Emilia felt disappointed when Patrick told her that the next event was two weeks away, again. It was a lot of time during which she still didn't have much to do. She did focus increasingly on the idea of picking up extra skills and jobs, but it was hard to work out exactly what she wanted to do.
As the weather improved, she was keen to be out of the manor's dark rooms as much as possible. As much as she admired the beauty of the decor, she didn't yet feel comfortable exploring tenths of rooms. It wasn't her home after all. She felt like she was already intruding.
She would go to the city and grab more books from the library and then she would go out to the park or botanical gardens with a blanket and a few snacks.
She was never interested in business management and administration before but reading about Crimson Tech in such depth as she did, it sparked a new interest. Within a decade, Christopher Hayden build a tech company that was pretty much an empire, by constantly challenging the norm and using seemingly irrelevant technological developments to generate the best products and software on the market. In the last four years, Crimson Tech took BioCure Pharmaceuticals under its umbrella. And then, in the last three years, they took on a traditional insurance company and revolutionised it again too.
She wanted to know how Christopher Hayden managed to achieve so much in such a short span of time. He was only 19 when he started working for Crimson Tech, his father's new company. Ten years later, he was the CEO and the company was growing exponentially.
It truly astonished Emilia. Christopher Hayden was merely three years older than her, and he was ever so successful. She was in awe of his skills and capabilities.
She read his interviews in different business magazines and she started recognising the theories from the books. She loved how it started to connect now to the bigger picture.
And then on some days, she visited her mum for a few hours, giving Maria time for respite.
Over three weeks into her new job, she went to withdraw money from her account to pay Maria her wage. Instead of bothering Patrick, she decided that it was a good excuse to get outside against.
"Good morning." Emilia smiled as she approached the desk of the bank she was given the details of in the envelope the other day. "I wish to withdraw some funds from my account."
"Certainly. Do you have the account number?"
"Yes." Emilia then recited the string of numbers. The woman's smile faded and she looked between the screen of her computer and Emilia in a look of somewhere between disbelief and suspicion. "I would like to withdraw £2000 if there are sufficient funds available."
"Madam, I'm afraid I will have to ask my manager to do this."
"Oh, okay." Emilia looked at a woman who warily walked away in search of her boss. Emilia felt anxious as to the cause of this.
"Good morning, miss. Am I to understand that you're trying to withdraw some funds today?" The middle-aged woman came back with the young bank clerk.
"Indeed. I enquired about withdrawing £2000, funds permitting."
"May I ask for your ID?"
"Of course." Emilia rummaged through her bag and passed over her ID obediently.
"I may ask that we go to the room?"
"If necessary." Emilia sighed with defeat and followed the woman into the meeting room. She sat down and watched as the woman looked through paperwork.
"May I ask for your full name?"
"You have my ID card," Emilia mumbled. "Dr Emilia Anna Vincent."
"Address?"
"Eh…" Emilia furrowed her brows. "It might be Apartment 16, Rosemary Lane."
"I'm afraid that I cannot verify these details." The woman before sighed. "Dr Vincent, isn't it?"
"Yes?"
"I will have to call the police. The security has been already notified."
"What? No, no, no." Emilia started to panic. "I have been given those details by Mr Patrick Cosby. He is Mr Christopher Hayden's assistant. The account was set up for me. That's what I was told."
"Please… remain calm." The woman sighed as if she was doing it against her will.
"Okay. I understand your concern. I understand that this misunderstanding doesn't look great. Can I just ask for one phone call before you get the police? I think Mr Cosby can explain it. I'm sure he can."
"Okay. You get that one phone call."
"You've already called the police, haven't you?" Emilia asked knowing the answer. Emilia closed her eyes and took a deep breath before taking the phone out and calling Patrick.
"Mr Cosby, I need your help." She said as soon as the phone call went through.
"Dr Vincent? What's the matter?"
"I went to withdraw some money from the bank and they currently are suspecting that I am trying to commit fraud and steal said money. Please tell me that it is some misunderstanding." She was near sobbing by the end of it.
