ADRIAN'S POV
I watched as Emilia huffed and walked away. She'd started it, but Rachel had certainly been the one to end it. There was certain more to my fiancée than what she showed the public.
She was wringing her hands and chewing her bottom lip. Whatever had possessed her a moment ago was gone now, and she was back to playing her role.
Her mask was back on, and I didn't think it would be coming off any more tonight.
Emilia came back a few minutes later, the stain on her dress was even brighter now.
It looked like she'd tried to wash it off, but she'd worsened it instead. She shot a vicious look at her sister and took her seat.
I tapped my fingers on my seat and watched as the movie started. Emilia Sanders was our company's biggest actress but also its biggest nightmare. I'd lost count of how many people we'd paid off to stop them from suing her.
Now, no one could work without signing an NDA, not even actors. To the public, she was an angel who walked among us humans, but to the cast and crew of every show she'd ever worked on, she was a living nightmare.
I'd try to convince my grandfather many times that it would be in the company's best interest to cut all ties with her. He refused, which also meant we were done for if the public found out exactly how much we'd covered for her.
The movie started and Emilia came in screen, but I was too busy watching Rachel to pay any attention.
She was sitting still, and her eyes were on the screen, but I could see the way her hands occasionally squeezed her dress.
My fiancée was a complex puzzle and tonight, I'd managed to get another glimpse of the person Rachel Sanders hid behind the mask.
For some reason, I wanted to see more of that person. I craved to release the fire inside her and stoke those flames even higher, to prove she wasn't just the quiet, dutiful daughter everyone thought she was.
Movement from Rachel's to her side caught my eye. Emilia was moving in her seat, adjusting her dress, so the stain wasn't noticeable.
Her anger was written all over her face, and her eyes weren't on the movie, they were on Rachel.
Her fingers clenched on her dress as she pasted a fake smile on her face. Now this, this was the real Emilia Sanders, the one hidden behind the fake smiles and loud laughs.
I leaned back in my seat, pretending to focus on the movie, but my thoughts were elsewhere.
The NDAs weren't enough any more. Numerous people on the set of this movie had threatened to come forward and speak the truth.
The amount I'd had to fork over to keep them quiet was insane. I loved my grandfather, but he had to realize soon that his loyalty to her was a liability and would ruin us sooner than later.
I sneaked another glance at Rachel, she was completely bewitched by the movie, she was different from her sister.
At first, I'd thought I'd be getting another Emilia — hungry for the spotlight and obsessed with appearances.
At our date, I'd been surprised by how different she was and tonight, I'd seen another side of her.
She hated having attention on her, could stand up for herself, but pretended she couldn't and preferred to endure quietly.
The more I saw of her, the more I wanted to know about her.
I saw it all, the way she tripped Emilia, the defiance that shine from her eyes and the smirk she hid.
I didn't know yet if I should be impressed or wary. It would be best to keep my distance until I was sure.
Conversations filled the room as the credits rolled and people exchanged their opinions. I stayed seated, watching everyone around me voice their thoughts.
Emilia basked in the attention, she flashed a perfect smile and threw back her hair as people walked up to her and congratulated her on her excellent performance.
Rachel, on the other hand, stayed quiet, her hands folded in her lap. She was lost in thoughts, her gaze was fixed on nothing in particular.
Two sides of the coin, yet they were complete opposites in everything else.
I watched her shake hands and flash her smile at the cameras. I had to admit, Emilia might have been a horrible person, but she was a remarkable actress, some might even call her a genius.
My eyes roamed the room searching for Rachel, she'd slipped away while I'd been distracted.
They finally landed on her, she was standing in a dark corner of the room. Her mother was by her side, and they seemed to be having a conversation.
Or, at least, a one-sided one. Elizabeth was doing all the talking while Rachel stared at the floor and twisted her fingers.
I tried to focus on the executives beside me who were trying to strike a conversation, but my gaze kept drifting back to Rachel as her figure became more and more hunched under the weight of Elizabeth's words.
Elizabeth gestured sharply, and I could see from my position the curl of her lips in a thin line.
Rachel nodded occasionally, but for the most part, she stared at the floor.
I looked around the room to see if anyone else could see what was going on, but every eye was trained on Emilia.
Something inside me shifted and I excused myself to try to make sense of what was happening.
The executives behind me yelled some words in anger, but I paid no attention to what they were saying.
I moved as close to them as I could manage without drawing their attention to me. From here, I could hear Elizabeth's voice, but not what she was saying.
The air between them was tense, and something about their dynamic unsettled me.
Elizabeth's voice was as neutral as always, but there was an undertone of anger.
In the end, Rachel's body language told me what was really happening.
The way she hunched over to make herself as small as possible. The way she flinched when her mother's hands moved too fast.
The way her hands twisted in her dress, they were all signs of anxiety and fear. It was like she was trying to disappear.
These signs painted a clear message, they were a cry for help.
A plea no one saw until it was too late, I would know. After all, I'd seen them for years in my mother.