Chapter 22 - Troublesome.

"Are you still angry with me?"

Alexander asked as Cara kept on looking out the window.

"Angry at you?"

"Why would I?"

She asked without sparing him a glance.

"Well... You've been distant ever since I picked you up."

"Oh why would I be angry at you? I mean...you've done nothing but force me to come with you to this pretentious gala for a desperate attempt at appearing in the local tabloids tomorrow morning."

Alexander sighed.

He was trying, he really was trying with Cara. Yet it seemed like everything he was doing only ended up pushing her away.  He knew they had ups and down but they were drifting apart fast and what happened with the company had made it even much more worse.

"Cara... There was a time we were once very close."

"Unfortunately."

Cara said and Alexander sighed.

"I know I've done a lot of things wrong. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was going to happen to the company earlier."

"I just really hope we'll get to move past this. We'll be getting married very soon and I wouldn't want us to start on the wrong foot."

Cara sighed.

She looked at Alexander and she felt absolutely nothing, not that there was much to feel in the beginning, but at least there was something there before. Now when she looked at him she couldn't find anything to cling to.

Any emotion, any feeling or memory which may have even suggested that they were once happy or they once shared something together.

The only person she could think about was Nicholas. And as dangerous as it was she couldn't stop thinking about him.

She also didn't want to argue with Alexander or give him the impression that something was very wrong.

"Yes, Alexander. I'll try."

She said and he smiled.

He gently squeezed her hand and Cara forced a smile.

He looked at her again, his eyes leaving her face and going down to the swell of her breasts in the champagne gold dress.

"I've missed you a lot."

He whispered, his voice heavy with lust.

Cara looked away quickly, pulling her hand away from him.

"We're almost here."

She said nervously.

After being with Nicholas, she wasn't sure she ever wanted to be Alexander's arms. The mere thought of it alone made her sick to the stomach.

Alexander wrapped a hand around her waist and yanked her closer to him.

Cara yelped in shock.

He kissed her neck gently, but Cara struggled to hide her disgust as he groaned.

"I can't wait you to have you in my arms again."

"Let's just get through tonight. We're here already."

She said heaving a sigh of relief as their car came to a halt.

"Yes. Yes. We're here."

Alexander said in excitement.

"Well. Let's go. Wouldn't want to waste a minute longer."

"Yea."

Cara replied with feigned enthusiasm.



The Gala fundraiser was as expected, it was just like the countless number of balls, galas and fundraisers that Cara had been to.

Over the top, extravagant and pointless, to a large extent.

Alexander and Cara spent several minutes posing for pictures for the press and many more weaving through the crowd and saying hello.

Cara was very glad when she spotted her parents, she managed to slip out of Alexander's grasp to confront her father.

He was already smiling nervously as his daughter approached him.

"Cara! You're back! Alex told us you went on a business trip."

Her father said anxiously and she nodded her head.

"Yes. Briefly."

"I'm happy I ran into you. It's almost as if you've been avoiding me these past few days."

Her father laughed, a little too loudly.

Her mother touched him gently to caution him and he stopped.

"Why would I? I've just been busy."

Cara sighed.

She was just going to say her piece and leave, there was no use crying over spilt milk.

"I can't believe you didn't count me important enough to tell me about the affairs of the company."

"Cara..."

"I mean... After all I am your daughter and you've always told me I'd inherit it someday. I guess that was just a lie."

Her father sighed.

"Cara... Hear me out."

"Hear you out? About how you connived with Alexander and didn't tell me anything? Or is it how you completely handed over the company to the Greenes, even after making me several promises that you wouldn't?"

"Cara, don't be so harsh on your father."

Cara shook her head.

No, she wasn't harsh on him. She was simply telling him the truth.

"Perhaps if I had been a male child maybe your choices would have been different."

"Maybe you wouldn't be making me getting married to Alexander and you certainly wouldn't have made him the CEO."