"What?" Patrick asked in disbelief, but then he realised that it was Mr Hayden who set up the account himself. He might've used Emilia's married name instead of her maiden name. "Hang on. I'll be there in a moment."
"Please hurry, Mr Cosby. They've already called the police." Emilia said quietly before the call disconnected.
She put away her phone and then placed her face in her hands.
A man in a suit walked into the room moments later.
"Good morning, madam. I sincerely apologise for this misunderstanding. Mr Hayden just called and mentioned this issue. I trust that we can resolve this swiftly now."
Emilia was anxious that Christopher Hayden was bothered because of her. She was meant to never bother him. But then, it wasn't her. It was the bank cleric.
"Many apologies for the inconvenience, madam." The woman looked at Emilia warily as she stood up. "I will withdraw your funds now."
"Thank you." Emilia followed the woman out to the main lobby.
"Would you like to use our VIP lobby?"
"No, thank you." Emilia shook her head.
"How much would you like to withdraw?"
"Two thousand Pounds."
"Of course, madam. Again, many apologies for the trouble caused today." The woman said coyly under the stern gaze of the man.
"It's alright." Emilia smiled weakly as she awaited the money which was passed to her in an envelope. "Thank you."
She hurried out feeling like a fraud. THEY made her feel like a fraud. She felt embarrassed about the entire occurrence.
"Again, our sincerest apologies, madam." The man in the suit walked her out.
"Dr Vincent! I came as soon as possible." Patrick ran up to them.
"Thank you, Mr Cosby." Emilia was blushing in crimson red.
"I understand that the matter was resolved." Patrick turned more sternly to the man in the suit.
"I dearly hope so." The man answered him with worry.
"Dr Vincent, would you like me to drop you off back home?"
"I was going to meet someone first."
"Let me drop you off there."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course." Patrick smiled as he led her to the car. He was kind enough to drop her off at her mum's apartment. "Give me a shout when you're done and I'll pick you up."
"That's not needed, Mr Cosby." Emilia blushed again.
"After today's commotion, I'd like to make sure that everything is alright."
"Thank you, Mr Cosby."
Emilia wasn't long in the apartment and as she came out she was surprised to see Patrick waiting for her. She was very apologetic all the way back to the mansion.
As embarrassed as she was, it was nothing compared to Christopher's fury. After Emilia called Patrick, Patrick walked into his office and quietly relayed a message that Emilia was denied access to the very account he set up for her.
"What do you mean?"
"Dr Vincent has called me and has said that she was suspected of fraud and denied the withdrawal. She also mentioned that they've called the police."
"That's ridiculous!" Christopher's face instantly changed into anger. "I'll call the director of the bank. You go there and make sure that she gets home safely tonight."
"Understood, sir."
Christopher dialled the phone number the very next moment.
"Mr Hayden, what is the matter?"
"My wife is currently in your bank. Your employees are suspecting her of fraud and withholding her access to her account. Explain."
"Excuse me?" The director answered in surprise.
"Let me repeat one more time. My wife was accused of fraud as she tried to withdraw money from her account. Not only that, she's been told that someone called the police and I suspect that she's being held there against her will."
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Mr Hayden. I will see to it immediately."
"This is a lawsuit in the making. Are your people truly this incompetent?!"
"I'm so sorry, Mr Hayden." The man kept saying to the phone as he was rushing down the corridor.
"I don't care."
"I'll ensure that everything is resolved. Again, my sincerest apologies."
Christopher stopped himself before he escalated to throwing profanities at the man on the other side of the call. Instead, he disconnected.
He sat down feeling angry that anyone would think of Emilia in that way, his wife.
He realised if that's what happened when she tried to withdraw money, she must've touched her account for the first time in over three weeks. He started to be curious about her spending. Of course, he had access to her account, so he looked it up on his laptop. £4'798'000.
He transferred £200'000 per day, starting with the day of the signage of the contract. It's been 24 days since they've married and he spoke to her twice during that time. Once when she signed the contract, and once during the gala dinner a weekend before.
Now, she only withdrew £2'000 which caused havoc. Maybe she used a credit card? He decided to check that too. She didn't. If she didn't spend days shopping and extravagant meet-ups and wasting money, then what did she do?