Half an hour had passed since the entire Rion family had rushed down the stage with Grandmother.
A doctor was currently inside the room checking Grandmother's condition and Theresa was in there with them.
Whereas, the remaining members of the Rion family and a few others stood outside this room as they waited for the doctor's news.
Seraphina was standing next to her newfound Godfather, whose name she now knew was Howard Preston.
While they were waiting for the doctor to complete the old lady's check-up, the two had gotten the chance to continue their conversation from earlier.
Thanks to this, Seraphina now knew that Howard was familiar with her father, Killian Melody.
According to Howard, their families had been neighbors in the past and her father used to babysit him when he was younger.
This unexpected connection explained why he had commented about her eyes being similar to her father's.
However, knowing that her Godfather and her father were acquainted, Seraphina was unsure of how to deal with this situation.
If her father found out that she had married into the Rion family in such haste to solve the crisis that had arisen today, he would throw a fit.
After all, she was the Melody family's only child and her father had been waiting to see her get married.
Therefore, to know that he had lost his chance to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding would be a big blow for her father.
Thus, Seraphina did not know how to react when she heard that Howard knew Killian, her father, and that the two men had been close when they were younger.
Thankfully, Howard had already noticed her unease and had patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"I will keep it a secret as long as you want me to." He swore not to speak a word of this matter to her father.
Not to mention that it had been years since Howard had met Killian after the Melody family had moved to a different city.
The two men had lost touch for a while so it would not be too difficult for him to keep this promise.
Therefore, Howard did not find the need to go out of his way to let Killian know about his daughter's hasty wedding.
Just as Seraphina breathed a sigh of relief for having resolved this issue, the door of the room where Grandma was taken opened from the inside.
"She is resting now." Theresa disclosed in a soft voice as soon as she stepped out, wiping away the anxious looks on everyone's faces.
Thanks to her immediate announcement, the people gathered here collectively heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this good news.
Shawn patted Tobias' shoulder that had slumped after he relaxed his tensed muscles, whereas Seraphina went to hug Theresa, who in return gave her a tight squeeze, revealing just how worried she had been while waiting for the results of the doctor's checkup.
Howard stood at the side while watching this wholesome moment among the family members, not attempting to join them.
However, this moment was soon interrupted by the ringing of a phone, making everyone look in the direction of the jarring sound in the otherwise silent hallway.
{Selene}
Their eyes fell on the name that appeared on the screen after Tobias pulled out the phone that had been ringing in his pocket.
The hand holding the phone shook when he saw this name and his heart raced as he thought of the person calling him.
No one uttered a word as they watched him staring at the screen without making any move to answer it.
Soon, the ringing came to a halt, snapping Tobias from his daze as he hurriedly unlocked his phone screen, clicking on that familiar name to dial their number once again.
However, even after waiting for a while, no one answered the call from the other end.
Tobias felt everyone's eyes on him but he had no desire to even glance in their direction.
Instead, he fixed his gaze on his phone screen which soon vibrated, indicating that a text message had been delivered.
Just one look at the message he had received, Tobias shoved the phone into his pocket.
"I need to leave." He announced and rushed out of the hallway, leaving behind his family and his new bride.
Theresa frowned when she sensed the urgency in her son's behavior and was about to call out to him, intending to stop him from leaving.
However, before she could even utter a word, she felt her hand being held and squeezed.
"Don't stop him, Aunt Theresa." Seraphina finally spoke up as she held back the older woman whose face had turned a fierce red after witnessing the young man running away.
Theresa was annoyed that despite everything that had happened at the chapel and their Grandmother's sudden relapse, Tobias had chosen to leave them and rush to Selene's side.
If it was understandable in the past since the two were lovers, now it certainly was inappropriate for Tobias to behave this way.
After all, he now was a married man and regardless of the circumstances of their wedding, he should not be putting the needs of another woman over his wife's.
In Theresa's eyes, her son was the one in the wrong, in this situation.
He should not have left his bride behind as it was their wedding reception tonight, just to be with the woman who had left him without even bothering to give him a proper explanation right before their wedding.
However, before she could give Tobias a piece of her mind, she was held back by Seraphina.
Hence, she could only swallow the words of reproach that had almost spilled out of her mouth and instead turned to hold Seraphina's hand in her palm, stroking it soothingly.
Unfortunately, this kind gesture was not at all necessary for Seraphina, who felt nothing while witnessing her new husband running to another woman.
'I hope he gets things sorted out with Selene...' Seraphina's thoughts were vastly different from what the older woman was assuming it to be.
She still hoped that Tobias could find the happiness he longed for with the woman he loved.
"You should stop calling me Aunt now." Theresa changed the topic when she saw the lost look in Seraphina's eyes.
These words surprised the new bride and it took her a few seconds to grasp the meaning hidden in those words.
Now that Tobias and Seraphina were married, Theresa wished that the youngster would call her 'Mom' rather than 'Aunt'.
It was a simple request but thinking of a certain matter, Seraphina did not reply instantly but rather used the same tactic and brought up another topic.
"Can we talk? Alone?" She requested, scanning her surroundings as two men had been listening to their conversation from the beginning.
Howard and Shawn felt awkward when the spotlight fell on them, making the older man announce that he should return to the banquet hall.
On the other hand, the younger man offered to watch over Grandmother while the two women completed their conversation.
With the hallway emptying out in just a few seconds, Seraphina took in a deep breath before looking into Theresa's eyes.
"We should end the banquet here." She revealed what she had initially discussed with Tobias back when they were in their room.
Grandmother's health had taken a turn for the worse tonight and even Tobias had left the venue.
Therefore, she took this opportunity to inform Theresa that the banquet could be concluded anytime now.
After all, it would not be appropriate for her, the bride, to return to the banquet hall without her groom.
Hence, she had proposed that the banquet could be ended on account of Grandmother's ill health.
In this way, she would be killing two birds with one stone.
The banquet would end earlier as she wished and at the same time, no one would know that Tobias had disappeared.
Though this wasn't how she had planned to end the night, Seraphina had to work with the circumstances she had been presented and hence had reached this conclusion which she shared with Theresa.
It was not the most ideal outcome but she would make do with what she was given.
'She is already cleaning up his messes for him...' The mother-in-law once again misunderstood her intentions.
She could not help but look at Seraphina with admiration in her eyes, especially after everything she had done for the Rion family tonight.