Again, I'm so sorry for the delay and I want to thank everyone who reviewed. I'm so grateful for your support!

I hope you will enjoy this chapter :) And again Thank you!

Chapter 21

Arianna led Gabi to the office and opened the door for her. Gabi entered and looked at her surroundings and she stopped in the middle of the room, waiting for Arianna to make the first move. Arianna slowly closed the door and turned around, leaning her back to the door and she took a deep breath. She made her way to the couch and sat, she looked up at Gabi who was still standing and patted beside her to indicate she could sit next to her. Gabo finally moved and went to sit. Both stayed mute and still for some minutes. They both looked everywhere but at the person beside.

When Arianna figured that the silence was enough awkward, she decided to begin to talk.

"So… How are you?"

"I…I'm good… Look Arianna, I suppose you have a lot of questions and I'm ready to answer them."

"You're right, I have ton of questions… Dad explained me what happened but I want to know your version of the events. I want to know why you never wanted us to visit you. I want to know why you thought it would be okay not to know my mother…"

"Wow… Okay I will answer you. What do you want to know first?"

Arianna ran her hands through her perfectly brushed hair, not knowing exactly what she wanted to know first. It was so confusing for her. She always dreamed about that day when she could finally meet her mom, when she could ask her everything she had in mind. And now that the day had come, she was left speechless and motionless. "I-I… huh."

"It's okay Arianna. You can take your time. I didn't expect you to…" But Gabi was cut by Arianna's trembling voice.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Gabi asked, hesitating.

"Why did you always refuse to see me?"

"I didn't refuse to see you Arianna. I wanted to see you and know you so badly…"

"Then why did I never see you? And don't say it's because of my dad because I know he wanted me to know you more than anything."

"What? No! I would never imply that your dad… It was never because of him. Your father is an incredible man. It was all me! I-I wanted to know you and I wanted you… to know that I existed and that I loved you." Gabi was beginning to tear up and her voice was braking as she continued. "But in the meantime, I was so… ashamed of myself and I didn't want you to be ashamed of me as well."

"Why would I be ashamed of you? I mean you are my mother." Arianna said, shrugging her shoulders not understanding. "I would never be ashamed of my own mother."

"Well…" Gabi looked at her daughter with curiosity. "You-you should be ashamed. I don't even understand how you can stay here and talk to me…"

"What do you mean? Why would you think something like that?"

"Arianna, what did your father say about my doings?"

"He said you did one bad thing concerning one of his friends named Melanie and you paid for that."

"Oh… So he didn't tell you everything…"

"What didn't he tell me?"

"I was sent to jail for the crimes I committed. I paid for these but I never paid for what I've done to your father and believe me; what I did to your father was way worse." Gabi said, looking down at her hands. "Your father was and still is such a good man; he was my best friend and I betrayed him. That's the thing I'm the most ashamed of."

"What did you do?" Arianna asked, stressed.

"I'll tell you but can you promise me you won't be mad at me?"

"I can't promise anything right now…"

"Okay, just promise you will let me finish before you say something…" Gabi said, looking straight into Arianna's eyes, pleading.

"Okay, I won't say anything…"

"When I learned I was pregnant, I immediately went to your father to tell you the news. He had just gotten back together with Sonny and I had just met a guy that I love Nick. We were both so young and we started panicking and we didn't know what to do. When Nick learned my pregnancy, he immediately put two and two together and figured that you couldn't be his but he didn't break up with me and I was so relieved. That's when things began going out of control…"

As she was saying those words, Gabi couldn't stand looking into her daughter's eyes. She could see that Arianna was trying to invent a scenario and imagine what had happened.

"Nick took advantage of your father's vulnerability and asked him not to tell anything right away and maybe wait to figure things out. And he did. He never told anyone, he kept everything secret from the love of his life Sonny for me and he accepted later to pass you as Nick's..."

"I'm sorry …What? I know I said I wouldn't interrupt you but… How is it possible?"

"Your father has always been a kind hearted person and he has always wanted other people's happiness before his own. And Nick convinced him that you would be happier with us so he let that happen…"

Arianna suddenly got up and started pacing the room. "No! I don't believe you… Dad would never accept to leave me."

"No he didn't. He already loved you so much. That's when what I did enter. Nick found a way to keep your dad away from me and you by blackmailing him and I was so dumb that I believed Nick when he said it was to protect me from the Brady's craziness. I believed him over my best friend. I betrayed him…" Gabi was now sobbing under the emotionless glance of Arianna.

"I let Nick control me and I think I would have left him do it if Chad didn't stop us…" She looked at Arianna who was still not moving. She waited two minutes before breaking the silence. "Arianna?"

"Why did dad hide that from me?" Arianna asked, her glance still blank.

"I guess he wanted to protect you. Or me… Your dad is the best man I have met during my whole life and he is so selfless and…"

"Stop that!"Arianna said, pointing at Gabi with her finger. "I love my father more than anything in the world but he should have told me this. I can't believe he hid something like this."

"I asked him to. I didn't want you to have to live with knowing that your mother did such horrible things."

"Well you should be happy. I knew nothing about you, I lived without a feminine presence because you weren't strong enough to live up to what you did. I dreamed of this day, you know? I was imagining me reconnecting with you and you telling me how much you regretted everything."

