After Alyssa left, Eva had a very restless night. Unable to sleep, she couldn’t help but repent her hasty decision to marry Maxwell. If Alexander wasn’t marrying anyone, then she should have waited for him to make a move. With Maxwell determined to have a normal marital relationship with her, she was now having second thoughts about the whole thing, although it was too late. How could she announce to Maxwell’s family that she wanted to cancel the wedding?
Maxwell had been ignoring her since the argument in the morning, and Eva was dying to break off with him. If she had a say, she would have gone back to her apartment, away from everything.
The next morning, she felt even more haggard with the sleeplessness taking a toll on her health. The bridal shower party was at 6 o’clock in the evening and she had the whole day to catch up on her sleep. With everyone busy with last-minute preparations, no one disturbed her. Alyssa was busy shopping with Skylar and Hayley, who had come over to attend the event.
It was past lunchtime when Maxwell’s mom woke her up. “You need to eat to gain some strength, Eva.” She opened her bleary eyes and looked at his mom.
“Sorry, I overslept,” she croaked just when aunt Gwen arrived with her lunch.
“How are you feeling now? Can you make it to the party in the evening?” asked Maxwell’s mom.
“Yes, aunt Kristina. I’ll manage,” she smiled.
“Good! Do you need help with anything?” asked aunt Gwen and Eva shook her head, thanking her.
“Then have your lunch. You need to finish everything on your plate.” Eva nodded, and they left the room satisfied.
Eva groaned at seeing the amount of food served. She could never complete so much in one go. It would take her the entire day to complete it. She took a shower, and feeling much better, sat down to eat. The entire house was eerily quiet, as if no one was there except her. Where had everyone gone?
The moment she started eating, she realized how hungry she was. She finished the food in no time and went out to inspect. She found aunt Kristina chatting with aunt Gwen in the dining room over coffee.
“Where are the others?” she asked curiously, sitting down beside them.
“They’ve left for the Parkview Hotel, where we are hosting the bridal shower party.” Eva’s eyes widened, and she felt guilty for the hold-up. Maybe Maxwell’s mom and Aunt, couldn’t enjoy it because of her.
“Oh, I’m sorry for delaying everything. Do we have to leave now?” she asked, feeling embarrassed.
“Oh, you have delayed nothing. We can go whenever you’re ready. It’s your event and we want you to enjoy it.” Eva smiled at aunt Kristina, feeling guilty to betray such a loving person. She wanted to tell her she wasn’t carrying Maxwell’s baby in her womb. She wanted to tell her she loved Alexander and not her son.
“Thank you for everything, aunt Kristina, aunt Gwen. I’m indebted to you. I’m better now so we can head to the venue.”
They helped her pack up the dress she would later change into for the event. After stuffing all the essentials, they left for the venue. Eva sighed and looked out of the window, thinking about a way to cancel the wedding. Her gaze fell upon a silver Porsche tailing their car and she sat upright, realizing that Alexander was again following her.
All the way to the hotel, her eyes followed Alexander’s car, feeling restless to talk to him. Why wasn’t he accepting her calls? Why was he silently stalking her in Alyssa’s absence? They reached the destination and Eva’s jaws dropped with astonishment at seeing the posh, five-star venue. This must have cost them a fortune! Maxwell and Kendall came over to escort her inside, and she immediately lost track of Alexander’s car.
“We all were waiting for you,” said Kendall.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” asked Eva, feeling guilty.
“Bro said you’re unwell and needed rest.” Eva glanced at an exceptionally quiet Maxwell, walking along with a brooding look on his face.
“Oh. I’m fine now.” Maxwell glanced at her, his eyes holding a lot of questions, but Eva looked away. She was now having second thoughts about this wedding!
They took her to a suite room where Alyssa was waiting for her with an attendant to get her ready. “Are you feeling better now?” she asked, and Eva nodded. It took them almost an hour to get her ready. She waited for the event to start when her thoughts went to Alexander. Where was he? Wouldn’t he come over to meet her once? What was he waiting for? How could he not do a thing and see her get married?
