Richard's POV
She is wearing the dress.
Emotions begin to spiral as I try hard to keep the tears from flowing.
When she turns to me, I dart my eyes away quickly and focus on the road.
Finally, she breaks the silence. “Where are we going, Richard?”
The sound of my voice leaving her beautiful, inviting lips sounds so much like music to me. It prompts me to steal another glance at her beautiful face.
She raises a brow, reminding me of the question.
“You will see,” I only say, forcefully peeling my eyes off her and hoping she won't insist on knowing where I am taking her. “We are almost there.”
Silence falls.
The fact that she is wearing the dress I bought for her, which I left on the bed before sending her a text to get dressed because I have somewhere to take her, brings me immense joy.
It's tempting me to grab her in my arms and slam my lips on hers.
After a few more minutes of driving in silence, I pull over in front of the diner, nervousness sinking into my system.
She looks out of the car window with curiosity. She no longer has the look of hatred in her eyes, but I still feel scared and nervous about doing this. I don't know if today will turn out to be a turning point in our lives.
I don't know if she is ready to let go of everything. I don't even know if what I am doing is right or not.
But I can't sit still. I can't lose her again.
I pull out the car keys and step out, then rush over to open the car door for her before she can get out. She lifts her eyes to mine, looking surprised at the gesture.
“Thank you,” she mutters, and she steps out calmly.
Debating whether to take her arm so we can both go in, I stand awkwardly in front of her until she waves a hand in my face.
“Richard?!”
I jerk upright. Then stretch my arm towards the front door of the diner as she begins to amble towards it, with me trailing quietly behind her.
My heart is pounding.
I can literally hear the loud sound of my heart thumping wildly, like it will soon burst out of my chest.
I should be confident, but I am not. I am aware that I have caused her pain. I have betrayed her. I have no idea what else to do or what steps to take to win her back and put an end to these aches.
When we walk inside, I hurry forward to grab a seat for her. She settles on the seat, glancing around the quiet diner.
An exquisite and beautiful diner. The same type she used to like.
“It looks unusually quiet…” she says and pauses, realization dawning on her. “Did you book the whole place?”
A smile flits over my face. I nod.
“Why?” She arches her brow. “What's the occasion? It's not like it's my birthday or anything.”
Everything about you is worth celebrating. Having you. Our child and the unborn ones.
I want to say all this to her, yet my lips remain tightly pressed. I can't bring myself to spill everything I had repeated over and over again in my head overnight as I tossed and turned till daybreak.
“Richard, what is going on? Is everything okay?" Worry skates her features, making me sit upright and clear my throat.
“I'm fine…”
“You look out of place. Are you sure you are fine?” I nod again without saying a word. “What's the occasion?”
Slowly, I lift my two hands and grab hers on the table. “You.”
Confusion replaces the worry on her face, making me swallow hard the lump stuck in my throat and push back the fear crawling into my mind.
“There is no occasion. I just wanted to bring you here and to…”
She raises her eyebrows higher, looking extremely curious about what I want to talk about.
Before locking eyes with her, I exhale and inhale, my hands not leaving hers. “I brought you here so we could celebrate your new milestone. The company's new branch.”
Her eyes widen. “How did you know? It's not official yet.”
“I have my way,” I mutter with pride, even though that isn't the reason why I am here.
A short chuckle leaves her mouth. “I planned to tell you as soon as it's official. Ashley knew about it, too. Or did she tell you about it?”
“No, she did not. I haven't seen her in a while, and I am not sure she has told Caleb either, because I saw him yesterday and he never mentioned a thing. I found out when you were making some calls yesterday and you mentioned the branch. I figured you were back to putting things together, and a grand opening is what I have planned out for that aside from this.”
A smile that reaches her eyes leaves the curves of her mouth, illuminating her face and making tingles of excitement darts down my spine.
“You look beautiful.” I can no longer hold it back. It feels like my heart is going to burst out anytime soon if I don't let out everything. “Extremely beautiful.”
The smile doesn't leave her mouth, and it boosts my confidence.
“I love you,” I admit sharply, taking note of how the smile on her face disappears quickly. Without any hesitation, I drag the chair backwards and go down on my knees, moving close to her without letting go of her two hands.