"But I do! I do regret everything I did. If I could, I would go back and change…"

"Well you can't! I'm sorry; I'm maybe not fair but I need time to clean up my head. You arrived from nowhere and you tell me you did things to my dad and asked him not to tell me anything. I love my dad to death and you tell me you hurt him? I can't stand that even if you are my… My mother."

"I understand that! And I'm sorry! I guess I did a lot of bad things in my life but the one thing I did right was leaving you to your dad. I'm sure you had everything you wanted and I wished every day that I was here with you two… I'm going to go and leave you to your party… But before I go, I just want to say that… I'm happy you found your love. And last, please don't be angry at your dad! He just did what I asked him to do. If there is one person, you have to be angry at; it's me… Well I'll leave and I leave you my number if you want to call me. You don't have to at all. I just hope that you'll be able to forgive me one day… And just know that I love you!" Gabi got up and went to Arianna who didn't bulge. She slowly kissed her daughter's forehead and went to the door. She opened it and turned around. "You're beautiful Arianna, like your father…" And she left.

As soon as Gabi left the room, Arianna let herself collapse on the couch and put her head in her hands. She didn't hear the door opening again neither did she notice another person coming to her until she felt strong arms wrapping around her and pulling her closer. At the moment her head touched her father's chest, she burst into tears.

Will had been stressed since Gabi and Arianna made their way inside the office. He couldn't stop thinking about the last 20 years and the fact he never really told him everything about what happened. He hoped Gabi would be clever and would not bring that up. But what if Arianna began asking questions? What if Gabi couldn't resist and spilled everything? One, his daughter would be broken and two she would be mad at him and he couldn't bear his baby girl being angry at him. Gentle caresses on his back brought him out of his thoughts. He turned towards Sonny who opened his arms. He went to him and let himself being wrapped in the loving embrace. "It's going to be okay Will. Your daughter is strong. To be honest, I never saw such a young girl being so strong. She inherited that from you."

"I don't think so." Will laughed slightly. "But I agree that she's so strong. But I can't help it."

"Nothing will happen. You have been honest with her and now she wants to know her mother. It's going to be okay."

Will slightly pulled away from Sonny but stayed in his arms. "Well I haven't been totally honest with her. She doesn't know what happened with Nick and his blackmail. She only knows that Gabi orchestrated Melanie's kidnapping and that Nick knew and never told anything."

"What?" Sonny pulled completely away from Will and dragged him to a more secluded area. "Why didn't you tell her everything?"

"I don't know! I didn't want her to be disappointed in her mother more than she already was plus Gabi begged me to not tell her."

"Are you aware that if she finds out tonight, she could be mad at you? And it would be justifiable!"

"Geez Thanks Sonny. You instantly made me feel so much better…" Will said rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry Will. You just have to admit that it was a dumb move. You should have told her…"

"It would have been the last straw for Ari. I didn't want her to hate her mother."

"And it's noble of you. But you can't hide something so big from her. If Gabi doesn't tell her tonight, you'll have to tell her…"

"I know… I will, I promise."

"Good." Sonny said before pecking Will's lips. "And I guess we'll know now."

"What do you mean?" Sonny nodded towards the office's door where Gabi was going out, her eyes red. "Oh god, she told her!" He rushed to Gabi followed by Sonny. Stopping her from leaving the club, he threw her a questioning look.

"I'm sorry! I had to tell her…" Will didn't need to hear more and ran to the office. When he reached the door, the sight before him brought tears to his eyes. Arianna was curled up and she had buried her head in her hands. Will slowly closed the door and made his way to the couch where he sat down. He wrapped his arms around Arianna without scaring her and pulled her to him. As soon as her head touch him, he heard her crying.

"I'm so sorry…" He whispered to her, running his hand through her hair like he was doing when she was 5. He kissed the top of her head and waited for her to calm down.

Around 10 minutes later, her sobs had subsided. She got up from the couch and went to the desk to pick up a tissue. She wiped her eyes and her make up before turning to Will.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart." He said, getting up and stepping forward.

"I know you did that to protect me. But you should have told me." She said, her voice reproachful. "You should have told me the truth when I was old enough; I can't believe you hid something like this to me…"

"I'm sorry baby. But to me, you will always be my baby girl even if you're married now or if you have children. To me you will always be my perfect little scared-of-thunder girl. But you're right, I definitely should have told you."

She threw her tissue in the bin and went to her dad to hug him. "How were you able to forgive her after what she's done?" She asked him while hugging.

He pulled away and led them to the couch. "She's your mother and at the time we both thought we were doing the right thing. I thought that until I lost Sonny at Nick and Gabi's wedding and Nick began blackmailing me. So I began fighting for you and I got lucky Chad was here. I got you back and Gabi was sent to jail. She asked me to take good care of you but she never doubted I would manage. She loves you, you know. It's maybe difficult to see it but I know she does. It was hard for me to forgive her but I did and I really hope you'll be able to do the same. She's still you mother…"

"You know I don't hate her. I don't know what I really feel but I know I don't hate her. Maybe with time, I'll be able to forgive her for hurting you. I love you dad. Although I'm a little mad at you for not telling me, I understand. And as I already told you, you were the best dad ever and I just want you to be happy…" She leaned toward her dad to be enveloped in a fatherly and loving embrace.

"Honestly, right now, with my gorgeous daughter in my arms, I can't be a happier dad!"

To be continued…