The Secrets That Ruin Them

Chapter 3 – Three Hundred guests to Impress

Did she feel bad, yes, but it had to be done. Patricia Goodford was a very old fashioned woman, who was wealthy and smart, she had children and she had grandchildren. She was retired and she was happy, yet she was worried for her Michal. That was why she spoke with her husband, her son and his wife, and they had a chat about the future of the young and impressive man. He had refused all other marriage offers, he had always found something to fault in the woman that his grandfather proposed for him, so Patricia decided that she would take matters into her own hands.

She knew Michal was impossible to deal with some times, so she had to be smart about the way she did things. She searched for months, for the perfect candidate and found her, just three weeks ago. She followed the girl, watched everything that was going on. She knew in time, both her grandson and the young girl would thank her for what she has done. She felt bad for forcing the matter, but she wanted to see Michal happy, recover and she wanted to see little great grandchildren running around her home calling her sweet names, begging for hugs and kisses and cakes to eat.

Patricia had paid for everything, the hire of the large city hall, the beautiful cherry bloom decorations and the greenery that went with it. She paid for the food, the drinks, the suit and the dress. She even arranged the rings. She did not show her grandson a single photo of the girl, Nakisha Shaw, she told him nothing and she hid the details from everyone else as well so he could not investigate and find a reason to decline the girl. She knew her tricks were not the wisest, but she needed to do something and this was what she had done.

Seeing that girl sitting on the floor in the bathroom broke her heart. She knew if it was her, she would be frightened and sad too, nervous, but Patricia knew it would all be OK in the end. She was too stunned when she saw the girl tidy herself up and focus on the task she needed to do. She was beautiful. She had light pleasant makeup on, which bought out the beauty in her eyes. Since finding the girl, she had only seen her natural face and she was very pleasant to the eyes then as well, but the light touch up just made all her stunning features stand out even more.

Yes, to convince the young woman’s mother of the arrangement, Patricia had offered money and it was taken instantly. She did not really say who she was in fact, just offered money for Nakisha to marry her grandson that was in a wheelchair and scarred on the face since an accident three years ago. She was surprised how quickly the idea was accepted and agreed to by the mother, but it was all worth it, Patricia knew it was.

Now she sat at the head table, next to her own husband as music played and they watched as the guests mingled, danced, ate and drank. She could see her son Stefan and step daughter in law Charlotte on the dance floor, moving about gracefully. They were happy, all the guests looked happy and that was what Patricia wanted. As the Goodford family, they had to go big and flashy, they had to do everything to impress. Not because they were greedy, but because they had to set ground, that they were still influential people and should still be respected by everyone. After all, they did do a lot for their home land.

However, while the guests were all having a good time, she could see somebody who was not. Did Patricia blame the young girl? No. She could understand she was not feeling it, seeing as there was nobody there aside from the girls mother and sister, that she knew. Which looked like she was avoiding them, seeing as they were moving from group to group, showing off, acting like they were of high wealth now just because of the connection through marriage. Some found them interesting and it was clear that they were falling into the innocent and temptress acts of the two woman. Others looked at them with no interest and thought of them as a joke. Patricia knew she would need somebody to keep an eye on them, to make sure they did not mess things up, to make sure they did not use the Goodford name to get things that they wanted.

Michal, he looked like he was having an OK time, but not with his new wife. He was in a group of people, chatting away, downing some drinks and totally forgetting he should be taking his new wife around with him, to show her off and introduce her to people. He may have not wanted to be forced into a wedding, his position within the family business may have been threaten by his grandfather, but he should still be making an effort.

With a deep sigh, Patricia got up from her seat, patted her husband’s hand and then went over a few seats to where Nakisha Shaw was sitting. She was quiet, watching everyone and everything. Patricia smiled kindly at the girl. She was very happy with her choice. She could already see the young girl was not going to be trouble. She was young, but she was wise, she was mature, she was quiet and she did not complain. Patricia knew being married to Michal was not going to be easy for the girl, but that was why Patricia chose to go ahead with it, because while she was young and innocent, the girl would be able to bring out a softer side to Michal, she would make him happy, they just did not see it yet.

“You know, back when I got married, Stefanio and I had only known each other for two months, through our parents work connection.” Patricia started conversation. “I was so nervous when my parents told me I was getting married, I did not want to do it. Stefanio did not like me either, in fact, he avoided me for the first year. I think I saw him maybe three times in that one year.”

“Wh...what changed?” Nakisha asked in a nervous voice.

“Both of us did.” Patricia laughed. “We had a little disagreement, I was upset and left the house. It was raining, he followed, dragged me back home. He ended up getting sick and I had to look after him. I saw a very different side to him, a softer side to him. Then because I was so warn from looking after Stefanio, I got sick and he had to look after me in return. It taught us new things about each other and really made things better between us.”

She did not say anything, just smiled and nodded. She held worry in her eyes, like she felt the story was lovely, but did not feel like it would be her story one day. Patricia gave her a gentle smile and stayed sitting next to the girl, watching the crowd of people. She leaned over from time to time and explained who was who to Nakisha. The girl was paying attention, Patricia could tell, and she was glad, hoping that Nakisha would remember at least one or two of the people she had pointed out, so next time there was some gathering that Nakisha had to go to, she would be able to smoothly greet the person and discuss things with them.