/*IMPORTANT: For the next chapters, I am thinking of using the third person's POV (The writer's POV) What do you think of this idea? Who's with it? And who's against it?*/ 

/*I have always used characters' POVs so it would be a new challenge for me, please, contact me within 24 hours from now so that I can start writing the next chapter, and tell me what you think, thanks :* */ 

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Chapter 34:

Zack's POV:

        Still locking eyes with her, I leaned down slowly, sending one hand to her neck and one to her cheek to keep her in place then without even hesitation and after looking at her eyes one more time, I brushed my lips on hers and started kissing her.

       I wanted to check Nadia's reaction; if she pushed me away immediately, it would've meant that she was really sure of her decision, she didn't want me anymore; if she stayed still and didn't make a move, it would've meant that she was unsure. However, she reacted the way I wanted her to, she stayed still at first but after few seconds, she kissed me back.

      A strange feeling filled my chest at her reaction, making me feel an urgent urge to deepen the kiss a little bit, and that's what I did; I titled my head to the side and bit her lower lip, which she reacted to by parting her lips slightly. Nevertheless, just in time when our tongues met, she pulled away, breathing heavily.

       Her cheeks were flushed red as she was inhaling and exhaling deeply while I took my time to look at her intensely, a new found courage was building inside of me since she could push me away the moment our lips met but she didn't, which meant that she was fighting her own demons inside of her head.

I would make sure I win against them...

"I should leave" She intended to stand up but I reacted sooner and pulled her back down, however this time closer to me.

"I will never let you go even though I don't know why you suddenly decided to let go of what we have; but keep in mind that I genuinely love you and nothing will make me leave your side" I said, turning her face so that she could look at me "Besides, the kiss we just shared spoke what you don't want to say so don't even think I would believe your words anymore"

       I didn't wait for her to answer me, after the last word left my mouth, I stood up immediately, looked down at her and leaned down to plant a kiss on top of her forehead "Goodbye Nadia, I will be inside if you need anything" I started walking away, only to be stopped after being two feet away from Nadia when she called me.

'Did I affect her that quickly?' I hoped as I turned around.

"Your jacket" She gestured at my jacket that was still on her shoulders.

"You can keep it, I know you love my smell anyway" I winked, although I was disappointed that the piece of fabric was the only reason why she called me.

'What was I waiting for anyway?' I smiled at myself, sadly 'Maybe run to me and say that everything will be okay?'  

       I headed back to where my grandparents were in order to ask them if they wanted to go back home since it was already close to midnight and grandma would be exhausted after making sure everything in the Gala went smoothly. 

       Grandma refused to leave before Mr. Mathews was released but grandpa of course obliged her to leave immediately and made me drive her home instead of calling the chauffeur, while I really wanted to stay at the hospital longer beside Nadia. 

       However, because the situation was already messed up between my grandparents and I, I agreed without even complaining. I wanted to see Mr. Mathews before I left but grandpa said that it would be better if I left the conversation for the day after in order to give the old man a break.

      On the way out of the hospital, I wished I could see Nadia before I left, knowing that I wouldn't see her until the day after, which was unsurprisingly bothering me since I got used to having her beside me, playing with the locks of her hair when we're snuggled under the bed sheets, and most importantly, getting to hold her in my arms as she rests her head on my chest and sleeps peacefully and safely.

     I kept having those thoughts even when grandma and I, were already driving grandpa's car after I asked the chauffeur to stay with grandpa, and grandma must've sensed that I was really tense because she patted my shoulder and said "You care about her, don't you?"

"Care isn't strong enough, love is" I answered her flatly, remembering how she stood up when Nadia approached her.

I should tell her not to act that way again since it really hurt Nadia...!!!

"If you didn't fall for each other, when would you have thought of ending your marriage?" She asked, obviously forcing the words out.

"After a year"

"I can't believe you two tricked us" She sighed, annoyingly.

"Why can't you see the bigger picture?" I whisper-yelled at her "I love her, she loves me, we are happy, period."

"But your start isn't good"

"Didn't you like Nadia in the first place? Why are you suddenly giving me a lecture that I feel would lead to a piece of advice that I probably won't like?" I turned to look at her for two seconds before I focused on the road again.

"I liked Nadia because she wasn't like the other girls but now that I know that she can deceive us easily  just like the others, I don't think I feel good that you're married to her" She replied, sounding convinced of the things she was saying.

