Chapter 7: He's Your Son

"Gwen! I was looking for you." Finn's voice made both of them step back, since they were almost touching their foreheads.

"Finn, can you take me home? I think I might have lost my ride," Vivienne asked, like she hadn't been the reason why he was so angry.

"Vivienne, I'm not gonna ask you twice. Get inside now!" his voice was scary enough for both Gwen and Vivienne to give up on their argument.

That was the CEO they all knew. That was the persona that Gwen hated so much, though she barely saw it when they were together.

Vivienne looked offended and almost about to cry, but didn't say anything. She simply turned and went inside the restaurant again.

"Finn, I really should go. I don't want to bring problems on myself. I already have more than enough…"

"Gwen, please, listen to me. She's not my fiancée, alright? I mean… It's complicated, but I can promise you there's nothing going on between us."

"I honestly don't care. It's none of my business anyway. It's your life after all. I'm gonna call a cab." Gwen turned to make a sign for the driver, but Finn stopped her by holding her wrist.

She felt her skin burn with the electricity that came from his touch.

How was that even possible?

They had been separated for years, yet she could still feel all the excitement he provoked in her body. And she could tell that he felt the same way.

The way his eyes checked her every move, the way she could feel like he was seeing through her soul with those green emeralds.

Tonight was a mistake.

Stephanie was right, and Gwen made a mental note to congratulate her friend when she got home.

"Please, just give me a chance to… I don't know, I just feel like… We haven't seen each other for years, and you left without saying anything. You owe me at least an explanation, don't you think?"

Gwen was speechless.

"Are you serious? Do you want to talk about this now? Here?"

Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, we can talk about that anywhere you want. I just want you to give me an explanation. Do you know how hard it was for me?" he asked, sounding very upset all of a sudden.

"Are you kidding?" Gwen couldn't find the right words to say.

She knew it was unfair to leave someone without saying anything, but he had no idea of what she had been through.

He was no saint.

"Why would I be kidding about something like this? I searched for you everywhere. For months. You said you loved me, but you clearly lied."

Gwen laughed in disbelief. She was frustrated at herself for not being able to find the right words to reply. She was always so proud of being someone with the right answers, right at the tip of her tongue, but now…

Finn had the power to destabilize her, especially by talking about a time that had broken her heart and soul.

She turned her back at him and started to walk away. She couldn't stay there any longer. She had no idea of where she was going, but she wasn't going to argue with him in front of the restaurant. Someone could hear them, or even worse, Vivienne could show up again.

But of course Finn would follow her.

Finn grabbed her by the wrist again and turned her to him, their eyes meeting. Gwen immediately felt her eyes burn with unshed tears. She wasn't going to cry. He wouldn't do that to her.

Not anymore.

"You lied to me when you said you loved me? Is that it?" Finn insisted. "Come on, we're both adults. Just say it to my face, instead of running away when things get serious."

"Run away?" Gwen was possessed with rage. "You have no idea what I've been through. You have no idea of what I suffered all those years, while you were here living your billionaire life, banging your French fiancée. Don't come to tell me that I didn't love you. You don't get to say that to me."

She could feel her chin trembling, as she tried so hard not to cry.

But all the fury she felt during those five years, all the frustration and disappointment, all the hate she felt for herself, for not being able to stand up for what she wanted and believed back then… All that was making its way out.

Like a volcano, she was going to explode if he kept pressuring her like this. She had to leave.

"You weren't the only one who suffered, alright? Don't be selfish. You left without saying a single word to me. What do you expect me to believe? That this was your way of showing how much you loved me?" Finn sneered, and she could feel how frustrated he was as well.

She almost pitied him. But she had to think of herself first.

"Why did you leave?" he continued, piercing her with his eyes.

"I couldn't stay here anymore," she replied, trying to breathe in and out to calm herself.

"Couldn't? Why? What happened?"

Images of the day she left popped into Gwen's mind, making her heart shrink with pain.

She didn't like to think about that day, and for the past few years, she did everything in her power to bury those memories.

"I don't want to talk about that, Finn. Just let me go home, alright?"

"Are you really not gonna tell me? Aren't you even going to defend yourself? Are you not denying what I said? You didn't love me at all, did you?" Finn asked again in disbelief.

"I did, ok? I loved you, and I ended up with a broken heart and the constant memory of you in my life."

"What do you mean?"

Gwen could feel her heart beating aggressively against her chest.

"If you think I was selfish by leaving to be on my own and raise a kid by myself, maybe you should think twice before saying that again. No woman would do that if she had a choice."

"To raise a kid…?" Finn was having a hard time putting the pieces together. Gwen wasn't making a lot of sense actually. "Are you telling me that you were already pregnant when you left? Is… No way, you would have told me if Cody was my son. So what then… Did you cheat on me? Was that it?"

Gwen felt her heart shattering in pieces with that absurd accusation.

How could he even think so low of her?

"You are an a**hole. I'm not the type of woman you're used to! He is your son, ok? Satisfied now?"