"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 with Gideon yesterday, Bianca. I went to his office."
"Gideon… never mentioned anything to me."
"Because he said he wanted to keep it a secret, Bianca." Diana smiled a little. "Do you want to know what we talked about? He asked me about the past, Bianca. He asked me to tell him everything about us before. How we met. How we became friends. How we become more than friends. The things that we did before…"
My lips parted. I opened my mouth to say something. "If Gideon wanted to keep it a secret, then why are you telling this to me now?"
Diana looked at my face. There was a smile on her face. She was looking at me with pity.
"Because I care about you, Bianca. Gideon knows you wanted a family. He's insecure that he couldn't give you that…"
I stilled. Gideon told her that? Well, how else would she know about Gideon's condition?
"He needs someone who can make him feel that he's complete…"
"I d-don't care if he can't give me a child. We're already a family. I would never make him feel insecure just for that reason alone."
"But that's not what he feels, Bianca. Soon, Gideon would realize he could never be happy with you. That you're not what he needed."
"And who do you think he needed? You?" I raised my brow at him.
"Well, we had a past together. I don't want a child. I'm the better woman for him. I'm Gideon's first love, after all. He never had any serious relationship after me… after all those years, he still couldn't forget about me."
I wanted to laugh at her. Gideon never had any serious relationship after her? "What about me, Diana? We're married."
"We all know you two never had a relationship before you got married. He only married you for revenge."
"But we fell in love with each other… and we got married again."
"He only fell in love with you when he lost his memories. What do you think will happen when his memory comes back? He will remember me. He will remember his feelings for me…"
Something stabbed my heart. Diana, everything that she said had a basis. Gideon had never forgotten her for years. He got revenge on Charlie because of her. Gideon… married me the first time because of her.
I shut my eyes when I felt the corner of my eyes heat up.
I shook my head. No. 'Gideon wouldn't do this to me,' said the rational part of my brain.
He assured me that I have nothing to worry about. He assured me that the past won't change anything about us.
"How's the wedding preparation?" Gideon asked me when we arrived home. He fetched me from his parents' house at Huntington that night.
I looked at him. "You know, Gideon…" I pursed my lips.
His full attention was on me. "What is it, sweetheart? Did something happen?"
I remembered everything Charlie had said to me earlier. I admit… I was scared of his past. I was scared that Charlie might be right. Now that Diana's back…
"I just realized that we didn't really have to do this, Gideon…" I gave him a faint smile. "We're already married. We really didn't have to get married again. This is just… a waste of time and money." I pursed my lips and shrugged.
Gideon's brows furrowed. "Why the sudden change of heart, sweetheart? Last week, you were excited about this, right?"
"I just realized that this is no longer necessary. It's just a waste of money… I already saw how much it would cost. We don't need to waste millions for this!"
He pursed his lips. "Who told you it's a waste of money?" He held my hand. "I wanted to give you a grand wedding. I wanted everyone to know that you're mine…"
"Really?"
"You're excited about the wedding?"
"Of course, sweetheart."
"You… didn't change your mind?"
His brows furrowed. "Why would I change my mind, sweetheart?" He planted a soft kiss on me. "In fact, I wanted to marry you in every church in the world if only you agreed."
I looked at his face.
Gideon wanted to marry me. He's excited about the wedding. He's excited to marry me. He loves me. And I trust him.
"How about you? Are you excited? Or did you really change your mind about this?"
I smiled at him. "No. I'm just stressed and pressured about this."
"Come here, baby."
My eyes widened when he made me sit on his lap. His arms snaked around my waist while his chin rested on my shoulders.
I felt butterflies in my stomach.
"Don't be stressed about this, okay? We hired wedding organizers for a reason, sweetheart. Let them handle their job."
"Gideon hasn't remembered his memories yet, but he was already curious about our past," Diana continued. "What more will happen if he recovers his memories? He will surely come back to me, Bianca. His first love."
I raised up my chin and looked at the woman in front of me. She was just saying those things because she was desperate to get Gideon back.
"I trust my husband, Diana. I trust his feelings for me."
She smirked before he stood up."Let's see where that trust brings you."