Chapter Twenty

To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.

- George MacDonald

Claire Bishop

One week and five days left before the big day.

Everything had been planning well. Mom and Helen took over the arrangements. I was just going to choose the dress and wear it. It was a good thing because I had no idea how I would choose the flowers, cake, buffets. I bet I'd be bored throughout the appointments.

And Tyler would be choosing the rings. Luke, my handsome nephew would be the ring bearer and my little Ariel, Lydia would be the flower girl.

Everything was going perfect.

Since the night I went to Tyler's house, we had been getting closer than we thought we would. He would always find the way to kiss me and I would let him.

It felt so unreal. A guy I met two months ago, meant so much to me, just like his little daughter did. They meant a lot and I couldn't possibly envision my life without them now.

Finally I found something. I could see my life going somewhere, somewhere beautiful and I wouldn't change anything.

Nothing could ruin my mood for today.

Feeling happy, I walked out of my bedroom to join the ladies who were on my living room. Mom and Helen sat together, discussing something over a catalog of flowers. Chloe was sitting with Luke and Lydia, talking with them.

When I joined the group, we decided to head out for shopping.

Mom and Helen went in a car that Helen brought, and Chloe, Lydia, Luke and me strapped in one with Liam the bodyguard, who took the driver seat.

We reached the shop without any traffic and within 40 minutes of being in there, I realised choosing a dress was a lot harder than I first thought. There were tons of white wedding dresses and every one of them was beautiful.

While browsing through many dresses, I found a strapless lacy dress and a scene of yesterday's breakfast time flashed before me.

As usual he was on his way to the office when he dropped in to check on me and I served him breakfast. I was plating the foods on the table when I felt him behind me, siding my wavy hairs to side, baring my neck to him.

I could remember my heart thumping louder, my body shuddering as his lips touched where my neck and shoulder met. I tried to pull back the T shirt over my shoulder, which he dropped to reveal my shoulder. I remembered his exact words when he stopped me from pulling the T shirt back in place.

"Don't hide from me." He whispered against my skin, sending shivers all over my body. "I like kissing you here."

And I gasped coming back to the present, doing the exact same thing when he whispered those words to me. I looked around me, hoping no one heard me nor saw the reddening cheeks of mine.

When I found my group of ladies on the other side, I sighed in relief and pulled out the beautiful dress I was looking at before thoughts of my strikingly attractive fiancé bombarded me. With a secret smile, I turned to the saleswoman and called her.

The dress was way long for me to take it to the ladies and show it. The saleswoman who was taller than me, took it from me and we headed to the other side. At once, all the ladies including little Lydia gasped at the sight of the dress.

"I found the dress." I announced, gesturing to the dress, held up by the saleswoman for them to look at it properly. I could see the appreciation in their eyes and I could guess why they liked it. The embroideries on the dress were beautiful and the whole dress was covered in them. It had a long trail.

Everyone commented their compliments and Chloe pulled out something from behind her and grinned. "This veil would go perfectly with the dress. Good job, Claire." She winked at me as she walked to me with the long lacy veil. "You're getting good at selecting dresses."

Rolling my eyes, I accepted the veil and gave it to the saleswoman who took them, and said. "If these are final then you can come right over there for the fitting, Ma'am."

I looked at where she was gesturing and found a pedestal in front of large mirrors. I nodded at her. "I'll be right there." And turned to the ladies. "You guys coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." My mom gushed as Helen nodded in agreement. "My little girl in a white dress. Oh, it's going to be perfect."

Chuckling, I lended my hand toward Lydia and started walking but stopped as I noticed Luke sitting on the sofa with his hand under his chin, pouting.

"Hey, Luke!" I called out. "What are you doing there? Come on."

He sat up straight and glanced at all the ladies before stopping at his mom. "This is so boring. Are we done here? You said you'll get me ice creams but we're still stuck here with all these dresses." He burst out, with a disgusted face and a shiver at the end.

That was a four year old boy talking. My four year old nephew who I thought liked me very much.

"Oh come on, Luke." I replied before his mom could say anything. "It's your Aunt Claire's wedding. At least act like you're having fun."

He looked at me with an even bored face and raised his little eyebrows. "So? What do I get?"

"I'll get you an ice cream afterwards." I bargained, with a wink.

For a sec, he had a thoughtful look before he lightened up and grabbed my other hand, to join us.

"But Claire, we have our dresses to buy as---"

"Oh, shush!" I turned back to my sister. "You guys can go. I'll take these two bunnies for their treats. What say, bunnies?"

