Chapter 23 - .

Right before the ceremony.

"What do you mean? What really happened? I thought we went through everything you and I could remember from that day and came up with nothing! What else are you hiding from me?"

" Please don't get mad at me, Cara. I hid that part of the story from you for your own good. You seemed like you really needed someone to depend on that time, so I went along with it."

" What along with?! With what?!"

" With the part of me pulling you out of the water; that I was the one who saved you that day. It wasn't me. By the time I found you on the coastline, you were barely breathing so I performed CPR and did the necessary.... You were already of out the water by the time I got there."

" Ian..."

" I know who saved you...."

"W-who?"

"You're about to marry him today." says Ian.

" You're kidding right?! This is a joke! Did he put you up to this? Did he invite you here and ask you to lie for him? To make up for what he did? Is that why you're lying to me?"

" I'm not lying Cara. Not this time. Gideon Clemonte is the one who saved you that day. Not me."

" T-that makes no sense at all. How could it be him? Why would he even be there?"

" I'm glad you asked." says Adrianna entering the room.

" What are you doing here?" asks Cara.

"I'm here to back Ian up. He's telling the truth. I would know. Eight years ago, on Driftwood beach, I saw you get into and argument with your parents near the shoreline. Your mum was telling before she flung something into the ocean. You ran like a maniac into the waters trying to retrieve it." says Adrianna.

" N-no t-thats can't be what happened! You're lying! What was that?! I-it c-can't be, M-my parents lied to me? "

" Gideon pulled you out of the water. I was there to witness it."

" No, no. Smith told me about you. I refuse to believe anything you say. Ian! What are you doing by standing on her side?" Cara shouts.

" I see Smith tattled on me. Did he also told you what happened that night?" Adrianna asks Cara.

" It was just a kiss! Gideon told me about it! He said it was a mistake!"

" A kiss? What are we in? Pre-school? Are you sure, you consensual adults who have had too much to drink, plus a romantic past, would just kiss? We did say more than that, Cara. There are ways I can please Gideon that you never can."

" I'm not going to stand here and listen to anymore of this nonsense. I have a wedding to get to."

" Deny all you want, Cara. But how well do you know Gideon? Are you sure you can trust him? Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your life with someone like him?" asks Adrianna.

At the wedding,

After Cara says no, she runs away. Maisha faints to see this situation.

Gideon runs calling his name.

He comes in from of him and stops her.

"Cara! What's wrong?! Is it because of what happened last night? I swear that kiss meant nothing to me! It was an accident!"

But she doesn't reply and is simply standing there.

" Please Cara. Talk to me?"

"Were you the one who saved me eight years ago?"

Gideon is shocked," What are you talking about.....?"

"At the beach....you were at the beach too, weren't you? Ian wasn't the one who saved me, it was you. That's why you were so mad when Ian said he was the one who saved me, that's why your embrace feels so familiar, that's why I've been having visions of you! It's infuriating how it all makes sense! You!"

" Cara....."

" Yes or no Gideon. The answer isn't that difficult."

" Yes."

" Then why did you hide it from me? Why did you pretend not to know? Is this all a joke to you then? Some sick hero complex game you're trying to play? String the dumb girl along until she finds out!? Do you take joy in watching me struggle when you knew what happened all this while?!"

" Please, Cara, calm down."

" H-how...What happened at the beach, Gideon? What else are you not telling me? Does it have anything to do with Damian?"

FLASHBACK

At the room.

After the conversation, Cara decides to leave.

And when she is leaving,

"There's a reason why Gideon hid it from you, Cara." says Adrianna.

" I do not want to hear anymore of this. I'm sure you've met little Damian? Cute blonde little boy with those sweet innocent eyes? Gideon can't tell you anything about that day because when we were there together - I was pregnant with his child. We were only 16 then. Gideon's dad owns a small property of that small, quiet, coastal town. So we moved there until the baby arrived. We have to hide from everyone because God knows what will happen if news got out that Gideon Clemonte got a girl pregnant at 16. That's why he didn't tell you."

" Just stop, Adrianna. It's getting pathetic."

" Ian? Would you like to show her the test I asked you to run?"

And Ian gives him the test report.

She reads it carefully.

"It's a match. They're related...." she says sympathetically.

" I'm acting only so crazy because he's father of my child, Cara. I can't let him go just like that."

" Damian..... He isn't the son of the Clemonte's help.....You guys are related, aren't you?"

" F*ck, Cara."

" Yes or no?!?! It's not that hard!"

" Yes. Cara, please. There are some things I can't tell you because I'm trying to protect him...." he says.

" So. Many. Lies. Our entire relationship was based on lies. The very foundation of our relationship was a marriage sham! It's just lies after lies that I don't even know what's real anymore! Everyone is lying to me." says Cara.

" Cara.... Don't you trust me?"

"Stop. Just stop, Gideon. I don't claim to be a saint, Cara. I'm not perfect. I'm sorry I lied to you about that incident but I have my difficulties. I swear that's the last thing I was keeping from you. But f*ck, I've never given myself to anyone as much as I've given you. I don't ask for your forgiveness, but all I'm asking right now, is for you to trust me. Do you?"

" Don't! I knew it! I knew this was some stupid conquest to you! For you to nail one girl who refused to give you any attention! I'm nothing more but Gideon Clemonte's latest in a long line of women! The worst perhaps, since I actually agreed to marry you!" Cara fires at Gideon.

" I love you, Cara. I love you so much that it f"*cking hurts right now."

"Don't you dare say that to me. You disgust me."

" I....disgust you?"

" Yes. You disgusting, pathetic, manwh*re!"

" That's all I ever was to you? A manwh*re? No matter how much I do for you, no matter how much I try to prove myself, I'm just a f*cking manwh*re to you? Without trust, we're nothing. Cara Black, have you ever trusted me? How you ever saw me as anything else besides a cheater? How you ever felt the same way I do for you? Do you love me?" asks Gideon.

But Cara doesn't reply to his question.

" Yes or no, Cara. It's not that hard."

"No." she replies heartbreakingly.

After his answer Gideon gets angry and leaves.

While leaving being angry he cries.

A tears falls from his eye.

They are standing cross to each other.

"Goodbye, Gideon."