Katherine's POV:

Arranged Marriage.

Wedding.

Cheating.

Slowly opening my eyes, light was the first thing that hit them. My other senses started kicking in as well, letting the smell of sterilisation hit my nose. My head was pounding with pain and I could feel its heaviness.

Everything was sinking in and I realised I wasn't dreaming, they were flashbacks of memories. I saw memories, not all though, running through my head and I felt like I was living each one of them all over again. The pain of them was too hard, too concentrated, and now I knew why I ran away.

Nate cheated on me.

He broke me.

All this time I was left with the guilt that was building inside of me, while it was Nate who was supposed to be feeling guilty in the first place. He promised me beautiful things, or at least I thought so, but all I ended up with was the pain. 

But just as I remembered the bad parts, I remembered the special ones. I remembered how we started, and as much as it was messed up, it was still special. All the bad things led to the good things, but then again it turned bad. It was a heart breaking cycle that we were going through over and over again.

We were a mess, but a beautiful mess. 

Confusion tore my heart, and I had no idea whether to be mad at Nate for all the terrible actions he's done to me, or be glad that I remembered my love towards him. I was certain of some things, but I couldn't decide without filling the missing pieces to the puzzle. 

Just as strong as my love for him was, my hatred was even stronger. But at the same time, it made me feel down. I broke knowing this truth, love and hatred were never good companions, and my head dizzied itself with all these thoughts.

Why would he do all these painful things to me when he said he loved me? Or maybe he was only playing a sick joke on me?

Some gaps were not filled yet, and it was the reason behind my list of questions that only Nate could answer. I wanted to run to him, yell at him for causing me so much pain, but at the same, I wanted to hug him, feeling all the love that I have for him and making sure its still there.

So what was I supposed to do now? Run away all over again, or try to fill out the small pieces still missing in my mind and figure out my next move? All I knew right now was the fact that Nate cheated on me, and it just won't leave my mind.

Running away wouldn't be fair to me, the what ifs would just keep haunting me, but the confrontation might not please me as well. It might hurt me further more than the idea of trying to run away again. 

The idea of Nate fooling me and not actually being in love with me. Or the truth behind the reason of all the hurt he caused me. Better yet, telling me this was an arranged marriage and always will be one. 

"Katherine, you're awake!"

I looked up to the source of the sound and gasped lightly. Hugh. It never even occurred to me for once since the moment I woke up that Hugh was still a part of my life. I woke up to my past, but that didn't mean my present would be just gone. And Hugh was a part of it, still is. 

"I remembered everything, well mostly everything" I spilled out all of the sudden.

"Oh, this is good I guess" he paused, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down while absorbing what was just laid out on him "Including the part about me?"

I nodded "I just hope you really weren't using me just to make Nate mad"

He quickly looked up at me and shook his head. He looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes, inhaling a deep breath. When he opened them back, he looked at me and I was able to see everything through them. All his raw and vulnerable emotions. 

"Back at the coronation ball, I danced with you because I was trying to make him jealous and at the same time, in hopes of trying to get to know you better. The second time we met, which was a coincidence by the way and not a trick as his majesty accused, I really wanted to get closer with you. But only that. The idea of making him jealous was long gone from my head, and my feelings towards you were left. I liked you Katherine and the longer we spent time together and the more dates we went to, this like slowly started turning into love. I think I'm in love with you Katherine"

"I'm sorry Hugh, I-"

"You love him don't you?" he interrupted me.

I nodded weakly.

"But didn't he hurt you before? Wasn't that the reason you went away from him and had the accident? Wasn't it also the reason I found you at the party all alone, and staring into a painting while lost in your thoughts"

"Yes" I whispered.

"Then how come do you still love him when all he causes you is pain?" I remained quiet, I had no clue what the answer for this question was myself. 

He sighed with defeat "This is so messed up"

"A beautiful mess, that's what I called us" I shrugged with a small smile.

We both remained quiet for a while, him lost in his thoughts, struggling with the facts laid on him, and me trying to make up my mind. 

Hugh had become a part of my life the last while, but I knew my feelings for him were only friendly, and they could never be more. Nate took my mind, my thoughts, and my heart. He hurt me several times, more than I could count, yet he's still the only person I could ever think of. Maybe it was fate trying to tell me something, or maybe it was life torturing me. 

"You know, without you, I probably wouldn't have remembered everything and I wouldn't have cleared my mind. I have answers to most of my questions and I owe all of that to you. I never meant to hurt you Hugh, I need you to know that, but I guess its what I ended up doing"

He shook his head at me "I wanted this, I was the one who allowed you into my heart, so this is all on me. But I guess I have to thank you for that, if you didn't give me a chance, I would have spent my whole life caught in my options and the what ifs. Now I have my answers as well and I know that we aren't meant to be. I have a chance at finding my one because I saw that. I saw that with you and his majesty"

I didn't know what to reply to that. I didn't believe what he said, or maybe I didn't want to. I didn't even know what I wanted right now. Maybe confronting Nate and clearing things with him would help me with that. 