She walked over to the window, ready in her blush pink off-shoulder gown, and scanned the vicinity for Alexander’s silver Porsche. It was nowhere to be seen. Tears pricked at her eyes with disappointment. Why couldn’t Alexander rescue her from this?
“Shall we go, Eva?” Alyssa asked softly, coming up behind her. Eva turned to look at her and smiled sadly, her eyes lacking their lustre, and her cheeks had lost their glow. Alyssa held her hand and led her out of the room.
“Forget him, Eva. He won’t come.” Eva sighed, knowing how difficult it was to hide her feelings from her best friend.
“Why would I wait for him? I was just thinking about my parents. I wish they were here to walk me down the aisle.” Alyssa sighed, as this was the first time her friend had missed her parents, but there was nothing she could do about it.
“Aunt Claudia loves you, Eva, and she has offered to walk you down the aisle. I think that’s far better than forcing your parents to do it when they haven’t ever taken any update on you.”
“Yes, you’re right. I’m lucky to have aunt Claudia care for me so much. She has done a lot for me so far,” said Eva.
They went down the elevator to the banquet hall to wait for the rest of the guests. No one had arrived yet and Eva went out to the adjoining open terrace to breathe in the fresh air and hunt for Alexander’s car.
Outside Parkview Hotel:
Alexander watched her forlornly from his car. With Beatrix’s goons still stalking her around, he couldn’t make a move. He knew that till Beatrix got married, she wouldn’t leave her evil ways. She derived a crazy thrill from harassing him. She still wanted to marry Alexander, but with him sticking to his word, she didn’t have any other choice than to marry Cromwell. He was the only one who agreed to father her baby and look after Rotterdams as well. Furious at not getting what she wanted, Beatrix decided to teach him a lesson for life.
Alexander knew this would stop when Eva married Maxwell, but he couldn’t allow that to happen. One look at Eva’s haggard, pale face made him restless. Something was terribly wrong with her. Despite looking beautiful and ethereal in the dress she wore, there was something missing in her appearance. She didn’t look like her usual self.
“Cancel the wedding, Eva,” he whispered to himself, while watching her like a hawk. “Please wait for me like you had promised to do. This time, I won’t take long. I’ll marry you once Beatrix calls her goons off.” His heart constricted with pain when she wiped her eyes. Was she crying? Desperate to end it all, he called up the cops and informed them about the stalkers.
“Come over to Parkview Hotel, immediately, officer. You can catch them red-handed.” The officer took down the details and soon connected the case to the one Eva had filed against the white Honda Accord, which was following her earlier. It was the same car again.
“We’ll be right there, Mr. Van Every. Don’t disconnect the call. Continue to update us about its whereabouts.”
Inside Parkview Hotel:
“Maxwell’s family is here, Eva. Aren’t you coming down to welcome them?” said Alyssa, bringing her out of her reverie.
“Yes, I’ll be there in a minute,” said Eva as she wiped her eyes and walked into the banquet hall to face everyone without showing the hurricane swirling inside her. Unaware of what was happening outside, she looked at all the guests who had arrived to attend the event. Could she run away?
Alyssa excused herself and went to the washroom to freshen up. With Eva’s sad eyes haunting her mind, she hardly noticed Nicholas striding angrily towards her.
She collided with him and looked up, flustered and shocked, at seeing him suddenly here. “You? What are you doing here, Nicholas?” she gasped as he grabbed her arm to stop her from disappearing again.
“I’ve come to get you, Alyssa. How long will you escape me?” he hissed while she gaped at him. He manhandled her towards his car, ready to listen to Maxwell and abduct her onto a deserted island without her knowledge. Alyssa protested, but Nicholas turned a deaf ear to it all.
Kendall came over to help Eva to a chair as they geared up to start the event. Eva looked around for Alyssa, but didn’t find her anywhere. Where was she when she needed her the most?