"Let's make things clear" I parked the car on the sideways and pointing at grandma at grandma "I was the one who convinced Nadia to be my fake wife, I was the one who deceived you not her, I am happy with my marriage and I am not thinking of leaving Nadia's side any time soon, or never" I announced, putting more stress on the last word.

     Grandma was slightly chocked at my sudden outburst because I had never pointed my finger at her, even when she threw me on her high society friends' daughters. Therefore, she just turned in her seat and stayed quiet for the rest of the drive home.

      In fact, she didn't even tell me goodnight when she was descending the car. She just opened the door and headed to the Mansion'a entrance as if she was running from something, or someone, which made me regret being harsh on her, although I meant every single word I said.

I wasn't letting Nadia go... PERIOD.

       After making sure that grandma entered the house, I headed to the apartment, feeling the tiredness of the entire day consume me as I finally parked the car after twenty minutes. Once I was inside, I walked to the bedroom and switched the lights on.

      The room was so empty that I felt like I didn't belong there, which was strange to me since after coming back from Chicago, Nadia and I, we were inseparable and we always slept on the same bed, she even brought few of her outfits to my walk-in closet when I insisted on her that it was high time, we started living like we should've been living from the start.

       A part of me hoped that Nadia would come back to the apartment that night but I knew her well enough to say that she wouldn't leave her grandpa's side, especially after she dropped the 'I will ask for divorce' card. Besides, she was full of pride and wouldn't take a step back immediately.

      Not bothering to change my clothes, I took off my shoes and threw myself on the bed, staring at the high ceiling, wondering why I had never noticed how high the ceiling was. I kept gazing at it until tiredness and exhaustion finally hit me vaguely and I fell asleep.

       Looking at the watch on my side table that signaled that it was 4 am, I caressed my skull in order to ease the pain that was starting to mess with my nerves bit it wall in vain so I pushed the beds sheets and headed out of the bedroom to the kitchen where I knew Nadia kept some tablets for headaches.

I wish grandma was here to give me a skull massage.

       I gulped the medicine with a cup of water and was about to head back to sleep when I suddenly heard a strange sound from the extra bedroom where Nadia was sleeping in at first.

      I tip toed till I reached the door after grabbing a vase that was sitting on a wooden table beside the kitchen. I opened the door really slowly, making sure that I made no sound in the process. There was no one in the bedroom area but I could hear that there was someone in the bathroom attached to the room.

      I waited few minutes beside the bathroom door in order to catch whoever was there on his way out until I heard the sound of something falling on the ground then I noticed that the door's knob was being turned.

'Let's see what you've got' I smirked to myself, raising the vase up high, just waiting for a move from the other side.

       Although I couldn't see anything in the dark, I could tell that the intruder was moving so in a fast motion I walked behind him and intended to hit him lightly, but not strong enough to hurt him, however, as I approached him from behind, he suddenly turned and pushed me so hard that I fell backward and hit my head on the door's frame.

      As I was about to stand up, the lights suddenly enlightened the room, revealing Nadia standing in nothing but a towel wrapped around her, covering her mouth with her hand. She was still under chock because she kept gazing at me as if I had grown two heads.

"You can at least offer to help" I said, grumbling since the pain I got from the fall added to my headache, was unbearable.

"Yeah sorry" She rushed toward me and offered me her hand; "What are you doing here anyway?" She questioned when I was on my feet.

"I thought someone broke in" I answered, trying not to think of my headache "I didn't think you would leave your grandpa"

"Ann is there, I came to pack some clothes" She answered.

"At 4 am?" I raised my eyebrows at her challengingly while she diverted her attention to the ground, then it hit me "You didn't want to see me, that's why you came so early"

She remained silent..

"You are unbelievable Nadia" I raised my voice, feeling anger boil in my veins "I didn't think you are disgusted of me that much"

      The color was drained from her face at what I concluded, but she didn't say a thing to deny it. She just stood rooted in her place, gazing at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the entire room, which made me angrier since she didn't even have the guts to look me in the eyes.

     In a moment of anger, I hit the vase with my foot, which flied across the room and it shattered in a matter of a second when it hit the wall; I went out of the room, leaving Nadia standing in the same position without making a move to follow me or even ask if I hurt my head when I hit it.

