Chapter 3 — A Seed of Doubt

Emelia’s POV

I stood in disbelief as Victor rushed to Lily's side. It had to have been her—his changed behavior for her matched his changed behavior for the woman from last night!

Not only had he lied to me about who he was with the other night, but he completely canceled plans with his grandfather for her.

What was really going on between them? Why couldn't he just tell me the truth from the start?

"Lily! Is everything okay?" Victor asked, his voice laced with worry. "I got here just as soon as I could."

"Everything's fine now that you're here." Lily's smile was fragile. “I was too scared, I thought I wouldn’t see you again…” her voice trembled.

“I'm here with you now, and that's all that matters.” Victor held her hand tightly. “Are you alright? Are you sick? What happened?”

“Hey, I'm not a kid anymore! You don't need to worry too much.” She turned into laughter.

"Of course I'm going to worry about you!" Victor smiled then. "I'm always going to worry when it comes to you. I swear, you're like a fragile doll!"

With the way their conversation was going, I couldn't believe that they were nothing more than just colleagues. 

I had to clear my throat to remind them of my presence—and to ease the discomfort their words were leaving in my stomach.

“Oh, someone else is here!” Lily finally noticed me. “You must be Victor’s wife. I'm sorry if I bothered you tonight! Victor always gets so worried when it comes to me. You know, he's always been like that.”

"Maybe it was because of your phone call why Victor was so worried!" I blurted.

Victor spared me a quick glance, although it was almost a reprimanding one. Like I'd said something wrong.

At that moment, a nurse stepped into the room. "Well, I'm surprised you got here fairly quickly. Miss Lily Marino was fine, though. She just needs some rest. We hope to discharge her within another day or so." 

"Of course we are quick." I responded in his place. "It's not like we had anything important planned anyway. "

Victor looked at me with a hard gaze. While he wasn't the type to fluster easily, I could see it in the way his jaw tightened slightly that what I said affected him.

"Well, Victor," I turned to him. "I'm glad your ‘colleague’ seems to be doing fine and well."

Victor huffed at my comment and refused to meet my eyes.

Lily sighed and placed her hand on Victor's. She seemed too fixated on him to notice my comment however. "I'm sorry, Victor. It's all my fault! I'm just a little too clumsy for my own good. I hope I didn't ruin your night."

"Don't be sorry." Victor assured her. "Being here is the least I could do. What matters is that you're okay now."

"Emelia, perhaps you shouldn't be so hard on Lily." Victor finally looked at me, although hesitantly, and spoke in a stern voice. "Accidents happen and there will always be another opportunity to make up our night."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but didn't dignify his words with a response. If he thought I was upset about us missing out on Grandpa Antonio's dinner party, then he was sorely mistaken. 

Victor’s attention was back on Lily again as she pulled his hand in hers. The action was like a last straw to tick me off.

How could my husband do it to another woman in front of his wife? I couldn’t endure it anymore. I had to abruptly leave the room. 

It suddenly felt like I was a third-wheel in my own marriage. Why was Victor so insistent on shoving me aside for Lily? 

It was like a nobody instead of his wife!

Was he going to be like this all night?

I made my way to the cafeteria to grab some coffee to try and calm my irritated nerves. But the questions lingered as did my disappointment with his treatment of me.

Just as I was coming back, I saw Victor standing out in the hallway outside of Lily's room. I crossed my arms as I approached him.

"Emelia, will you let me explain?"

"That depends. Do you plan on actually telling me the truth? You seemed to be very concerned for this colleague of yours who seems to be insistent on the fact that you two have known each other since childhood."

Victor's lips pursed into a thin line before he responded. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry for not telling you, Lily's a childhood friend of mine. It was just really unexpected. She flew back into town last night, so I took her out to dinner to catch up."

"Was it really so hard to just tell me that? Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I'm sorry, okay? Like I said, it was all unexpected so I didn't think of it. I was going to tell you about it all tonight but then…" Victor paused to look at Lily's door.

"Look, to make a long story short, the reason why I rushed to get here so quickly was because I thought her injury was a lot worse…" He started to explain.

He hesitated before adding, "When we were younger, we both almost got into a real bad accident but she ended up saving my life. Ever since, I'd been worried about how any other injury would exacerbate the one she sustained from all those years ago. It was my fault what happened then—the least I can do is be there so nothing like that happens again."

I narrowed my eyes at him and let a few beats of silence pass. None of that really explained why he had intentionally lied to me. However, hearing about how his caring and thoughtful disposition melted some of my defenses.

Even if it was towards another woman, and at the expense of my peace of mind… Him being so thoughtful was why I fell in love with him.

"I suppose I can accept that explanation." I uncrossed my arms. "That doesn't mean I accept your apology, though."

"I know, I know." Victor pulled me into his arms. "I'll make it up to you, okay?"

I nodded my head, still feeling wary but a little less so.

As we entered the room, Lily's eyebrow arched at the sight of us—although her gaze was mostly fixated on me.

"You know, public displays of affection in a hospital setting is quite inappropriate." Lily criticized. "Sometimes even something as simple as a hug in a setting like this can make him uncomfortable. It's funny how he used to squirm when I'd hug him in front of friends!"

Who did she think she was, trying to give me advice about how I treated my own husband? Did she think she knew him better than I did just because they were childhood friends?

Just when I was about to fire back, Victor pulled my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Things have changed. I've changed, Lily.” He stated calmly.

Lily suddenly became stiff. “Have you?”

"Remember how you said we're not kids anymore? Well, neither am I.” Victor patted Lily's head. “But look, I'll be back. I'm going to go run downstairs and grab us something to eat, okay?"

"Don’t forget my chips!" Lily giggled. "We may not be kids, but you must remember my favorite flavor!"

Just as Victor left the room, Lily's gaze landed on me once more. There was a smile on her face, but it wasn't sincere. "You know, when we were younger, he used to make fun of the idea of marriage. It's so funny to see how people change, but also remain the same."

There were double meanings of her words. Considering her performance just now, I didn't think this was an illusion.

I refused to let her gain the upper hand. "Well, I'm glad he changed his mind about marriage."

But it didn’t stop Lily, she continued. "I'm just lucky that I still get to be a part of his life. We just share such a special bond, do you understand me?"

Special bond? So, that was how Lily felt about their friendship?

I decided to remind her of who I was. "It may be special as friends, but since I am his wife, our bond is unique—something that can't be replicated."

That ticked Lily off. Her eyebrows furrowed in frustration as heat rose to her face.

“You think your bond with him is that special? Do you think he'll believe you over me?” Lily smirked, “Come look at who he actually cares for!”

She grabbed her glass of water and immediately threw it on the floor. 

Clink! Shatter!

Suddenly, Lily screamed as she braced herself in a defensive position. “Please don't do this! Victor, help me!”

The door swung wide open and Victor rushed to Lily's side. "Hey, hey! What happened? Are you okay?" He instantly began to soothe her.

Lily's mood changed like a lightswitch as tears ran down her face. “Emelia, please, my leg was hurt, it can’t take anymore. ”

I glared at Lily—so, was this the trick she wanted to play?

Had the "innocent childhood friend" finally revealed her true colors?

But this wasn’t the end—what truly shocked me was the next.

Victor stared at me. "What the hell is your problem? Why are you trying to hurt her?!" He shouted to me coldly and accusingly.

What the heck?!