"YOU looked good, son." Amelia smiled as the woman crouched to pull his son for a hug. Amelia had invited us for dinner at their house tonight. That's why three days after he left the hospital, we're here in the Henry mansion in Huntington. "You too, Mom." I heard Gideon say. Amelia was wearing an elegant white dress that matched her huge white pearl necklace. She had always been dressed to kill. "Thanks, son." Amelia then turned to me.I smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How are you two?" "We're fine, Amelia," I said. "Aside from Gideon's occasional headaches, everything's normal."The other day, we went to the hospital for his check-up. His doctor assured him that his occasional headaches were normal for someone like him suffering from amnesia. "I told you, Gideon. You should live with us in the meantime," Amelia told his son."It's okay, Mom." Gideon smiled at his mother before his eyes drifted to me. "My wife has been taking care of me.""Oh." Amelia looked at me, g
I STIFFENED. "Why did you ask?" I asked, trying to avoid his gaze. My eyes fell on the maroon tie I was putting on his collar."I remembered what he told me when we had dinner. You two were friends even before we met. So how long have you been friends? Did he introduce us to each other?" "No." I refrained myself from taking a sharp breath. Damn. I wanted to slap the truth in his face right now. "But we've been friends for a couple of months before we met.""When did you meet?" "In the New York Public Library." I noticed my hand was a little trembling as I continued to fix his tie."Why are you asking, Gideon?" Why was he suddenly asking me things?I tilted my head. I was welcomed by his blue eyes. "You're my wife. I wanted to know more about you," he smiled.I raised my brow and didn't comment. "You're done." I dismissed him instead. I straightened my back and stepped away from him. "Just fix your hair and you're ready to go."I went behind him and pushed his wheelchair in front o
"BIANCA, 'sorry to disturb you…"I closed my sketchpad and turned to Hanna who hadn't realized was already standing in front of me. I gave her a smile. "What is it, Hanna?" The woman was in her late thirties with freckled skin and ginger hair. Her light green uniform matches her green eyes.Hanna had already been with us for a week. So far, she's been a great help to me. "It's Gideon.""What is it?" My forehead creased. "Is he already dressed?" Gideon would be going to the office today. I looked at the watch on my wrist. He would be fetched by his father's secretary by ten. Hanna pursed her lips. "Gideon said he needs your help with his tie." Of course, Hanna knew that Gideon and I were married. But so far, she had been not asking me questions as to why I wasn't hands-on with Gideon. I blinked. "Oh. Okay. I'll be there." I put my sketchpad on the coffee table and excused myself from her. I knocked first before entering the walk-in closet. "Hanna said you wanted my help." I cl
"CALM down, Bianca…" I whispered to myself as another thunder reached my ears. It was already midnight. I was curled up here in the nook of the kitchen tiled floor. My head was buried in the hollow between my knees, my hands covering both my ears. I woke up in the middle of the night with a strong thunderstorm hitting Pasadena. "It'll pass. It'll pass…" I continuously muttered to myself, my lips slightly quivering in cold. I could hear the heavy downpour of the rain outside. It was like the sky had gotten furious and decided to punish everything beneath him. "Bianca…?" I didn't know how long I was there in the dark when I heard a familiar voice. "Bianca?" I shut my eyes as the kitchen light blinded me. "What are you doing there, Bianca?" It took me a moment before I looked at him. Gideon… in his wheelchair was in front of me. His hair was a mess, his eyes a little slanted for waking up in an ungodly hour, his thick eyebrows in a deep furrow. "I woke up without you beside me
"THAT'S a triple word point, Hanna. Now I've got seventy-eight points.""Damn. You're so unfairly good at this, Gideon."I closed the book in my hand when I heard the voices from outside. They were from Gideon and Hanna. It was Saturday morning.The weather was fine today. The two of them were playing scrabble in the garden. Gideon invited me first but of course, I refused. Now I'm here, sitting on the wooden hanging chair on the lanai meters away from them. "Well…" I could hear Gideon's deep chuckle. "Do you want another game, Hanna?" I didn't know he likes playing board games. Well, what do I know about him? It had been three weeks since he left the hospital, and until now, he still kept on surprising me with the things that he does. Him being genuinely polite and kind to Hanna surprised me. Well, I knew the old Gideon would never mingle with an employee. He was a snob and ruthless. I remembered how he treated his secretary. "Nah." I heard Hanna laugh. "I don't want to lose a
"ARE we celebrating something?" Hanna asked when she noticed the food in front of us. She then turned to me.I dragged her to the kitchen to let her taste the food I cooked this afternoon. I shook my head as I looked at the plate of truffle mushroom pasta on the table."Nah. I just wanted to cook." The truth is, I was kind of nervous with my job interview scheduled for the next day. So I distracted myself by cooking one of my favorite pasta dishes. It was a habit of mine--cooking whenever I'm feeling nervous.Two days ago, I walked past a local bookstore on the next street. I saw they were looking for a part-time staff so I tried to apply for the job. This morning, they called me to inform me that I had an interview with the owner tomorrow. "Hmm… or maybe this is for Gideon?" Hanna gave me a teasing smile. I frowned. "This is not for him. It was very obvious that there's no love between us, Hanna. This whole marriage was a mistake."This was the first time I opened up to Hanna abo