My little bunnies expectantly nodded, showing their eagerness. Ignoring the disapproving look on Chloe's face, I walked further away from her with Luke and Lydia by my side.

Children deserved some treats for their patience. We wouldn't want rowdy kids while shopping, would we?

******

The vibrant walls of the ice cream shop made me see rainbows. The shop was too colourful but that never stopped kids and adults both, from coming in for a bite in this hot weather.

Drops of sweat running down my back was the response to this bright, sunny afternoon. Immediately, the cool air inside the shop, soothed my body but we had to get out because the shop was really crowded.

After ordering a chocolate fudge sandwich for me, a strawberry sundae for my Lydia and a large chocolate cookie cone for the brave Luke who thought he could finish the whole thing.

We walked out of the shop with our ice creams wrapped up and in cups. I had Luke's hand on mine as he tended to scramble away easily. On the other side, Lydia walked close by, shying away from other people walking on the sidewalk. I glanced behind to make sure Liam was following us.

Up ahead in another boutique, the ladies were still shopping. I thought of joining them since the air inside the shop would at least be caring to us. Unlike the outside air. I could already see the sweat matted in Luke's blond hair. Poor boy didn't even care about the heat, all he cared about was the melting ice cream.

"Are we there yet?"

I looked down to my right, meeting the grey eyes. "Almost." I smiled to my little Ariel, who was trying not to squirm. She had a tight, smile on her round face even though she was feeling the distress. She wasn't trying to show me, she was appeased and quite and enduring. These showed how she handled situations.

Her dad gave less credit to her when he first told me about her. She was the total opposite of his explanation. She was a sweet girl with a lot of patience.

Catching the names of the shops, I searched for the right one. I ushered the kids, slowly and safely.

But at one point, I stopped. Not because the kids were tired, no. It was this weird, uncanny feeling that washed over me, that had me gripping the shoulders of the kids and siding toward Liam.

I craned my head high, to look over the heads of the other people to find something. I didn't know what exactly I was looking for but I had to do something to rid of this feeling.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Claire?" I heard Liam, get close to me and the kids.

Why was I feeling like ...like someone was watching us? I had this itch on my back, that was signalling so many things. It meant the heat was getting worse as well as that someone was watching us.

I looked on the opposite sidewalk and found two or three people staring at us. Well, mostly at Liam. Maybe seeing a suited up guy on a summer day, had them staring but I couldn't find anything fishy. Then who was it? Was it a pap? Was it even someone? Or was I just imagining stuffs?

"Ms. Claire?"

Liam came around to stand before me. His eyebrows met halfway. His body rigid. He was prepared for an attack. But there was no attack. At least I didn't think so, but...

"Do you feel--feel this weird thing?" I started. He looked even more confused now. "I mean, it's like someone is watching us...I get it. Many are but I don't feel..I don't feel good about this, Liam."

At once, he whirled around and scanned the perimeter, looking for anything odd.

"We should go." Liam said as he turned us toward our designated shop but had his eyes locked on some other place.

I took a hold of Luke and Lydia, making sure they were busy with their ice creams and not picking up on our mood.

"What is it? I'm right? Someone has been..." I whispered, unavailable to complete my words. I had this sudden fear in me that had me walking faster. I was responsible for two kids and I wouldn't let anything happen to them.

Liam walked closely, his eyes straying from one place to another. "It's nothing, Ms. Claire. You shouldn't worry yourself." He said, with a tight voice.

I thin-lined my lips and gave him a sour look. His response to my action, was nothing vocal rather he escorted us quietly and alertly to the shop, where the ladies were still shopping.

Pushing the uncanny incident in the back of my mind for now, I focused on the matter at hand.

They were still shopping. How long did it take to buy dresses? For gods sake, it was for a wedding only; not a royal ball.

I impatiently tapped my foot over the marble floor as they finally made their choice.

After fifteen minutes, we were in our car, dropping everyone at their home one by one. At last it was just me and Lydia. We decided to go the house or rather she decided. I could never say no to her little doe eyes.

When we reached the three story stone house, I ushered Lydia to get in on her own. After the little body disappeared through the door, I turned toward Liam who was standing beside the black Range Rover, which as you could guess belonged to my fiancé.

"You're not telling Tyler anything." I told him, as strictly as I could but as usual, Tyler's guards were like him. Intimidating. My tone wouldn't work on them.

I didn't need to elaborate on what not to tell Tyler because Liam was smart enough to guess it but smart or not, loyalty was a must at his list of traits.

"Forgive me but that's not going to happen, Ma'am."

His tone was on edge as if I asked him to commit a murder. It was just not informing Tyler about the incident. It wouldn't be even considered a lie.

