Rachel was about to reject him, a woman’s voice was heard coming from behind Dillon. “Young Master Porter, the banquet is about to start.”
Finding the voice familiar, Rachel looked at the source of it and saw a young woman standing among the crowd. Her appearance wasn’t outstanding, but no one could neglect her when she spoke.
Rachel felt her heart skipping a beat as she stared fixedly at the woman.
She sported a short, clean-looking hairstyle while her body was clad in a black one-piece dress. Her tanned-skin appeared rather out of place in a hall where most women had fair skin. Furthermore, she looked like someone who was supposed to be practicing pistol-shooting in a shooting range instead of a woman clad in an evening dress in a banquet hall.
An impatient Dillon refuted, “Can’t you see that I’m busy?”
“All of them are waiting for you to open the champagne bottle.”
Her attitude was neither arrogant nor subservient. After a moment of deadlock, Dillon eventually gave in. “Alright, we’ll do that first.”
Then, he turned to look at Rachel. “Come with us, Miss Hudson.”
Rachel came to her senses and nodded with a polite smile.
After that, Dillon shuffled forward while the woman merely walked alongside him. Looking at her straight back, Rachel felt that she must have met her before.
“Who is she, Jason?”
“Lila Hart. She’s Mr. Porter’s bodyguard.”
“What?” Rachel was startled. “A female bodyguard?”
“Of course. Do you think she looks like a man? However, I heard that she’s better at fighting than most men, so don’t offend her. Even Mr. Porter has to listen to her.”
His words puzzled Rachel.
“Why? Isn’t she just a bodyguard?”
“Rather than a bodyguard, she’s actually a mole.”
“A mole?”
All of a sudden, Jason started coughing.
Rachel looked up and saw Lila staring at her. She shuddered as the woman seemed to be warning her with her cold-looking eyes.
While Rachel was in a dazed state, the woman slowly retracted her gaze.
On the side, Jason uttered in a small voice, “Stop asking and stay away from her. She’s someone that even Mr. Porter has to be wary of.”
Upon hearing that, Rachel dipped her head. It was apparent that Jason knew little about Lila as well.
Presently, the center of the banquet hall was filled with people. Rachel and Jason were slow to arrive, so they could only stand in a place that was far away from the center.
Just then, someone was heard speaking over a microphone. “Hi, I’m Randall Baxter. Thanks for coming to this event organized by the Jockey Club. I’m truly honored. I especially have to thank Mr. Porter for making the effort to come here despite his busy schedule…”
Randall Baxter? Rachel recalled what Jolly had said to her.
“That’s Randall Baxter—he’s one of the founders of the Jockey Club.”
Rachel snapped back to reality upon hearing Jason’s voice. “Does Mr. Porter have anything to do with him?”
There was a faint smile on Jason’s face. “Well, the reason the Jockey Club has so much influence is all thanks to Mr. Porter. You see, all of the guests here are the wealthiest people in Riverdale. It’s easy to become a part of the upper class in Riverdale, but it’s extremely hard to join the circle you’re seeing now.”
“What do you mean?”
“The underground circle.” Jason gave her a meaningful look. “Do you think it’s just a normal event on this cruise ship?”
Rachel’s eyes darkened. “Are you saying that these people are here for trade deals?”
“Of course not.” Jason lowered his voice. “We do have some outsiders here to conceal the nature of this event.”
As Rachel gazed at these people, a realization suddenly dawned upon her.
It was an annual event that wasn’t what the organizer purported it to be, and the risk they had to bear increased year by year. If this cruise ship was inspected by the authorities, the outsiders who scrambled to attend this event would be used as a cover-up. If those who engaged in illegal trades couldn’t flee, they would hold these people captive.
Once they had the captives in their hands, those from the Investigation Bureau wouldn’t dare to make a move.
Rachel felt her heart sinking as the bustling banquet turned into something else in her eyes. These people with bright smiles on their faces were like moving captives to her now.
After Dillon was done with opening the champagne bottle, the crowd dispersed as the banquet hall became lively again.
Rachel and Jason were standing in a spot that was far away from the stage. When Jason saw Dillon beckoning to them, he immediately understood his hint.
He then said, “Let’s go. Mr. Porter wants us to head to the private room.”
Upon hearing that, Rachel came to her senses. When they reached the private room, two male bodyguards stopped them and uttered, “We’ll have to inspect you.”
Rachel subconsciously took a step back. It wasn’t that she wanted to refuse their inspection, but the bodyguards were men.
Just then, someone opened the door from inside and said, “I’ll do it.”
Lila took a glance at the bodyguard nearest to Rachel, whereupon he meekly stepped aside. It seemed like he was afraid of her.
While staring at Rachel, Lila said, “This is our rule, Miss Hudson. Please raise your hands.”
Rachel became startled for a moment before raising her hands as she was told.
Lila went on to carefully inspect her, including all the accessories Rachel was wearing.
Since they were in such close proximity, Lila’s face magnified before Rachel’s eyes. At that moment, she had a feeling that she had met this female bodyguard before.
“Have we met before?” she subconsciously spurted out.
However, Lila denied with a frown and said, “It’s our first encounter, Miss Hudson.”
Meanwhile, Jason was being inspected as well. In the midst of Rachel’s doubts, he said, “Miss Hart rarely comes to Riverdale, so it isn’t likely that you’ve met her before.”
An astounded Rachel replied, “Perhaps I’ve mistaken her for someone else.”
“Alright, you can come in now,” Lila uttered.
After thanking her, Rachel shuffled into the private room with Jason.
As soon as they entered the place, Dillon asked, “What were you talking about outside the room? I heard you saying that you’ve mistaken someone for somebody else, am I right?”
Before Rachel could speak, Jason enthusiastically went over and explained, “It was Rachel. She said that she might have met Miss Hart before, but I told her that it wasn’t likely. There’s no way they’d come across each other before.”
“Oh?” Dillon’s gaze fell upon Rachel. “Have you met Lila before, Miss Hudson?”
A startled Rachel subconsciously took a glance at Lila, who directly headed toward Dillon after entering the place. Presently, she was also looking at Rachel. As Rachel examined her, she increasingly found her facial features familiar.
I must have met her before. Where did we meet, though? All of a sudden, all the dots connected as she recalled something.
“Miss Hudson?”
Dillon’s voice pulled her back to reality as she quickly denied by saying, “No, I’m just mistaken.”
“Really? What’s wrong? Do you know a person who resembles Lila? Tell me about it.”
“She was a classmate, but we haven’t met for ages.”
Rachel took one more look at Lila as she believed that her speculation was right.
Even though Lila’s face was different from that person five years ago, her voice sounded familiar to Rachel. Also, her gaze never changed one bit.
Rachel could still remember climbing on the window of the hotel where she had been confined to. A woman gestured with her hand while telling Rachel not to be afraid, and she looked truly valiant back then.