"YOU worked in the New York Public Library?" From my resume in her hand, the woman looked up at me. Aurora or Rory, the owner of the bookstore, was a fifty-year-old widow. She had short chestnut hair, olive green eyes, and freckles across her face. She still looked beautiful despite the wrinkles. She had a smile as warm as the chocolate cappuccino she ordered me earlier. "Yeah. I'm originally from New York." I smiled and took a sip of my hot chocolate. We were in a local coffee shop across from her bookstore.She said she had built that bookstore five years ago in memory of her husband who was an author of children's books."Oh." Her mouth formed a surprised o. "How did you end up here in Pasadena?" I gave her a small smile. "My husband's from here, Rory. He asked me to move in with him after we got married.""Oh. I didn't realize you're already married," she said delightfully. "Forgive me, when I first saw you, I seriously thought you're still in college."I chuckled. "Must be
"I MISSED you, Bianca!" Helen said as she pulled me in for a hug. I smiled as I inhaled her familiar scent. Damn. It's been two years since we last saw each other. "I couldn't believe you're here." An hour ago, she surprised me by calling and saying she was already boarding at Burbank Airport. "I told you. One of these days, I'm going to visit and here I am now!" She pulled away and grinned at me. "I'm happy you're here, Helen." I gave her a grateful smile as I stared at her. We had lived together in college for four years. She's the closest friend I've got. Seeing her right now, in front of me, was making my heart warm. Finally, after living in a strange place for almost a year, a familiar face showed up to me. "Me, too. Damn. I missed you." She pursed her red-painted lips as she motioned for the small luggage beside her. "I'll only stay here for a night, though. I can't leave Andrea for long." "How's Andrea?" I asked her as we walked to my car. "She's already in rem
"MOMMY!" Andrea said before she ran towards her mother. Gideon slowly turned his head in my direction. My heart stopped beating when our eyes met. His face was serious… his blue eyes were piercing into my soul. My knees felt weak with the way he looked at me. "We'll leave you two here…" Helen said. She went to me and took the grocery bag in my hand. "Talk to him, Bianca," Helen whispered before she turned her back on us and pulled Andrea inside the house. I was left there with Gideon. I looked at him. He looked fine. Except for the small scratches on his arms, he looked fully recovered. His white dress shirt was folded up to his elbows. His hair was already clean-cut. I swallowed hard and faced him."What are you doing here?" He raised his thick eyebrows. "Claiming back my wife. How about you, why did you run away, Bianca?" I looked away. "I already know that you've finally recovered your memories, Gideon. If you're here to talk about divorce—" "What are you saying
"ARE you sure about this, Bianca?" Helen asked me from the other line. I took a deep breath as I glanced at the plane ticket on the nightstand. "Yeah… I'm leaving, Helen." I heard her sigh on the phone. "Don't you think it's wise if you talked to Gideon first, Bianca? Maybe this is just a misunderstanding." I bit my lower to stop my tears from falling. "How would I talk to him when he clearly doesn't want to talk to me?" It's been two days since Gideon woke up from the accident, and since then, he never looked for me. I remembered how he immediately looked for Diana when he woke up. "Can we go inside and talk to him now, Doc?" I asked the doctor. It was hours after the doctor announced Gideon was already awake. "Are you Diana?" the doctor asked me. I stilled. Diana? "I'm not, D-doc." "I'm Diana, Doc." I heard the woman's voice behind me. Diana stood up and went beside me. "Why are you calling for me?" The doctor turned to Diana. "The patient was looking for you, Miss
Bianca's POV "BIANCA!" I stood up from the bench when I saw Amelia in front of me. I wiped away the tears on my face and looked at her. "H-he's still in the emergency room." "Oh… my son." Amelia's tears fell when her eyes turned to the door of the emergency room. "What happened?" I was in the house when the hospital called me to inform me that Gideon had been in an accident. The authorities told me that Gideon avoided a dog who was in the middle of the road, and that's why his car crashed into another car. The owner of the other car only suffered from a minor injury… while Gideon was unconscious when he was brought to the hospital. Amelia pulled me into her and enveloped me in her arms. "Hush, dear. It wasn't as fatal as what happened to him before." Amelia tried to calm me down. "I'm sure he'd survive this. I'm sure he'll be safe." I remembered what happened to him before. He was in the ICU for three months. He barely survived his accident. "I can't lose him, Amel