With my gaze wavering, I leave her right hand and dig my hand into my chest pocket to bring out a red box.
My eyes are fixated on hers as I let go of the other hand and open the box, revealing the beautiful silver necklace with her initials dangling on it.
“Don't push me away, Arabel. Don't run from me again. Stop hurting, because I will never hurt you henceforth. Instead, pursue your love for me. Give your love for me a rent-free place in your heart; let it grow. Allow me to water it with each passing day. Don't stop loving me; I will never stop loving you, not in a thousand or a million years. Forgive me for letting you go in the first place. Give me a chance to prove myself and show you how much regret I have had ever since.”
My heart is beating twice its normal rate now. Pounding wildly.
Blood is roaring in my ears.
My hands are trembling as I hold firmly onto the box.
Her mouth is slightly open as she stares at me with those beautiful, glassy eyes. I wish to erase all those memories of how I didn't react to her love and create new ones.
I want to treat her right because she deserves it. I know I don't deserve her, but I want to be selfish and have her if she will give me another chance.
She loves me. I can see it. Each time she looks upset with me, I feel it.
Pushing back her tears, she shakes her head, and my heart skips a beat.
Without giving her a chance to speak, I continue. “I love you, Arabel. I truly do. Please just give me a chance to prove myself. I promise never to betray your trust. I promise to love you till the very end. I promise to never hide anything from you again. No more secrets. Please forgive me and be my girlfriend.”
She shakes her head once more, and a tear rolls down my eyes. Quickly, I wipe it away.
"Richard," she says, her voice breaking as she shuts her eyes tightly. “I don't think…”
I drop the box and grab her hand. “Hit me if you want, Arabel. I know I hurt you deeply, and I am ready to do whatever it takes to atone for my mistakes. But don't run away from me. Not anymore.”
"I'm scared," she says, breaking down into tears.
“Please don't cry,” I wipe her tears with my thump as they start to flow continuously.
“I'm sorry for not putting you first before, but I assure you, it will never happen again, not in a million years.” My tone is laced with silent regret. I don't even know how to do this or what else to say.
“Eve,” she suddenly mutters. “The day you presented the divorce papers, you mentioned you told me something on our wedding day, but I couldn't recall what it was. Tell me what you told me.” She requests, wiping her tears and leaning backward, her hands falling off her face.
I don't want us to go down this path. But I have to do this. Whatever doubt is left inside of her, we need to get rid of it and every other obstacle.
“I told you the marriage was temporary because I loved someone else,” I remind her, and she signals to me to stop.
“You told me the marriage was temporary?” I nod, and she gasps.
“I remember you mentioning Eve before the wedding, but I don't recall you saying the marriage was going to be temporary.”
“I did,” I admit. “Before the exchange of vows, Perhaps you misunderstood….”
“Oh God!” She slaps a hand over her face. “Temporary? I thought you said it was going to be temporary. I thought you meant permanent. Oh, shit!” She clamps her hand over her mouth, her eyes locked onto mine as more tears roll. “F**k!”
That day, I told her it was going to be temporary because of my promise to Eve. I thought she still remembered. If I knew she didn't and I knew she was already in love with me, I wouldn't have asked for a divorce.
“Eve called,” she suddenly breaks into my thoughts, making my eyes grow wide. “She told me everything.”
My heart thumps.
Everything? What? Isn't she in prison?
Arabel whimpers again, pain evident in her eyes. “I should have figured it all out. I'm sorry I misunderstood…”
“What did Eve tell you?” I cut her short, desperate for the word to come out of her mouth.
She shakes her head. “It doesn't matter.”
“Just tell me. What if whatever it is she told you is a lie? That girl is evil, and you know it. I don't love her…”
“What she told me is not a lie. Now I know how true it is.” She disagrees, flashing me a smile that causes my heart to race and panic to flood my veins.
I am about to ask her what this is about when a sharp ringing of the phone stops me.
Realizing it is my phone, I ignore it and ask. “What did she tell you, Arabel?”
She stares down at my phone, then shifts her eyes back to my gaze before muttering. “Pick your phone.”