Part XXII

"I thought I'd find you here."

Teresa turned around and came face to face with Ethan.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, we never talk anymore."

"Maybe it's because we have nothing to say to each other."

"What happened to us, Teresa?"

"You happened to us, Ethan. And there is no need to rehash the past. I've moved on with my life and I'm happy with Fox. I love him."

"Would you love him so much if I told you who Fox was in love with, who he might still be in love with?"

"What?"

"You heard what I just said, Teresa. The mystery woman, he was in love with."

"What about her?"

"It's Whitney."

Teresa shook as she brought her hand to her mouth.

"No, you're lying."

Ethan looked at her and smiled at the effect he just had on her.

"No, you're the one who is lying, Teresa. I can see it in your eyes that you believe me. I don't want to hurt you."

"Then why are you doing this to me? Is it because you hate me? Is it because you are so unhappy that you can't stand to see me happy with Fox? What is it, Ethan?"

"I just don't think that Fox is good enough for you. He loves Whitney. She is the one he always wanted."

Teresa walked away from him and out of the garden. By the time she had reached the gazebo, she couldn't wake anymore. She sat down on one of the many benches and cried. She knew Ethan hadn't lied to her. Everything was making sense now. Fox had decided to leave for Los Angeles at the same time as Chad and Whitney because his mystery woman was moving there. He had offered them to stay with him, so that he can be close to Whitney. The many times she had caught him staring at her. She couldn't believe how dense she had been, that she hadn't seen it.

And now, she was in love with him. And now she felt her heart breaking worst than anything she had ever known in her life. At least with Ethan, she knew there was always the possibility of Gwen, that he could go back to her. But with Fox, even though she knew that there was this woman, the mere fact that she could put a face on it and that that face was Whitney's felt like a knife was going through her heart. The old wounds had been reopened and Ethan had poured salt on them.

"Teresa."

Fox had put a jacket over her shoulders and sat beside her. She looked at him and he wrapped an arm around her.

"I know you're worried about your son, Teresa. But this is what custody battles are like. At least, we all live under the same roof and he doesn't have to be taken from one home to the other."

She looked at him and tears kept running down her cheeks.

"Honey, you have got to stop doing this."

"I'm not crying over this. Tell me the truth, I have to hear it from you, Fox. Be honest with me, okay?"

"Alright."

"What happens when everything in your life becomes a lie?"

He looked at her puzzled by her question and gave her the same answer he had given her months before when they were in Los Angeles.

"Well, Teresa. When everything in your life becomes a lie, you just have to pick up your life and start over."

"Fox, what was the name of your mystery woman?"

He let go of her and stood up.

"This is not something that you need to know, Teresa."

"But I do."

And as Fox turned around and faced Teresa, he knew that she had found out the truth. He read it in her eyes. She had always been an open book.

"Do I really need to tell you her name, because Teresa, I can see that you already know."

"How could you? How could you keep something this big from me?"

"It was mistake, I never."

"It's okay, Fox. I'm sorry that you got stuck with me."

She walked away from him as fast as she could. She reached the mansion out of breath and ran up the stairs that led to her bedroom. She took her son out of his bed and put a blanket over him and just as she was about to leave, Fox walked in.

"You cannot leave this house with him."

"Says who?"

"Says the judge, Teresa. You are not allowed to leave with him."

"Well I'm not leaving without him."

"No, stay, and I'll go if it makes it easier for you. But Teresa, I love you, you have to know that."

"And I hate you right now."

Fox looked at her hurt. He didn't understand what had happened. Everything was always so perfect between them.

"You don't mean it, Teresa."

"Yes, I do. I don't want to see you. I can't deal with this right now, Fox. Please leave me alone."

"I'm your husband, Teresa."

"Yes, my husband of convenience, my husband who married me out of piety."

Fox just looked at her and knew that he had to go. He left the room and closed the door behind him. He heard her footsteps in the room and her sobbing. He went to one of the guest rooms in the other wing. If Teresa wanted to be alone and without him, then she would get her wish.

'She is beyond special, Teresa.she is in a class of her own. And she is everything that I want.'

"If you only knew that nothing in this world is as important to me as you are. I should have been honest with her from the start."