"I HEARD you're dating a supermodel, Gideon. Is that true?" Mom asked me on the phone. My brows furrowed. "No. I'm not dating anyone, Mom. I'm busy here in the New York branch." I didn't know where my mother got that news, but it's not true. I'm not dating anyone. I only fuck around to satisfy my needs, but I don't date. I never entered a relationship after what happened to Diana. "I hope you stop playing around, Gideon. You're not getting any younger. Just look at Charlie…" I stiffened when I heard that name. We've seen each other a couple of times in the past years. I was civil with him in front of my parents. Well, my parents didn't know that I was the reason he left the house twelve years ago. Charlie didn't tell them. But I didn't care and it wouldn't matter to me if he did. "What's with that brother of mine, Mom?" "Oh, Charlie's already engaged. He said he'll bring home his fiancée after his work trip in India." Engaged? I gritted my teeth as I opened the envelope
Gideon's POV I glanced at my watch as I waited for the traffic lights to light up. It was two in the afternoon. I canceled my remaining meetings for today and decided to go home early. She was supposed to have had a meeting today with the wedding organizers but she called in sick. When I called her earlier, she told me she wasn't feeling well. Ever since Diana came back, I could feel her worry. I didn't know if she was just stressed with the wedding or if she was really bothered by Diana's presence. She had nothing to be scared about. They might be all telling me that Diana might be my first love, but she was already part of my past. Even if she came back from the dead, my heart already belonged to Bianca. Even if my memory came back in the future, I knew that nothing would change. I remembered my last conversation with Diana the other day when she went to my office. "You made a promise to be before, Gideon. The last time we saw each other before you left for New York th
"GOOD morning, Mrs. Henry," the maitre d greeted me when I entered Il Fornaio. I was meeting Amelia at the Italian restaurant for lunch today. She would hand me the proposal that Tyra submitted to her. My brows furrowed when instead of Amelia, it was Diana who was waiting for me at the table. "Where's Amelia?" I asked her as soon as I occupied the seat across from her. She smiled and handed me a folder. "I was with her earlier. But she had an emergency so she asked me to meet you and give you this." I cleared my throat. "Thank you." I looked at her. She was wearing a peach halter dress. She had makeup on her face. Her nails were nicely done. "Are you going somewhere?" I asked. I knew the woman didn't like me. I feel the same way toward her. She was just being nice because of Amelia… and Gideon. "It's okay if you don't join me for dinner." "No, Bianca. I really want to talk to you." My eyebrows moved a bit. "What do you want to talk about?" She looked at me. "I was wi
"OH, you brought Pluto with you," Amelia exclaimed when she saw Pluto with me when she welcomed me in their mansion. She invited me that afternoon because she wanted to talk about the wedding. "I already invited Tyra Hopper's team, Bianca," Amelia said as we walked inside the house. Tyra Hopper is the wedding organizer that she hired for the wedding. "Hi, Bianca." I stilled when I saw a woman on the couch. Diana. She's here. She was wearing a white simple dress and fluffy slippers. Her long curly hair fell on her shoulders. "Diana, you're here…" I managed to smile at her and tried to hide my surprise. "She's staying here, Bianca," Amelia said. "She said she was staying here in LA for a month so I offered one of my guestrooms. Diana's a dear friend to us, after all." "I heard you're planning for a second wedding?" Diana asked when I settled on the seat next to her. Amelia left us and went upstairs. "Yeah." I tried to smile at her. I didn't know why I felt uncomfortable w
"DON'T you find it weird?" I asked Gideon that night. We were already home from Gideon's surprise dinner celebration. "What's weird, sweetheart?" "Diana…" I muttered in a small voice. "Diana?" "How she suddenly appeared… just in time for your birthday?" I remembered what happened earlier. "What happened to you, Diana?" Amelia asked the woman we all recovered from the shock. "How are you alive? Everyone thought you were dead. You were declared dead." "It was a long story, Amelia," Diana started. "You all know now that I really didn't die. I was saved by an old couple in a small town. They said they saw me on the shore. They brought me to the small hospital. But when I woke up, I couldn't remember anything. I didn't know anything about myself… The old couple decided to keep me with them. For seven years, I lived with them, until finally, my memory came back… The first thing I did was go back here to LA. But I found out that my family wasn't here anymore." "Well, one year
"GOOD afternoon, Mrs. Henry," Thalia greeted me when I went to Gideon's office that afternoon. Gideon and I had been back in LA for three months now. Darwin was in Russia to supervise their new business there so Gideon was forced to go back to LA. It was fine with me. Way back in New York, I was already thinking of taking a break from work to focus on the wedding preparations. The other day, Amelia talked to me. She planned a birthday surprise for Gideon. Today is Gideon's birthday! Gideon didn't know about it because of his amnesia. I've already informed everyone in the office not to greet their boss. We wanted to surprise him later. "Don't forget later, Thalia," I told her before I walked past her table. She smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. "Bianca?" Gideon's eyes widened when he saw me. I smiled as I walked to his table. "Hi, are you done with your work?" I asked, glancing at the laptop on his table. "Yeah. I'm just reviewing these reports for tomorrow." He pla