Chapter 2. Noelle

2011

WASHINGTON DC

For most people, the idea of growing up surrounded by wealth is the ultimate dream. They never think about what you have to give up. Your parents, for instance.

Noelle grew up thinking she was the luckiest little girl in the world. Her mother, Julie, was beautiful, gentle, and kind. Her father was handsome and snuck her cookies when her nanny wasn’t paying attention.  She had a fat little pony called Twinkles and a room fit for a princess, with a beautiful pink canopy bed and a variety of stuffed animals from floor to ceiling.

Her life changed overnight when her parents got hit by a drunk driver on their way home from a black-tie affair in New York City. Their driver was instantly killed when an SUV slammed into the driver’s side of their Lincoln Towncar. Noelle’s mom Julia, who had been sitting behind the driver, fought for a few days in the ICU at Mount Sinai hospital before she was declared brain dead and taken off life support. Noelle’s dad – Robert Drummond Spencer III – who had been in the passenger side of the vehicle, suffered minor physical injuries along with a broken heart that never healed. Noelle was six.

Overwhelmed by grief, Robert withdrew more and more from his beautiful daughter who happened to be a spitting image of her mother. Knowing how wrong he was, shame pushed him even further away. Work became his life and he traveled extensively on business, leaving Noelle in the competent hands of two nannies who worked shifts to provide full-time care for his daughter. He returned less and less to their beautiful mansion in Great Falls, Virginia and bought a condo in New York City where he spent most of his time.

As an avid sports fan, his mood was lifted slightly in 2003 when he was offered the opportunity of a lifetime. He was in the running to become the new owner of the Washington Wolverines football team. The board respected him as a businessman and money was clearly not a problem. The only setback was that the league liked stability. These days, Robert was a single man in his early forties. A guy who frequently could be found in the society pages with different models and heiresses on his arm. The league didn’t like scandal of any kind and considered his lifestyle a possible liability.

An unofficial meeting was held at one of the oldest and most prestigious men’s clubs in Manhattan. Robert arrived at the club on Park Avenue dressed to impress in an impeccable Tom Ford suit, handpicked by his personal shopper at Nieman Marcus. He was quickly shown to a table where he joined two of the league’s senior board members. Over a few glasses of scotch and some Cuban cigars, Robert was advised to find a suitable wife – but not too young - and get married. The perception of him being nothing but a promiscuous playboy would be changed to a married family father, and his status as an irresponsible womanizer was the one thing holding back the decision to approve his purchase of the team.

The thought of re-marrying after having lost the love of his life was sickening to Robert, but purchasing his own professional football team was a life goal he never thought he would achieve. He agreed with the two older men and made the decision to change his life for the sake of his career.

With the help of his friends, the search for a perfect wife began. She needed to be classy and beautiful. Preferably someone from old money, where girls were taught early in life to never cause a scene in public. To look the other way when needed. Someone safe.

Robert was introduced to Margaret Chamblers by a business associate and knew he had struck gold. She was from a prominent Boston family and had her own wealth. She wasn’t a gold digger and had no past scandals. She was classically beautiful, with a sexy vibe that appealed to him. The best part was that she was a widow, just as he was a widower, so it would make sense to the public that they found love after sharing the experience of a monumental loss, such as the death of a spouse. Of course, it wasn’t widely known that Margaret’s previous husband had been thirty years her senior and had died of a heart attack while taking a shit. His sudden death had caused Margaret to increase the amount of fiber in her diet, but she’d felt no grief. She mostly thought of all the times he had shoved his Viagra hardened penis into her, red-faced and sweaty while she stoically did her wifely duties, and felt as if life had handed her a gift when her husband’s life ended earlier than she’d anticipated. Millions of dollars richer and a beer-bellied husband short, she embraced the role of the grieving young wife and bought the most extravagant outfits - from top designers, of course - all in black. With her coloring, she looked spectacular.

When Robert began his courtship of Margaret, she had no intention of ever getting married again. She was wealthy and well known. There was no need for a husband. But then she heard the whispers of the deal that was on the table for him to become a team owner, and she started to change her mind. Being rich and beautiful had its perks, but being the wife of a professional sports team owner brought on so many more possibilities. Women all over the world would envy her. Plus, Robert was attractive and decent in bed. She’d made sure to take a test drive before she let the courtship go on for too long, just in case. 

With those facts in mind, Margaret accepted the anticipated proposal and the over-the-top diamond engagement ring Robert presented her with in the spring of 2004. Much like her first marriage, there was no love involved. But like her ancient and decrepit Aunt Mary had taught Margaret when she was younger – love was for poor people.

When the exclusive and intimate wedding took place, Noelle was eleven years old. Margaret had no intention of being a mother figure, finding most children annoying. While enthusiastically riding her new husband’s dick, she planted the seed to send Noelle to one of the top boarding schools in Switzerland mid-bounce. 

No amount of begging or pleading by Noelle worked. Robert, who was still full of guilt for how he had handled himself after Julie’s death, agreed with Margaret’s idea that a boarding school was the perfect answer to help ease Noelle into a world where money and connections meant everything. Besides, he had no idea how to backtrack and become a caring, loving father again after years of absence, and the $140,000 a year in boarding school fees was a small price to pay to avoid facing his own cowardice. 

A few strings were pulled and a space at one of the oldest boarding schools in Switzerland opened to a lonely and frightened Noelle Spencer, who would continue her education there until the age of eighteen. At that point, Robert figured he could reassess her academic goals and decide what her next moves should be.

With only her favorite nanny by her side, a solemn Noelle boarded a private jet headed for Lausanne, where their private chauffeur would be waiting to drive them to her new home for the next seven years – Le Valor Institute.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Noelle’s nanny, Susan, offered in a comforting tone. “This is the best school in the world.”

Noelle just nodded. She had googled the school on her phone. She didn’t care that the school housed royalty from around the world. She wanted to go back to the days when she was a princess at home. When she got hugs from her mother and cookies from her father. Instead, she was being sent away, like it was all her fault that her mother had died.

Now her father had a new wife, and she wasn’t wanted any longer. It hurt to be discarded like she was yesterday’s newspaper. Her chest burned, but she refused to cry. No one would ever see her cry again. She had made that decision after her tears of desperation had meant nothing to her father, as he raised his stern voice and informed her again that she had no say in the matter and she was leaving for Switzerland in a week. He wouldn’t even let her stay home for the rest of the summer, deciding it would be much better if she arrived before the new semester started, so she could make herself at home. Eleven-year-old Noelle had in turn sworn to herself that she would never forgive her father or his new wife for sending her away.