Zoe's POV

There were whispers across the hall as everyone digested the news.

I was still in shock. It couldn't be the same Alex that she was talking about. There had to be some kind of mistake.

Cindy was still on the stage as she flashed the big rock on her finger. The next moment people were spanning pictures and the stage lights were shinning on Alex who was still in the crowd. That's when I knew this wasn't a mistake.

An hour ago I hadn't noticed that ring on her finger, or maybe it was because I wasn't looking.

Cindy walked off the stage. I noticed how Alex followed her into a room. Probably to celebrate the news.

I couldn't understand why he was doing this, three weeks ago she wasn't even a part of our lives and now she was about to become his wife. What reason would he have for doing this?

And then it hit me. I remembered his godfather's visit, Alex seemed really tense and the time about how this whole scandal was destroying his image. What if they decided that his marriage to Cindy was going to resolve his damaged image. She was perfect, the social butterfly and would make the perfect wife. She looked like she had money of her own and would kill down any rumors of her marrying for money. I'd just be in the background, the mistake. He would finally be settled, which is what his investors wanted.

I noticed how people were starting to stare, anyone could tell I was upset.

If they wanted to get married, the least they could have done was warn me.

I needed to get out of here, I needed to breathe. I was sick of everyone taking me for a fool.

I was stopped in my tracks as I felt a tight grip on my arm.

"Wait," I heard Alex say.

Where did he even come from?

I turned around to face him. It was bad enough everyone around here thought so poorly of me, the last thing I needed was to create a scene.

"I had no idea about this whole wedding," he said.

So his plan was to act bump. It just made me even angrier.

"Why can't you just be man enough for once and tell me the truth. I know you are marrying her just so that you can finally get the image that you wanted for your company. You should be careful not to be seen with me because I could just ruin everything." I snapped.

He let go of my arm.

"Is this how poorly you think of me?" He asked. He looked like he had been hurt by my words, but I didn't care. He might as well could have been pretending. "All of that, none of that is real. Cindy and I are not getting married." He said.

I had to remind myself that I was in public not to yell at him. "Then why don't you go and tell everyone the truth?" I said.

"I can't do that, not right now. Cindy is..."

"Then you are just the same liar that you have always been," I interrupted.

"No matter what I say, you are never going to believe me." He said.

And this time he was the one to leave.

I really tried to trust him but every time he gave me a reason not to. I wasn't about to allow him to hurt me.

I stormed out of the hall.

It was when I was outside in the chilly weather that I realized I didn't have a ride to take me home. I couldn't find Alexander's driver. Even if I could, I didn't want anything else to do with him.

"Zoe!" I heard someone yell my name.

I turned around to see Cindy running towards me in her heels.

Just the last person I wanted to see.

"What do you want?" I asked Cindy who was breathing heavily.

"I saw your fight with Alex. I just wanted to explain, Alex is not to blame for any of this. He was just doing this to help me." She said.

"I don't need to hear about your love story." I interrupted.

"I lied about the whole thing, there is nothing going on between Alex and I." She said.

"For as far as I could know, the two of you could both be lying to me," I said.

I didn't want people to keep taking me for a fool. I didn't want to keep believing in people that were never going to change.

"Please try to understand me as a woman. I did it for love." She said.

Her words stopped me in my tracks.

"Do you have any idea how it feels like to be in love?" She yelled. "I'm in love with someone but I can't be with him all because of where he comes from and how much money he has. I'm so in love with him that I am willing to do whatever it takes to fight for our love but my family won't have it. So much so that they are willing to force me into a loveless marriage because of our family image. I just thought that maybe be if they thought I was marrying Alex. They would finally give me a break. I just need enough time to fix this whole mess and I will personally tell everyone the truth."

By now she was completely in tears. I couldn't believe that same held together woman was her.

"I didn't ask to be born into my dysfunctional family. I just want to be like everyone else, to be allowed the right to love." She wiped her tears from her cheeks. "I envy you, you have the chance to live out your love story yet you choose not to." She said.

I didn't know what to say to her, she was falling apart right in front of me. I wonder how it felt, to love someone so much to the point it hurt.

Maybe I was in love with Alex. So in love that I'd rather reject him, maybe if he found out about how I felt he would reject me and walk away forever. It was easier being the one to walk away.

I know that I didn't have him but losing him forever would be a lot worse.

"You have no idea how lucky you are. You have someone willing to give you the world yet you choose to walk away. Alexander really loves you, so much so that you have become the center of his universe. " She said.

She had to be lying. Alexander didn't love anyone but himself.

I might have loved him but eventually, that wasn't going to be enough. He was just going to wake up and realize that he could do better than me. It was better I ended it now before it even began.

This was the first time I was willing to admit that I loved him, despite all his flaws and secrets. Even though I knew I loved him all I could feel was afraid.

I had to make the best decision for my baby, I could lose Alex forever because of this. He clearly didn't like having any attachments. It was better loving him from afar.

"I have to get out of here." I finally said to Cindy.

She sighed. "Even if you refuse to listen to every word I said, the least you could do is to go back to that party. You are the only reason he is having this whole thing. He knows how much you care about children." She said.

I was hesitant to return to that venue. There were so many people willing to stab me in the back the first chance they got. But then again, Alexander was finally doing something for me. I had already falsely accused him of being a liar. Showing up for another hour or so was the least I could do. It was about time I got rid of my pride.

I felt a warm feeling inside my chest, maybe I had managed to change Alexander after all.

Cindy had finished wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Thank heavens for waterproof make-up.

I waited a while for her to settle down before we finally walked back to the hall. She had her hand in twined with mine. I didn't care that everyone in there hated me.

Cindy stayed with me as she finally elaborated on her story.

From what I understood is that she fell in love with her driver, his name is Logan. Apparently, it was love at first sight for her and first met him before they even knew each other, they met in a bar (doesn't that sound familiar). It wasn't her intensions to fall in love with him but she did, despite her own sister throwing herself at him and a neighborhood girl whom his parents wanted him to marry. The problem is that as the eldest in her family, she is supposed to inherit all the family businesses. Her relationship with Logan puts everything at stake as there is fear of him only being with her for her money. There are already rumors that she and Logan are together so her father is trying to fix that image by forcing her to get married to the son of his business associate who is actually gay. The whole situation is a mess, I'm actually surprised that I managed to remember this much detail.

From what I gathered, she just needed someone who would listen. She has been trying to fight for that relationship for so long that I could tell she was reaching her limits. Was love really worth that much pain?

And here I was, unable to tell Alex how I felt.

About an hour into our conversation, a woman came to get her saying that someone else needed to speak to her.

I scanned the room for familiar faces. I couldn't find Alex anywhere, maybe I needed to apologize. I should have given him the chance to explain but instead, I choose to protect my heart.

"Zoe," I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I knew that voice and it didn't belong to Alex. I knew it so well that it sometimes still haunts me.