Chapter 2 — Change of Plans

Emelia’s POV

Shock hijacked my nerves as I sat there in disbelief. Victor had never lied to me before, and now all of a sudden he was?

He'd never hung up on me like this before either! What was going on?

It was genuinely starting to worry me with how Victor was behaving. Was everything truly okay with him? Was this person actually just a friend?

I stayed up all night as my mind ran rampant. I stressed cleaning our closet and organized every article of clothing to try and settle down, but it didn't work. 

It wasn't until close to midnight that Victor finally came home.

"Hey, I'm surprised to see you're awake." Victor hung up his coat and came to sit next to me. "Is everything alright?"

"I should be asking you that question. What happened earlier tonight? I was trying to call you and ask you when you'd be home and you just hung up on me."

Victor took out his phone from his pocket and handed it to me. "I didn't realize that my phone was on low battery and it died."

I thought about holding the power button to see if he was lying, but I decided against it. Him giving me his phone was a sign of trust, and even though I had my doubts now, I didn't want to give into them.

"Well, that was rude of it to die on you." I laughed, trying to shake away the nervousness I felt. "I was trying to talk to you."

"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't worry you too much."

"No, not at all." I hesitated before adding, "But Alexis did call me earlier this evening. She said she thought she saw you at some restaurant with another woman."

"Oh? I didn’t notice her.” Victor paused for a second. “She could've said hi. Although, I was with a new colleague tonight and we were discussing work for the company."

I wanted to accept that as the truth, but it was really hard given the photo and the audio messages I heard. 

Why was he keeping things from me now? What made the woman so important that he couldn't be upfront with me?

Victor tilted his head to the side. "Emelia? Are you okay? You don't seem well."

I had to snap my focus back to the present as I gave him a half-smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just cleaned our closet out before you got home, and forgot all about dinner."

Victor smiled. "Well, follow me downstairs then. I can make you something to eat."

I absentmindedly followed Victor to our kitchen and sat on the stool next to the island. My mind still wandered even as I watched him cook.

I wanted to press the matter further, but would I come off as jealous or possessive? Would I come off as crazy?

I just wanted him to tell me the truth. I wanted this to be water under the bridge.

I sighed. Pushing Victor wasn't going to make things better, so maybe I just had to trust that he was telling me the truth.

The rest of the late night went relatively well, and my feelings had eased up enough to let me get some sleep.

When morning came, I woke up to the sight of Victor's handsome features sleeping next to me. Sleep made his sharp features smooth; I couldn't get enough of his beautiful looks.

I traced his jaws lightly, and brushed a strand of hair away from his face.

He woke up to my gentle touch, and kissed me on the nose. "Good morning."

"Good morning," I smiled back.

"I hope you slept well; we have a busy day ahead of us."

"Is that so?"

"Mhm, grandpa Antonio invited us over for another dinner party. You know how much he loves inviting us to those."

Grandpa Antonio was the reason why Victor and I got married. He was also the only one in the family who was truly kind to me. I always loved spending time with him.

"I can't wait to see him." I smiled. "Let's hope work goes by quickly."

Before we knew it, the evening had already come and we were getting ready for grandpa Antonio's dinner party.

As Victor drove down the relatively calm road, his phone went off.

I looked at the caller ID—Lily.

Who was that supposed to be? How come I'd never heard of this person before?

Victor let the first set of ringing happen since he was driving and wanted to be careful. He was always the law-abiding, and cautious driver. But when she called again, he picked up.

I looked over at Victor to make sure he was okay after he’d suddenly gotten quiet. As the seconds passed, his face only got more grave and tense.

Then without warning, he hit the brakes hard and turned the car around in a complete 180. After that, he switched lanes and started speeding in the opposite direction. 

The sudden turn made me think the car was going to flop over. I grabbed the handrail in shock. What was Victor doing?

"Victor, slow down!" I called out. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"We need to get to the hospital now." Victor tried to keep his voice even despite the slight tremble in them.

I noticed how his knuckles had gone white from gripping the steering wheel so hard, and how there was a sense of urgency about him.

"But what about grandpa? Shouldn't we at least—"

"I'll call him once I know she's okay!"

The only person in this world, aside from me, that was important to Victor was his grandfather. To see him so wound up over this Lily woman was new and shocking.

Wow, she has to be really important to Victor for him to cancel dinner with grandpa… 

It suddenly made me think of the unknown woman who had dinner with Victor last night. Was there a possibility that she and Lily were somehow connected?

When we arrived at the hospital, Victor rushed down the halls to Lily’s room. He hardly spared a knock and went inside, leaving me behind as the door slammed in my face. 

Wow, he’s really worried about this Lily woman…

I stood out in the hallway as a tightness formed in my chest.  It was rare to see him so frantic and eager to rush to someone’s side—and he’d never done this with anyone. 

I took a deep breath and walked in. But what I saw was really… unexpected.

Mentally, I was preparing myself to see something far more grim given Victor’s erratic and alarmed behavior.

Instead, she appeared simply fragile—almost as if one wrong move could break her bones. Her appearance was slightly disheveled as if she’d just woken up, but she was otherwise alive and looking fine.

The thing that stuck out to me, however, was her long, wavy brown hair. Suddenly, it clicked in my head.

Was it possible that the woman from the dinner last night was this Lily woman who sat in front of me?

Lily’s eyes widened at the sight of Victor. Her body shook as tears freely fell from her face. "Oh, Victor! I’m so glad you’re finally here!  I knew you'd be here to protect me, just like you always did when we were younger. Always my little knight, right?"