"But Liam, you already know him. He will worry too much, will be super protective and won't even let me stay at my place." I insisted, twisting my hands around.

It was true. As I got to know Tyler, I could understand his personalities clearly. There was no way if Lydia's daddy knew of the incident, he wouldn't take action on it.

Liam puffed out his chest as he clasped his hands behind him and responded with a straight face. "My loyalty rests with Boss. I am obliged to inform him every single detail."

The surprise was clear on my face. I didn't know whether to admire him or be annoyed at him. Seeing his determined face, my heart got the best of me and openly admired his loyalty.

I smiled, "You're a good man, Liam."

And a good looking one too. His black shaggy hairs gave him a boyish look but his strong features and body made up for it. At first, I concluded him as a Simon look-alike but today, I noticed the difference quite clearly.

Simon was a tall lean man whereas Liam was a bulky short man, not that short -just under Simon and Tyler.

Why does Tyler hire only good looking guys?

No idea.

Liam was handsome more in tough, army man way. His stunning brown eyes would beckon anyone but I bet his heavily build body stopped them from coming near him.

And his smile looked so foreign on his face as if smiling was a chore for him rather than just a normal expression,

He tried to smile as nicely as he could without scaring me off. Silly him, he couldn't scare me away. Tyler was enough for that.

"Thank you, Ms. Claire."

After poking him several times these past few days, he finally started calling me Ms. Claire instead of Ms. Bishop but sometimes he would switch between Ma'am and Ms. Claire. I tried not to scrunch up my nose at that.

I nodded at him and turned back to the house. When I reached the top stair, Liam called me. My eyes met those brown eyes yet again but this time, they showed emotion -a true admiration.

"You're a good woman, Ma'am. Mr. Sanders and Ms. Lydia are very lucky."

With that he hopped in the car, taking it to the garage on the right side of the house. Since he was gone, he didn't hear my reply to his compliment.

"No, Liam. You're wrong." I wishfully said to the air before me. "I am the one who's lucky."

Thanking God yet again for the turn of my life, I entered the house. From the conversation Liam and I had, one thing was visible to me.

My fiancé aka Tyler Sanders ran a tight shift. Every freaking man under him, had their loyalties fixed on him.

Shaking my head at disbelief, I stopped in the foyer and found little Lydia waiting for me, sitting on the stairs.

What was she still doing here?

"Lydia honey, get up." I walked to her and took hold of her hands. "Let's get you changed and you didn't have to wait for me."

"I wanted to." She admitted, blessing me with a shy smile. Good God. She was so adorable. I could just eat her up but then again, I wasn't the children eating witch.

Entering her bedroom, I quickly stepped to the wardrobe to get her clothes out. Tyler might have been informed by now. I didn't want to anger him more than he was already, I bet.

When Lydia was all changed, I freshened up and joined her on the way downstairs. We both were hungry. Very hungry but mine could wait till my conversation with Tyler finished.

We were at the archway that lead to the big dining room and kitchen when Liam as well Simon came through another archway, stopping when we came to his sight.

"Ms. Bishop." Simon nodded to me in greeting then my daughter. "Ms. Lydia."

Simon was tough as a nail. I couldn't get him to change his Ms. Bishop.

"Simon, how are you?" I asked him, nervously giving a side look to Liam. Did he already inform his boss?

"I'm fine. But Ma'am, he's asking for you." When he noticed Lydia joining me, he added. "Only you."

"Thank you." I smiled to him before I looked down at Lydia. "Sweetie, can you go and ask Gemma to cook something yummy for us? And wait for me there." When she started protesting, I added. "I'm just going to talk to daddy real quick. I'll be quick, I promise. "

Pouting a little, she moved away, leaving me all alone in the foyer. Since Liam and Simon scurried away while I talked with Lydia, I had nothing here to dwell my appointment with the man of the house.

I padded over the carpeted floor, noticing the lack of pictures on the walls. There were only paintings or showpiece hanging on the walls and sitting over the shelves. Someone needed to change that. There should be pictures everywhere, happy memories to smile upon.

I should talk about that with Tyler but I needed to finish the pending one before that. Taking a deep breath, I knocked before I opened the dark oak door.

This room was closed off to everyone in the house especially Lydia and except  Tyler. I had been in here only once and that was when Tyler himself brought me to show the room. It was a middle sized room. A whole side of the wall was covered with bookshelves from ceiling to floor, with a addition of a ladder. Beside the door, there was a fireplace and two couches were lined up before it.

