Chapter 229 - What if we Could?

Alfred had to fly to France with some of his men. He needed to help Lu Fang with the French government. The concern about putting powerful people to prison, there has to be an equally powerful force behind it to make it happen. Alfred had to pull some strings amongst his contacts in the European Union to expedite the process of serving arrest warrants up to making the imprisonment itself. 

Li Wen was also occupied with helping Yeong pursue a party that took part in taking Andrea.  She wasn't able to spend time with her sister to talk more about Lu Fang and her family. She has yet to tell her about the twins. The first time they told her about Lu Fang, Li Wen was about to reveal she already had children. Only that Andrea broke down.

Alfred told Li Wen that her sister had asked about Lu Fang and that made her feel satisfied. At least she was now merely accepting the information fed to her and not forcing herself to dig through her thoughts. Whenever she did, she would experience headaches and drowsiness. 

Andrea ended up in the care of Gabriel for the most part. He told her about how he had come after her only to be kicked in the groin by her husband.  He laughed at his tragedy, but Andrea had her mind focused on the fact that he came looking for her. She wondered if that meant he truly regretted leaving her. 

Since then Andrea had been looking forward to Gabriel's arrival each afternoon. Sometimes, she would even call him on his mobile. She felt completely merry with him since she did not have to worry about her lost memory. Gabriel never pressured her to remember and all the more she felt, he was a great escape from her worries. 

Whenever Li Wen would speak to her about Lu Fang, she would pretend to feel dizzy and go to her room to sleep. She just felt entirely inadequate to be someone's wife and not remember. At that time, she just wanted to be free of such a heavy thought. 

One afternoon Andrea came down from her room after seeing that Gabriel arrived from work. He was carrying a cheesecake box and handed it to her. "Here, belated happy birthday."

"What?" She smirked at the thought of having nearly two months late greeting. 

"You were abducted when you had your birthday. I can imagine, Lu Fang could not bear to celebrate, giving you were missing."

"Come on, let's have dinner. I will cook for you," Gabriel said as he led the way to the kitchen. They had a chef in-house, but he wanted to impress Andrea by making a meal for her. 

Warmth filled Andrea's heart. It would be the first time that he would cook for her. He never did that in the past. She wondered, 'Why now? Why? Now that I am married.'

As Gabriel was preparing dinner in the kitchen while Andrea joined him and sat on a stool by the countertop. She studied his fine physic and was reminded of how well built he was. She thought he was good-looking, but it was such ashamed Gabriel got most of his looks from Nancy. If he only got most of the facial assets from their dad, he would turn out to be extremely handsome. 

Gabriel served the food with a sneer on his face, making Andrea laugh altogether. They both ended up hysterically laughing at his attempt to make dinner. Needless to say, it was a fail. They ended up ordering dinner for the night. 

He invited Andrea for a movie while waiting for Li Wen to arrive and she happily agreed. It was because she wanted a light-weighted film that she chose 13 Going 30 for them to watch.

They sat together in couch at the living area with a huge TV in front of them and as they were watching, Gabriel blurted out all of a sudden, "I wish I could do the same. Correct my mistakes and… and take you back." He turned to Andrea who was apparently already staring at him intensely. 

"How much did you regret leaving me?" She asked.

He tried to hold on to his words, but they came out involuntarily. He said, "Very much. Andy, I regretted it very much." He then reached out to her hand and held it tightly. "If you knew the countless nights, I slept with a heartbreak."

Andrea gulped before turning her attention back to the movie. She continued to watch, but the moment it ended, she asked, "What if we could?"

Gabriel was about to stand up and turn off the monitor when he heard her say it. It instantly made his heart beat faster. He sat back down to listen to her again. 

"I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable with my husband, Gabe. I don't even know him and spending time with you, seeing you differently than the last - "

He interrupted her with a hug. He embraced her so closely that Andrea could feel his every lean body against her. She hugged her back with the same emotion. 

Gabriel felt he was in heaven but minutes passed of holding her steady reality hit him. He pulled away from the embrace and gently caressed her angelic face. "Andy, if you had said this a year ago, I would have stolen you from Lu Fang without a doubt, but  - but you are married - "

"Marriage won't always last," said Andrea as she looked down at her hands, discomforted of what he was about to say. 

"You are just being like this because you forgot Lu Fang and your feelings towards him… but.. it isn't just about your husband, Andy. Andy?"

He raised her chin with his hands and saw her watery eyes. He realized he had hurt her again. However, the truth remains, Andrea shared more than just a marriage contract with Lu Fang. "Andy, Li Wen was supposed to be the one to tell you this, but let me explain. You and Lu Fang… You have children together."

"What?" Andrea felt her throat dry up with the discovery. "I - "

"Andy... You have twins together -  and they should be around four months old by now."

He saw her expression turn from shock to utterly wounded, but he knew he needed to make her understand. "Andy, I want to make it right by you. I don't want to be that guy who takes advantage of a woman who lost her memory."

"Andy, your family needs you. Your babies need you."