"So this is goodbye?"

I shook my head "It doesn't have to me, we could still be friends"

"You and I both know we can't, not when I love you and not when I feel like taking you away from him each time I see you. It doesn't have to be forever but we need to say goodbyes for now. Just until I move on" 

I started moving out of bed to give him a hug and say goodbye, but he stopped me with his hand and came to me instead. He hugged me tightly, saying his goodbye through his hug, and I felt like crying all of the sudden. 

"Take care of yourself and if his majesty tries to hurt you again, just let me know and I'll find him. King or not I don't care, it won't stop me from punching him" he whispered while still hugging me and I couldn't help the chuckle that came out of me. 

I nodded in reply once he let me go. He looked deeply into my eyes one last time, then left the room. A tear left my eyes and I didn't stop it, I lost my friend. 

The next couple of hours were spent with doctors, from scans to final check ups. The doctor said gaining back my memory was something expected, but something triggered it and that is what I had no answer to. By the evening they had gave me permission to go, only left with a bandage wrapped around my head.   

Once packed, my bodyguards escorted me out of the hospital and unlike every time, we weren't bombarded with the press. No one probably knew of my accident, probably Nate even. By the time my head hit the ground, he had got into his car and it started moving, so he probably didn't see me fall. 

My driver immediately started driving towards the castle, as per my instruction. The castle was unusually calm, unlike every time I entered it. Slowly, I walked to Nate's office, my footsteps echoing through the hall. I didn't bother changing my sterilisation-scented clothes, wanting my answers first.  

I slowly went into his office, wanting him to see how I looked and how I felt, before I confronted him. Surprisingly his office was empty and it seemed like he hasn't been into it for a while, from the lack of scattered papers like usually.

I closed the door to his office and headed to the next place he spends a lot of time in, his room. Again, I opened the door slowly, but it was empty as well. I went into the room thinking he might be in the closet or in the bathroom, but both were empty. I was starting to become out of patience and I didn't know what to do next or where to look. 

"Kate are you alright? What's around your head? Did someone hurt you?"

I turned around and found Nate by the door of the room.

"The only person that hurt me is you Nate"

"Did anyone hurt you Katherine?" he repeated, emphasising on the questing with less patience now and ignoring my statement.

"You weren't there for me. The only person who was there for me when I fell was Hugh. He was there for me to take me to the hospital, while you left me in the middle of the parking"

He looked at me silently, guilt showing in his eyes. I closed my eyes and shook my head lightly.

"I love you and I'll love you till eternity" I let out a laugh "I can't believe I said that, I can't believe I admitted my deepest feelings when all you did was hurt me. You bloody cheated on me!"

His eyes were opened wide and mouth hanging open "You remembered! You remembered me!" he gasped out with a wide smile. He started moving closer to me, wanting to hug me but I stopped him.

"I told you about my ex and what he did to me, and you promised me you wouldn't do the same. But what you did hurt way worse. The pain you caused me was nothing compared to the pain I felt when he hurt me, and it made me wish I could relive the pain he caused me a million times, but never yours"

His smile vanished now and all was left was the sorrow and the agony. Yet it was nothing compared to what I was feeling. 

"Kate, let me just-"

"Explain!" I yelled, continuing his sentence "What's there to even explain? And don't call me Kate anymore, you lost that right the moment you cheated on me. You know what else you lost, me. Our marriage ended before it even started, it ended the moment you cheated on me. You wanted a divorce so you got it, do as you said you'd do and send me the divorce papers. I'll sign them gladly"

I was so furious at him that I didn't even bother thinking of the consciences. Turning around seemed like the easiest and best thing to do, but it wouldn't be the same when I think things through. History seemed to be repeating itself all over again, and I seemed to be finding myself running away each time we fight. But it always seems like an easier option than facing the fight, my heart would always choose the option with less pain.

Nate remained quiet as I turned around and started heading towards the door, making my decision a million times easier, knowing that he's not fighting for me.But just as I was about to reach the door, it was slammed shut and I was pinned to it.

"The last time I choose to remain quiet, I ended up almost losing you and I can't risk that anymore. I know I broke my promise by not fighting for you, but I'm not going to repeat my same mistake twice. I did some bad decisions in the past that ended up hurting you, but I want to make it up to you. I love you Katherine. Give me one last chance to explain everything and start making up for my bad decisions"

..............................................

The story is almost done, and just thinking about it makes me want to cry. This story meant a lot for me, even more than the first one. A lot of effort was put into it, emotions and feelings as well. All that meant so much to me. 

Since we're almost done, I'd really appreciate it if I heard your opinions on how the story is going up till now and what do you think of it generally.

Now I know some things are still unclear in the story, but I promise all will be soon. (I really do hate it when things are left unclear, so I won't do the same). And the last thing is, I'm going to try to make the ending as happy and as cheesy as ever, because I'm a sucker for happy endings.

Thank you all for all of the support you showed me during the process of writing this story, I probably wouldn't have reached this point without it.