"What happened to Elisa?" Sebastian asked Jasmine.
"She had the unfortunate luck of knowing the both of you," Jasmine coldly replied.
"Jasmine, you can be nice," Raul scolded.
"To whom?" She asked. "The brother I never met or the brother that never bothers to come home. I don't know either of you so forgive me if I lack the proper courtesy," she bitterly uttered.
"What are the doctors saying about Elisa's health. Why is she..."
"Why the sudden concern, Mr. Leerstrom? It's not like you care about her," Jasmine cut in.
"Why is Elisa getting worse?" Raul inquired.
"Maybe because she longs for the two of you and every time she opens her eyes, you're nowhere to be seen," Jasmine accused.
She veered around to leave when Sebastian spoke. "Where are they taking her. I'd like to pay her a visit."
"That won't be necessary Mr. Leerstrom. Don't waste your time on my sister, I'm more than capable of taking care of her," Jasmine's harsh words came as a response.
"You're a minor. You can't be responsible for her," Sebastian and Raul uttered in unison.
"Maybe the two of you should have thought of that before you abandoned her and the rest of us," Jasmine let out.
She exited the room and disappeared into the crowd of panicked guests.
Sebastian walked up to his wife, he wordlessly pulled Aryanna into his embrace and hugged her. "Are you alright?" He inquired.
"I've never been so afraid in my entire life," Aryanna admitted. "I'm thankful you weren't hurt," Sebastian murmured into her ear.
"Me too," she said, her voice muffed by his shirt. "I was terrified she was going to shoot you."
The hour passed by in a blur. Aryanna wanted to go home but the police wanted to talk to her and Sebastian.
The building started filling up with people. Different teams coming in to take charge of the situation and assure the guests that they were safe.
The police were at the scene interrogating everyone and examining the scene of the crime. Sebastian, Raul, Aaron, Clara, and Jalana all lied and claimed the culprit was a masked man who wanted to steal the funds collected at the gala.
Aryanna figured they wished to protect Elisa. The incident didn't make sense to her, from what she gathered after the incident, she learnt that Elisa is Raul's twin sister. Which meant that she was Sebastian's sister, it made no sense to Aryanna why she would claim Sebastian as a man and not as a brother.
She wanted to ask Sebastian about it but it didn't feel like the right time to bring it up. Aryanna noted the change in Sebastian's emotions, he went from silently loathing Raul and the Kincade family to being openly worried about Elisa.
The reporters outside got a whiff of the incident and found their way into the gala. They took photos of the panicked guests and tried to interrogate the guests with no luck.
Aryanna leaned against Sebastian's chest and sort comfort in him. She was shaking immensely from having a gun pointed to her head and fired at her.
Sebastian's arms tightened around her. He squeezed her shoulder lightly, and when Aryanna glanced up at him questioningly, he simply smiled. Sebastian lowered his head, and kissed her in full view of anyone who cared to watch.
Aryanna reveled in the sweetness of his kiss. The kiss eased her nerves.
The two love birds barely noticed the various pairs of eyes boring into them as they kissed. Or the flashy light from the cameras of all the reporters capturing their moment.
Only when they needed to breath, did Sebastian break away and lower his forehead to rest on hers. His heart thundered in his ear and he didn't want to let his wife go.
"I prayed for your safety in my heart," he confessed in a low voice. "And God answered my prayers."
Aryanna noticed all the eyes watching them. She felt embarrassed at their public display of affection.
"I know I made you worry. I'm sorry," Aryanna ducked her head and leaned back as though trying to put distance between them. "Seb, we are attracting too much attention."
"I don't care. I can embrace my wife."
Aryanna's eyes widened in surprise. "But it's not right," she said.
"You are right for me," he let out.
Aryanna couldn't help but smile. She looked flabbergasted by his response. Aryanna marveled at the beauty of Sebastian's love for her.
Deputy Shane interrupted them. "Mr and Mrs Leerstrom, do you have time to give your statements?"
"Of course," Aryanna and Sebastian answered.
Sebastian didn't want to let Aryanna go but he had to be content with holding her hand.
"Let's sit down somewhere. It's been a long night and my wife is exhausted," Sebastian requested.
"No problem. Let's head over to the patio outside," the deputy suggested to honor Sebastian's request.
Once they were seated at the patio outside. Deputy Shane took out a notebook. "Aryanna, why don't you start at the beginning."
"I had a run-in with my ex at the gala and needed a moment alone, so I went into the outroom. That's when I walked in on the masked thief threatening my sister-in-law, Jalana, to hand over her jewelry and money to him," Aryanna narrated the rehearsed speech Sebastian asked her to memorize.
"Did you see anyone else outside?" Deputy Shane asked.
"When the thief saw me, he got distracted, he came at me armed with a gun which gave Jalana an opportunity to ran out and call Sebastian and Raul to help me."
Sebastian couldn't handle the fear underlying her tone. He gave Aryanna's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Then what happened?"
"I tried to talk them into not harming me. Then the doors swung open, Sebastian and Raul were standing outside," she added, word for word to march the story the others told.
"And you went inside Mr. Leerstrom?" Deputy Shane asked, a deep frown furrowing his eyebrows. "You're lucky the thief didn't kill you," he added.
"I couldn't stand back while he took a shot at my wife," Sebastian said. "Besides, Aaron already informed security so I tried to stall for time so they can come and save the day."
The deputy asked a few more questions and noted everything down on his notebook. "I appreciate your time. Thank you Mr and Mrs Leerstrom," he let out.
"We can go home now," Aryanna beamed.
"Yes, you're free to go home," the deputy dismissed them.
"Let's go," Sebastian urged.
"I'd rather drive with mother and Jalana. They must be terrified from the incident," Aryanna tucked her hair behind her ear and avoided Sebastian's direct gaze.
Sebastian frowned as Aryanna walked over to his mother and sister. 'Why is she pushing me away?' he pondered.
He figured after everything that happened, Aryanna needed some time alone to process her thoughts.