'Damn everything' I thought to myself as I gulped one more tablet since my pain was only increasing by every second.

      I sat on one of the kitchen's chairs and started massaging my skull, hoping it would give the same affect that my grandma'a fingers have but I was only dreaming because my touch wasn't as gentle as hers so I gave up and decided to go have a hot shower, maybe it could help.

       Before I could stand up, I felt a feather touch on my shoulder, pinning me down on the chair. Nadia stood behind me and started massaging my skull just like my grandma did; I remained silent, enjoying the feeling of her fingers moving in circle motions, up and down, my anger long gone. 

       Her touch had done wonders to my pain because since the moment she touched me, it started decreasing, maybe she had skills or maybe I was so distracted of our closeness that I forgot about my pain. 

She cared after all... 

"Me, helping you, doesn't mean anything at all" She stated, still doing magic with her fingers "And I am not disgusted, I am hurt" 

"But you didn't even hear me out" I retorted right away "You promised you would listen but you broke your promise"

"It doesn't matter anyway, it wouldn't change my mind" She replied, determinedly.

"What happened that made you decide to get divorced" I questioned, feeling curious because the woman who kissed me back in the hospital wouldn't even think of leaving me.

"I thought well, that's it"

"Come on, at least I deserve to know" I pushed her to answer, which made her stop her magic and take a step back.

       With the light that came from the small lamb in the lounging room, I could barely see Nadia's features so I couldn't tell how was she reacting to what I was saying, therefore, I stood up slowly and approached her, making sure to look in her eyes in the process, neglecting the fact that she was so beautiful, wearing a beautiful knee length dress, only. 

I wanted her to see that we still had a connection...

"Convince me, why should I agree on divorcing you if I still love and want you as badly as I was yesterday before grandma walked-in on us" I asked her, a dare hidden in my words since I knew she would never come out with something that would convince me, she needed  to convince herself first. 

"Convince you?"

"I promise, if you do it, I will do whatever you want" I replied although the mere thought of it, made my heart clench in my chest.

"I feel like our marriage is all based onus,  pretending to be people we never were" She lowered her head, long gone the confident woman I knew "Thinking of it, I wonder when we really stopped pretending" 

 "Tell me, do you think I was pretending when I first kissed you?" I spoke quietly despite the way I looked at her since rage was starting to bubble in my veins again "I kissed you because I wanted to, and I will do it again because I still want you to shut up" I gazed at her as her eyes filled with tears, and my heart instantly softened at the sight of her in that state "I don't want you to cry, it hurts me to see you that way" 

"But the way we started was wrong" She obviously found herself blabbering because she was losing her own battle and she was sure that how matter hard she fought, I wouldn't let her go that easily.  

"Why do you care about the start while the end is all that matters" I didn't bother myself to talk, I just kept moving closer until I was a inch away.

        I didn't get what was going to happen after but I had to be close to her, hug her and maybe my embrace would give her her sanity back since actions speak louder than words, and I knew by the look she had on her face, that she was confused and she didn't know what to do anymore. Therefore without hesitation, I did what I thought would put points to the deal, I hugged her so tight that I almost thought I was crashing her with in my arms. 

       She hit my chest several times, telling me to leave her alone but I didn't pull back, I just hugged her and inhaled-in her sweet scent deeply, making sure to memorize exactly how she smelled like, until she gave up and rested her head on my chest, silently crying, wetting my shirt with her tears. 

'Was I hurting that much and I haven't even noticed?' I questioned myself, feeling like my heart was breaking into small pieces 'If she was miserable with me, I wouldn't handle seeing her in that state ever again' 

"I hate seeing you cry because of me and I don't want you to go, I can't imagine my live without you, but if you choose to go, I won't hold you anymore, the decision is yours, I won't force you to stay" I lowered my head to her ear and whispered lowly then I gathered every ounce of will in me and walked away from her. 

        I went the bedroom and closed the door behind me urgently, fighting the urge to go back to the kitchen and just wipe her tears. However, I knew that what I had done was the right thing to do if I wanted her to be happy. 

What would happen if she still wanted to go away...?

******

/*What do you think?*/ 

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/*Tell me what do you think Nadia would do? And how would Zack react to it?*/ 

/*The next chapter will be published before Tuesday, August 29th*/ 

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/*Thanks already, xoxo, Kisses-N*/