Her father didn't need to say it for her to see it.

His actions spoke loud enough, he didn't trust her enough to run the company. Because she was a girl, he decided the fate of the company on his own, ignoring her years of dedication and hard work. And he simply handed everything to Alexander on a silver platter.

It wasn't hard to see what he thought about her.

"Cara, you're my sweet girl... How could you ever think of me doing something like that?!"

Her mother glared at her.

"Don't you talk to your father that way, apologise to him."

"Apologise for what? For being a girl?"

She scoffed as she looked around.

"You're the ones who owe me an apology."

She said and she walked away.

Mrs Devine turned to her husband and patted him on his back

"Don't worry. She'll come around."

Her father shook his head, he had never heard his daughter talk that way and he certainly didn't think she was coming around any sooner.

"I've never heard her talk that way. I really hurt her."

He did.

But if only she had waited to hear him out, he didn't have much choice, those were the rule of the contract, although he failed to have told her earlier, he never thought her incapable of leading the company. It was Alexander who had thought her incapable of leading the company.

But he didn't want to tell her that. He didn't want to wound her more with the words and with the wedding drawing so close, those weren't the kinds of talk she should be listening to.

Alexander was talking to a few people, every once in a while he would make eye contact with Cara and every wink made her dread the end of the gala even more.

There had to be something she could do. She wasn't sharing a bed with him, no matter what he said or what he told her about.

She swirled the red wine in her hand, she had not had that much to drink, after confronting her parents she had simply sat quietly and watched everything go by around her.

That was, until Alexander's mother came to sit next to her.

Mrs Angela Greene.

She was wearing a robin's blue dress and it fitted her perfectly.

"Cara! Are you enjoying the evening?"

Cara nodded.

"I certainly am Mrs Greene. What about you?"

She asked and Mrs Greene shrugged.

"Oh it's a bit too much for me. But of course, what would I expect from a Montgomery."

"This is the kind of party they like to throw."

Cara smiled tightly.

"I saw Alexander a few moments ago. He seems to be in a good mood. i guess that means you two made up then?"

She asked as she raised her eyebrows and Cara chuckled.

Well, Mrs Greene was certainly very nosy.

"We weren't fighting."

She said and Mrs Greene sighed.

"That's not what he told me. He said you were upset about the company. I hope you've stopped worrying about that. CEO or no CEO, you shouldn't make such a big fuss out of things like that."

Cara's jaw clenched. She didn't expect Mrs Greene to understand, the woman never worked a day in her life. She had been perfectly content with her role as a lady of the house.

"I understand Mrs Greene. I wouldn't do such again."

She said politely and Mrs Greene smiled.

"Yes! Yes! This is why you and Alexander are such a great match. You both compliment each other."

"I'm happy the two of you found each other."

Cara resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

They didn't find each other or anything, it was all arranged and orchestrated and Mrs Greene liked to pretend like it wasn't.

"You're a wonderful girl Cara. I know you'll make a good wife."

She added as she held Cara's hands and Cara smiled uneasily.

She wondered what the woman would think of her if she knew she was sleeping with her other son Nicholas.

Mrs Greene's eyes travelled to Alexander as he started approaching them.

"Well. I just hope Nicholas has the same luck with women like his brother does."

Cara's eyes widened.

Oh you'd be surprised Mrs Greene.

She said in her mind.

"After Alex's wedding, I'll talk to him about settling down, maybe he'll even allow me pick a girl for him."

She chuckled slowly as Cara completely froze.

Pick a wife for him?

Was there no limit to this woman's meddling?

"What if he has someone in mind?"

Cara said nervously and Mrs Greene shrugged.

"My sons hardly know what's good for them, it's my job to help them see that."

Help them see that?!

Cara thought as she slightly shook her head. She was mildly pissed off but she managed to smile through it.

Maybe this was one of the reasons Nicholas kept away from his family, because they couldn't just stop finding a way to meddle in his personal affairs.