On the opposite side of the bookshelves, there was a black love seat backed up to the wall. And in front of me sat a large desk, with organised papers on it. The man who probably organised them was leaning on the desk, crossing his hands and legs.

The large window behind him allowed sunshine to glide in which blinded his face to me but soon, I got used to the shine and his face became clear to me.

He wasn't smiling. He wasn't scowling.

And that wasn't good. A straight face was a serious face and I didn't want our meeting to be serious but a straight face didn't make him any less attractive. I tried not to let my eyes swipe over him again. He was very distracting for my eyes.

"Are you done?"

The deep voice made me stop drooling and face him seriously. "What?"

"Your sister told me that you tend to think a lot." He answered.

"Damn Chloe!" I muttered under my breath. And she said I was the talkative one. Well, boohoo that girl never stopped running her mouth.

Tyler cleared his throat, taking my attention back to him. He stood straight and uncrossed his limbs. That strayed my attention to his attire. A crisp black shirt tucked in his dark trouser. He came from office. I could totally guess that.

"How was your outing?" He asked me, his eyes never leaving mine.

I swallowed. "It was good."

"Anything interesting happened?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Umm...."

"Are you going to tell me what happened back there?" He finally asked what I was dreading. Why did he have to know everything?

"What do you mean?" I nervously said.

"You know what I mean, Claire." He spit out. "What happened back there wasn't a normal thing. You're suppose to tell me everything. Every last detail. Even if it's just a hunch."

Okay. He was getting worked up for no reason.

"It wasn't anything serious. It could've been a reporter or maybe it was a just my imagination. Tyl---"

"Even if it's just a hunch!" He repeated, getting close to me.

"Ugh, this is why I didn't want you to know. Why can't Liam keep quiet for one time?" I blurted out, in exasperation but that soon morphed into dread when Tyler slowly spoke up.

"What?" His voice was totally on edge. "You told Liam not to tell me about this?"

"Yeah, so that you wouldn't be worried but that's not happening cause your man is too loyal." I frowned, adding the last bit quietly. "And good looking. Anyway, you know now----"

"What did you say?" He cut me off, as usual. Nothing new.

"I said, you know no---"

"No, before that." His hands closed into fists.

I sheepishly looked at him. "Eh...your man is loyal?"

"After that!"

"Ahh..."

"Claire!"

"Oh my god. Okay! Okay!" I stepped back, instantly. "Good looking! As if you don't know. All your men are good to look at. You see them ev--"

"How close are you to Liam?"

"--everyday. Wait, what?" I chuckled, blinking at him. "I'm not close to anyone. I just find them alright. Maybe Liam a bit too much but really Tyler, that's just nothing."

"You'll be assigned a new guard from now on."

My eyes widened.

"No, then I would have to teach that guy to call me Claire. It already took a week for Liam to call me Ms. Claire. Don't do it, Tyler. I swear I won't ask him to hide anything from you now on." I insisted.

That seemed to make the situation more worse.

"Ms. Claire? He is suppose to call you Ma'am or.." Before I could intervened that Liam did call me Ma'am, he went on. "Ms. Bishop or better yet, Mrs. Sanders." He gritted his teeth. "He shouldn't be even here. I'll send him to Dad's house. I bet there too, he would find someone to get close to easily."

"Tyler...." I slowly said, finally sensing the anonymous vibe around him. "Why do I feel like you're not talking about what happened in the streets anymore?

"Oh, we are not done talking about that." He reminded me, not giving me the answer I was looking for.

Why was he acting so strange against Liam? Was he doubting Liam's loyalty? Cause he didn't need to. All of his men were very loyal.

"Can we get back to Liam? Because if you're doubting his loyalty. You shouldn't. I want to clear it, Tyler. Even though I told him to hide the matter, he didn't. You're doubting him for no reason. And for god's sake, the matter wasn't even anything serious."

As I was speaking, he was quiet for five seconds, narrowing his eyes at me but when I spoke the last words, he exploded.

"No, Claire! It was serious." He shouted, his face contorted back to anger. His nostrils flared, his eyes flashing and closing in slits. "You don't get it, do you? I'm not a nobody. I'm not bragging but for fuck's sake, I'm a known person. I have great allies as well as great enemies. You don't become rich and famous without making some enemies in the way."

I swallowed, unconsciously. Cursing was not his thing but when he cursed, it meant something was definitely wrong.

He continued. "Why does enemies target someone's family? It's because they know, family is weakness for every man. And my weakness is Lydia, Mom and now, you." His voice toned down. He took deep breaths. Then ran his fingers through his hair. "I sheltered Lydia from the outside world as much as I could. There were only handful of Lydia's pictures in net. And mom? There's dad so I don't have to worry for her but you, Claire...you just came in my life and already today happened."

