The day had finally arrived. Emily stepped into her wedding dress and took a deep breath. Everything she had worked towards, everything she had suffered and experienced, all the time she had spent planning and preparing – it all led to this day. The only other people who were aware of Emily's plan were Aiden, Nolan and Jack. Emily trusted them with her life. Now was their chance to frame Victoria for the shooting of Emily Thorne and expose her as the murderous witch she really was.

The reception was being held on a boat. With the help of her three allies, the plan was for Emily to 'accidently' spill her drink on Victoria. It was assumed that Victoria would then go downstairs to clean herself up. Aiden would be waiting behind the scenes to chloroform Victoria, making her black out for at least ten minutes. In this time, Emily would fire gunshots into the air, scatter her blood over the deck, jump overboard and swim to a buoy where she would alert Aiden and then wait for him to collect her. Then, they would finally be free.

Emily had planned every last detail. The last thing on her mind was the wedding – all she could think about was her plan. As she applied another coat of lip gloss, a smile spread across her face. This time tomorrow she would be with Aiden, the man she was truly in love with. She sighed. First, she needed to focus on getting through the wedding and convincing everyone she was madly in love with Daniel.

Everything was set. It was time.

"Emily?"

She froze. Victoria was standing behind her.

Emily turned around. "Victoria. Can I help you?"

"I wanted to have a word with you, if you would be so kind as to spare me a moment of your time,"

Emily pulled out a seat for Victoria. The two women sat facing each other.

"What is it?" said Emily in annoyance.

Victoria stared Emily in the eyes, her gaze deep and penetrating. Emily suddenly felt Victoria's hand on her arm. Her touch was as cold as her stare. A chill ran down Emily's spine.

"I wanted to speak with you personally to wish you all the best for the wedding. As you will soon be my daughter-in-law, I feel obligated to smooth out the disagreements we have had in the past. I know we have had our moments, but I do hope we can get past them, especially for the sake of today. It has been difficult for me to accept, Emily, but I know that you make my son very happy,"

Emily realised she was glaring at Victoria. Everything that came out of Victoria's mouth was a lie. She refused to believe a word of it, but for now she had to be an actress. Quickly pulling herself together, she flashed the older woman a smile.

"Thank you, Victoria. How kind of you. I'm sure that after today you will understand just how much Daniel means to me. I love him with all my heart, and I know that everything will work out for us in the future,"

To Emily's surprise, Victoria suddenly laughed with bitterness. "You see, Emily, that's the other thing I wanted to mention,"

"What's that?"

Victoria sighed, and leaned in closer towards Emily. "I wasn't born yesterday. You might make my son happy, but I know you're not in love with him," she whispered.

"Listen. I'm not going to waste my time convincing you to believe me, but you can be assured that I do love Daniel,"

Victoria continued to stare at Emily with resentment.

Emily felt herself becoming frustrated. "Why is it so hard for you to believe, Victoria?"

"I know what a woman in love looks like, Emily, and that's not you," Victoria stood up and began to make her way out of the room.

Following Victoria to the door, Emily tried to keep her cool, but it was no good. She resisted the urge to slap Victoria across the face right then and there. "You know, now that I think about it, Victoria, it must be very hard for you to accept or appreciate any kind of love when your own miserable life is so devoid of it. Jealously sure has a way of controlling us, doesn't it?"

Tears began to well in Victoria's eyes. She turned and stormed away, slamming the door behind her. Emily always knew how to get under her skin and make her feel a rollercoaster of different emotions. She was both angry and disappointed with herself, as once again she had been lost for words.

If only Emily knew the truth.

Conrad, Victoria and Charlotte took their seats at the wedding in the front row. Victoria looked around, smiling and politely greeting the many guests that had been invited. She looked magnificent in a laced, deep purple, floor-length dress, which contrasted beautifully with her fair skin. Her long hair cascaded down her back in thick, black waves. She searched the crowd and found her son's face at the end of the aisle. He was waiting eagerly for his fiancé. Victoria could not believe that Daniel was getting married, and in a way, she was proud of him. However, anger and rage soon consumed Victoria as she reminded herself that her son was marrying Emily Thorne. She realised she didn't want to believe it. Victoria didn't want her son to make the same mistakes she made in the past. Nonetheless, she continued to smile and pretend.

The wedding bells began to chime. The hundreds of guests stood and turned to welcome the bride, whispering and giggling happily, waiting in anticipation, searching for Emily.

Charlotte gasped in excitement and leaned in towards her mother. "Look! There she is."

Victoria's heart almost stopped.

She had no words to describe the woman she saw in front of her. Victoria was speechless. She felt herself breathing hard and fast. Never once had she seen a woman so beautiful, so incredibly exquisite, in all her life. It was as if she had been swept into some kind of trance as she watched Emily move slowly and gracefully down the aisle. All the hatred and envy that Victoria felt suddenly disappeared.

As Emily passed Victoria, their eyes locked.

The wedding officiant spoke and Daniel and Emily announced their wedding vows.

"You may now kiss the bride!"

Everyone clapped and cheered for the newly married couple, and in that single moment it was as if nothing existed but happiness. Yet all Victoria felt was, strangely enough, an overwhelming sense of sadness. A tear rolled softly down her cheek.

Without warning, she got up from her seat and ran.

"Victoria!" gasped Conrad.

Despite all the joy and excitement around her, Emily could sense that something was not quite right. As she and Daniel held up their hands to the crowd, showing off their new wedding rings, Emily scanned the room. Instantly, she noticed that Victoria was nowhere to be seen.

She must have left. That horrible woman couldn't stand to see me marrying her son.

Emily's mind began to race. She hoped that Victoria hadn't gone far for the sake of her plan. Since Victoria had left the wedding, there was a strong possibility that she wouldn't turn up to the reception at all. Emily felt herself begin to panic. She needed Victoria to be here at this moment, and more importantly, to attend the reception so that her plan could go ahead. Faking a smile to Daniel and the guests in front of her, Emily tried to calm herself down. She reminded herself that everything would be fine and that she was prepared for anything.

Emily knew exactly what she needed to do – she needed to find Victoria, wherever she might be. She knew she had to do it as soon as possible. She needed to find her and convince her to attend the reception. It was the only way to get her plan back on track.