Chapter 20 - Ugly Truth Unveiled

The makeup did no justice to Prisana's swollen red eyes or her snot filled nose. She broke to tears but this would be the last time for him. No more tears for that man who no longer deserved the title of father. No more hope to find his lost soul and rekindle the fire from ashes and smoke.

Prisana inhaled a deep breath and stepped into another fated door.

Departure came crashing fast and hard. Prisana watched the large privately owned mansion spanning acres fade away from view, turn to roads and livestock. The stunning mansion situated in New Jersey's most elite Wellington Estates was where she grew up in. Many of her firsts. Now, many of her lasts.

It was heartbreaking leaving behind so many memories. All she could salvage were clothes and her mother's portrait. Her mother was the only family left that would not betray her.

However if her mother were alive, then things may not have been different. Prisana's mother was born from a respectable family who like Prisana, arranged for her to marry into her father's family. And so she did but in doing so, passed away during childbirth. It was both a blessing and even more so a tragedy.

Prisana's mother was her own person.

She would not lead the life her mother led. Prisana's father was also his own person. They said the man you marry always resembled your own father. How sad. Looking at Giovanni beside her now, he much resembled her father.

"Prisana, as my wife I will make sure that you are the happiest woman alive," Giovanni assured her, placing a hand on top of hers.

Prisana instantly recoiled from his touch.

Where was the happiness on a marriage built upon a lie? Forget the dashing features gracing his face, the riches, and material things. She didn't want his concrete promises. She wanted what looks and money could not buy. His love, his devotion, and his true sincerity but he wouldn't be able to give her any of those things.

Not one.

"Won't you say something? Anything, please. Talk to me."

"I'm suppressing my emotions," she stonily answered, keeping her gaze locked onto the window.

He was the last person she wanted to talk to right now, save for Erica. It took every fiber of her being not to lose her composure. Not to lash out at him and jump out of the moving car this very instant.

"What sort of emotions?" he dared to ask.

"The list is endless. I'm tired...Listen Gio, you're someone I've known since diapers. Can you answer me honestly?"

"If I can do anything to ease our future together, you can ask me away."

Giovanni was a good man. He never physically hurt her. The hurt lied in the emotions. The difference between their relationship and others were that they were promised. Not given. Prisana was promised. She once gave him her heart. He was promised too but you couldn't force someone's heart to be given.

"You never loved me even once, did you?" she sadly breathed out these words, finally turning to look at the side of his frame.

Giovanni kept looking straight at the road. Her gaze continued to focus on the side of his distant yet close frame. A mad silence counted on the song verse from the radio speakers to fill in the thickened air. His grip tightened on the steering wheel after taking a deep breath.

"I love you, even now. I love you so much I will do anything. I'm dropping the women. Dropping my past wrongdoings all for you, because I love you."

"Because you need me," Prisana venomously spat, immediately choosing to lower her voice because he wasn't worth her time and anger. "I am sick and tired of your lies. As my future husband, don't you think now is a good time to start telling me the truth? Or do I not even deserve that much from you?"

The corners of his mouth twitched. Slowly, Prisana felt as if his facade were finally falling apart.

"You've changed. Since when did you grow a backbone?"

"From the moment you took someone who I regarded as my sister. Both of you could fuck out the brains of anyone you wanted but you chose each other. You both chose to give me the backbone. Not me."

"You keep insisting I don't love you, why is that? I've told you so many times and I will say it again. I love you."

The three letter words coming out of his mouth sickened her to the core. It boiled her to lengths she didn't think were possible. She kept her fisted hands to her sides.

"Whenever I look at you, all I see are beautiful lies. If you loved me, you would have never did what you did. Not just with Erica but with half of New Jersey's female population."

"So you knew," was all he muttered.

Giovanni's facade has finally begun to crack. His lies were falling apart and coming to light. He thought she didn't know. She would have to be a fool not to know that the man she once loved was busy night after night loving other women.

Obedient might have been true of her but certainly not a fool.

"Let's strike a deal. Why don't you just remain the obedient little Prisana like you should? Then when we are married, you can go off and do whatever your heart so desires."

"Right, obedient. I was scorned from birth to be obedient yet you were scorned from birth to always surpass that brother of yours. Know this. My worth, my status will always be above yours! I will never legally marry a bastard's son."

Those words were meant to hurt him as much as the both of them hurt her. His expression was no longer civil but darkened to vexation. She gasp as he slammed down on the breaks. Her body lurched forward from the sudden impact. She turned to glare at him.

The car following from behind honked but all she could hear was the sound of her heart beating rapid fire. This was it. The ugly truth she had been so dying to hear.

"You're right. I never once loved you. In fact, I hate you. Prisana, I've hated you from the moment I first met you."