4. Being the Media's Bride

EMILY POV

I'd never had that much exposure in my entire life. I held onto my purse and almost swooned behind Leo who held unto me.

He held my hand in his arm and together, we walked down the red carpet. We had our pictures taken with a lot of people over us.

I felt out of place as we entered the main hall which was crowded with several dignitaries from various works of life. 

I bet Leo could sense my nervousness so he whispered, "Calm down. You can't mess this up. We'll have a lot of attention on us tonight so get ready for it."

I gulped a large lump of saliva, wore a cute smile on my face and moved confidently with Leo through the crowd. A toast was made to us, the newest couple who were showing their faces to the public after a month of honeymoon.

We're just so good at lying and pretending. Leo held my hand, smiled at me sweetly and planted a kiss on top of it as a reporter from one of the most reputable media houses in town came over to our side.

"So sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Leo. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Robbins and congratulations,"he said, smiling as if he just won the lottery.

"Thank you sir,"I replied courteously and took a sip from my drink. I kept wishing he wouldn't notice my shaking hands.

Leo noticed that I was overly nervous so he excused us both and we vanished into the private suite at the hotel.

"Use the bathroom. You need it,"he said as he moved to the mirror in the corner of the room and adjusted his tie.

I couldn't refuse him as I definitely needed the bathroom. I went in and did a brief breathing exercise. I had recently been feeling sick. I had lost appetite and felt nauseous almost all the time.

"I need to visit the hospital after all this charade. Probably after seeing Max, I might see the doctor. Those over-the-counter drugs are doing me no good,"I mumbled after washing my mouth. I checked my hair, makeup, breathed in once more and exited the bathroom. 

Leo was nowhere to be found in the room so I guessed he was at the hall. I took the elevator and entered the party area where I saw Leo with a woman.

She was quite elegant with an air of confidence and affluence. I admired how she carried herself, laughed and spoke with the people at the table with her and Leo. She even replied to one of the French men in his language. So admirable, I chuckled and approached the table. 

"Here she comes,"a woman said, gesturing to me to join the table. She wore an expensive dress and looked fancy all through. 

I've been thrown into the world of the high and mighty so I should get used to it. But I doubted if I'd ever get used to it.

"I'm disappointed in you Leo. You didn't leave a chair for your wife,"she said and faced the other woman who I noticed earlier. "You should stop following Leo around now. You know he's taken,"she added innocently. 

I noticed a flash in the eyes of the lady who I later got to know was Annabel Brownson. Leo signaled to her with his eyes and she smiled. 

Something was definitely up with them. She might probably be one of his flings. 

Leo stood up and approached me like a caring husband when he saw me. Just as we were about to join the table, a man emerged from nowhere and gave the most lousy comment ever.

"So this is the stranger Leo married. I don't know how a lady joined this family without my knowledge. And I'm really curious about who you are?" the weird man said, facing me squarely.

My calm nerves became tense once more and I struggled to keep my composure. 

Leo moved closer to the man and whispered, "what are you doing, Kay? We have guests. Where's father?"

"Emily, my dear, welcome to the family,"Mr. Robbins, Leo's father, approached us and hugged me. "Isn't she beautiful?"

I couldn't hide my surprise but I tried to play along. 

"Thank you, sir…ehm…Father,"I quickly said and smiled brightly.

The other guests turned their attention towards us and most of them stood to meet the chairman. They all wanted to get his attention. Who wouldn't? He was very influential.

Leo held my waist as he discussed with the other guests and his father. I stayed mute so as not to blow our cover.

Whenever a question was directed at me, he'd cover it up instantly. The moment he left me to meet with some executive from the group, Annabel approached me and smiled.

"I'm Annabel, Leo's best friend. I've known him for over 10 years,"she said, offering her hand for a handshake.

I might just be paranoid and she might not be that bad after all.

"I'm Emily. Nice to meet you,"I replied and our conversation about the party and wine made me feel at ease. She was very easy to talk to.

"I see you're having a great time. I'm very curious about who you are because I know Leo doesn't keep any woman. He doesn't have a girlfriend or a fiancee. What's your family's name?"Kay questioned, cornering me from all indications.

The question caught me off guard and while I tried to shake off the feeling, Kay added another comment that made my blood boil.

"I know who you are and I know that you're just a lowly stripper from the slums. What did you do to my brother to make him involved with someone like you,"he said, his calm voice growing louder.

"Will you stop that, Kay? Emily's from a respectable background and I can personally vouch for her. She's not any stripper or a girl from the slum,"Annabel said, trying to conceal my little secret. She was such a nice person, the only one I felt I could trust.

Was I supposed to keep my family background and relative secret? That wasn't part of our deal but I couldn't expose my background here. The internet would blow up if they found out.

"Is that coming from you, Annabel? Why do I smell a conspiracy here?"Kay asked as Leo joined us due to the attention we were getting. That was the least thing he wanted.

"What's wrong with you man?"Leo whispered, tugging at Kay's suit. 

Kay laughed loudly and yelled, "You just took that out of my mouth. I wanted to ask you the same thing. What the hell are you doing with a woman with no family name?" 

I felt so confused and embarrassed. Without putting much thought into it, I ran out of the hall. Annabel called from behind but I was long gone.

In a different circumstance, my husband was supposed to run after me but he just stayed at the party with indifference to my whereabouts.

I hid in one of the female bathrooms and stared at myself in the mirror.

Is this what I'll have to go through for half a million? I was already so stressed on the first day due to the unwarranted attention and accusations.

Leo was even making matters worse with his constant nagging for perfection. I had to keep up in a society that had no interest in me. And my new brother-in-law's the worst.

I kept ruminating about various things and suddenly felt something moving through my oesophagus to my mouth.

And that was it! I began to throw up. As if that wasn't enough, my phone beeped with a notification. My menstrual app sent me a worrisome message. 

Your menses is two weeks late.

My heart skipped a beat. That's weird. I always saw it at the scheduled time. I checked the calendar and it was definitely late. So late that I had the most stressful thought that I never wanted.

"Am I pregnant?"