What happened today? Did something else happened? If it did, then I never thought I would be this important in his life. His life which was so much complicated than what I thought it would be.

"You and Lydia, both were present today but this never happened in six years so it must be you." He whispered. His eyes dropping down to the floor. "You must be the target. It can't be...no."

"Tyler...?" I cautiously stepped toward him, raising my hand to touch him but he moved away.

"Both are happening. Not again." He muttered. It was as if, he was talking to....himself. His eyes seemed glazed as if he wasn't even here. "I can't handle these again. I can't....no betrayal, no death....please...too much."

Both? Betrayal? Death? Oh god, what exactly happened today? Did someone...die?

He walked in the direction of the love seat and dropped down, bending his head down, gripping his hair tight and breathing deeply.

This sight, this sight right there scared me. His vulnerability scared me. Tyler Sanders was always the tough one. Nobody could break him. That was what tabloids said and I believed it. But this sight said different.

Immediately, I went over to him and crouched on the maroon carpeted floor, holding his arms with both my hands. His body felt cold and stiff.

"Tyler? What's going on?" I pleaded in a shaky voice. "Talk to me, please. Make me understand."

He startled and sat up straight, gazing at me with wide eyes as if he just realised, I was in the room too. He shook his head, rubbed his face, getting rid of his earlier emotion. The emotion that he accidentally let me see.

Fear.

"Tyler?"

"We're getting married in less than two weeks." He stated, looking me in the eyes.

"Yeah, I know bu--"

"We're getting married in less than two weeks." He repeated. His left hand going around my head and clutched the back of my head, pushing me closer to him. His head leaned down, so close that his nose touched mine.

"You need to answer me something before that happens, before the wedding happens, before we take our vows. Vows which should be dripping with sincerity." He informed, his voice turning into steel yet again. "So answer me, do you have someone in your mind?"

When his words registered in my head, I pulled my head away from him but his hand wouldn't let me.

My normally calm demeanour changed. My hands gripped his arm tightly, that had my hands turning white. "What the hell is this? What is wrong wi--"

"Answer me! Because if you have then tell me and I could end this-" he gestured between him and me. "-right here. I know you weren't with anyone for over a year but now tell me, do you have someone in mind that I should know of?"

I couldn't even recover from the first words he threw at me that he had to include some other jab. If he knew I wasn't with anyone then he would know about.....Sean too. How did he know these things? My financial state was one thing but these, these were very personal. He must ha--

"You....investigated me? My personal...my perso..." I stuttered out, visibly shaking with disbelief and anger. How could he?

"Of course I did. I know everything about everyone in my life. It's for that, I know my people will be loyal to me. And Claire, I want your loyalty too." He strongly, said. "Give me your loyalty..." He took a deep breath before letting it out. "..by being faithful to me."

Did he even know how his every single words tore my heart into fragments? How they dashed away my believe in a proper love life, a real marriage?

He didn't know because he still asked the same question.

"Don't just stare. Answer me! Do you have someone in your mind?"

With all the strength I had, I removed my head from his grip, his painful grip. Now everything about him seemed painful. Who was this guy? Did I even know him? I thought I knew but I was wrong.

I stood up, keeping my face straight and backed away. I wouldn't let him see how much he hurt me. No, I wouldn't but I would answer his question. The one that had me crumbling inside.

"No, Mr. Sanders. No, I don't have someone in my mind." I spat out. My voice getting colder just like my emotions. "But I would have appreciated a little bit of trust."

One, two, three, four steps back and he didn't stop me. Maybe it was my voice that had him glued to the seat or maybe it was the crumbling mask I had before my face, baring my emotions naked.

I turned away and walked out of the suffocating room, away from the suffocating man who had no trust in me.

I gave him my everything but he never returned. It would had been fine if only he gave me one thing.

His trust.

******

A/N: Hey Everyone!

An emotion packed chapter but this is not the end. More emotions will be out, words will clash, tears will fall and little one will break -on next chapter.

And as you can see, there was a video alongside the picture today because JUSTIN BIEBER is back. And if you read my profile then you would know, I'm a belieber.

So those who don't like him can skip this note but for others, his new single WHAT DO YOU MEAN  is out.

Justin worked really hard on his new music. I would appreciate if you guys take the time to watch it.

That's all for today. I'll go and watch the video again while I fangirl yet again for the thousandth time. *ahahhhhh justin, justin! Ahhh I love you! Sobs, sobs*