Hours went by with Christopher seeing occasional glimpse of Emilia who somehow kept the smile up regardless of her discomfort. Of course he noticed. He noticed the slight limp and her increasingly reddened heel, even if she still had a smile on her face.
Christopher excused himself and walked out of the gallery, trying to find the nearest pharmacy. His heart was throbbing. He couldn't stand Emilia being uncomfortable or in pain. And he disliked that she pretended like everything was fine.
It didn't take long to find a place that was still open. He rummaged through the shelves and found several types of plasters and painkillers.
"Good evening, sir." The shop employee smiled at him but her eyes remained cold and empty. Emilia did a better job at forcing the smile on than the young woman did.
"Good evening."
"Oh, refilling the first aid box?"
"Not quite. My wife just got blisters during the event. I wasn't sure which ones would suit her most."
"That is so caring of you." The woman batted her eyelashes at him. "You must be a good husband."
"Hardly." Christopher answered as he quickly paid for the items.
"Not every husband rushes for plasters because their wife has a tiny blister. I hope that she appreciates it."
"Thank you." Christopher mumbled as he hurried out. He didn't like the woman's tone of voice. It irritated him.
As he returned to the venue, he realised that the guests were leaving.
"Mr Hayden!" Patrick waved at him but Emilia wasn't anywhere near the car or Patrick.
Christopher walked up to his assistant with hope to catch Emilia there.
"Did you see Emilia?" He asked directly.
"Dr Vin… Hayden has just left. She is staying in her flat tonight as it is closer to the venue."
"Oh." Christopher was disappointed at that information. "I see."
"Is everything alright, Mr Hayden?"
"Yes, of course, Mr Cosby." Christopher answered trying to conceal the fact that he was looking forward to seeing Emilia. "There's a sculpture on an exhibit today that I am interested in purchasing. It's a steel sculpture of a woman blowing a dandelion. Contact the artist about it. I don't care about the price on it. I want it."
"Of course, sir."
Christopher put away a small plastic bag with plasters on the empty seat next to him as he sat down and returned home.
It was silent. It was dark. The manor was as it always has been - lifeless.
Christopher let out a long sigh before he poured himself a scotch and sat down in the armchair in his large study with a single dim light on that barely lit up the darkness.
What was he doing? Why was he running out to buy plasters for someone? Why did he care about Emilia?
Because he wanted to see her smile. It was as simple as. Her smile was what he noticed first.
Patrick realised that something was off about Christopher. He was starting to be a little too invested in Emilia. And Emilia was oblivious.
Patrick wasn't going to tell her now, after a month of marriage, that she was truly married to Christopher Hayden.
He could imagine what would happen if Emilia would find out the truth, or that Mr Hayden would realised that Patrick concealed it from Emilia. It wasn't going to be pretty.
Patrick still tried to excuse his actions in many ways, but he knew that what he did wasn't right. He never thought it would go on for as long as it did. He never truly believed that Christopher would go through with the marriage.
But… Christopher only needed to be married a year for the clauses in the inheritance to be fulfilled. 1/12th of the way there.
He needed to keep Emilia and Christopher separate as to ensure that they didn't grow suspicious or realise his deception.
It was going to be a challenge but not impossible. All he had to do was to plan for them to attend different events. He had plenty of event invites to choose from.
This seemingly simple plan didn't quite work out the way Patrick wanted. It gave him a few weeks of peace though before things started to go awry again. And it was all because of Emilia.