"Yes!" said the girl. "I am Candy from the future! We were in that empty mansion that night and suddenly we came to this time."

Neal initially was thrilled to meet Candy, but hearing her words reminded him what happened that night. He remembered how bad he was to her. Touchingly, she still helped him and even felt happy to see him instead of throwing him into a dungeon for revenge, he felt awfully guilty.

He said slowly as though talking to himself, "How low can I be? I was so useless to my parents. I was covered by my mother and now, I am saved by the girl who I spent my whole life bullying. So shameful."

Then he said, "Candy, I can't believe we meet here." He was partly excited partly ashamed. "Thank you so much for your help. What you did mean so much for my parents. I hope I can repay you one day."

Neal wanted to talk more to Candy, but he knew how much she hated him, which she had all the right to be. All was his fault. Regretting all awful things he did to her, he decided he shouldn't meddle with her for too long and leave as quickly as possible. He hurriedly got up and took his bag.

"Good bye, Ms. Candice," he said. He bowed to her and walked to the door to leave.

But Candy chased him back. "Neal, don't got yet, I am so happy to see you."

Candy couldn't believe she'd ever say that to him. But it's good to meet someone she genuinely knew from her own world instead of someone she just knew superficially. Neal grinned uncomfortably, not knowing how to really react to this generous woman. In her excitement, Candy held both of his hands and laughed out loud. Seeing how excited she was, finally he also laughed together with her. He too felt relieved to meet someone he knew from his own world.

Then he turned to be really serious and apologized. "I was wrong to you. I am so sorry for what I did to you. Please forgive me. If you want, I promise I'd be your good friend from now on. Thanks again for saving me just now despite what I did to you."

Candy smiled and said. "Apology accepted. Don't worry about that. But please don't go. I am really glad to meet someone I really know, tell me your story. Who are you here?"

"As you see, I am Neal Leagan, a bookseller. I become my grandpa Neal. Weird, eh? It's a long story." Neal told her his experience. "What about you?"

"I am the adopted daughter of Sir William Ardlay. The same Ardlay, just the ancestor," she sighed. "At any time I live, I never have real parents."

"Don't say that, what you should see is how nice a person you are. Look at me, at any time I live I am a spoiled kid. I am a spoiled kid again now, of a poor family," Neal said.

Candy smiled at his generous remark.

"I have a special friend here too, guess who?" she said with a smile. "Terry! His ancestor, though."

"You must like it then," answered Neal sincerely. "Congratulations, I wish both of you the best."

Candy laughed happily.

Neal knew how much Candy liked Terry since they went to school in London. Hearing the name Terry also reminded him again of what happened that night when he used Terry as a trap to allure her to come to the empty mansion. He felt so ashamed again to himself.

They did some more chatting before Neal decided to go. He needed to go back to work to earn money.

"Thank you again for your help and being nice to me considering what I did to you in the past. You could come to my store too. But I am not always there. I usually sell books on the street," said Neal before he left.

"Neal, try to visit me once in a while," Candy said. She sincerely meant that.

Neal promised he would.

"If you come to visit me, don't forget to use commoner clothes. You can't be a street vendor with a silk dress," he laughed. "Bye now."

Neal bowed and kissed her hands many times. He then left and continued to work. They promised to keep in touch more later.

That night, Neal excitedly gave the money to his mother. She was very happy. She hugged him and hurriedly used it to buy medicine and food for her husband. Seeing that made him grateful even more to Candy. Without Candy, he would have come home empty handedly. He couldn't imagine how disappointed his parents would have been. There'd be no food served for dinner and no medicine for his father. The more he thought about Candy the deeper he regretted his past foolish behaviors to her. It touched him that she's still being nice to him and even helped him. It's such a pleasant surprise to meet Candy. It's good to meet a familiar person. He promised he'd never tease her anymore. He's happy that she seemed happy and well taken care of.

No 'Neal' who causes her trouble either here, he sighed.

He's happy that she's in a happy term with Terry too. He knew how much heartbreak the two had in their own world and he shamelessly used the opportunity to cause her trouble. He wished all happiness to her.

Candy too was excited to meet someone from her own world. Being a positive person with a big heart, her excitement to meet Neal overshadowed the memory of his past annoying behaviors. People around her were nice but nothing could beat the feeling of meeting a real old friend. She's afraid of losing Neal.

What if he never came to visit me anymore, she thought.

That night, Candy came to her father, Sir William. She asked if Neal could be a book and stationery supplier to the mansion library.

"He's my childhood friend. He's a book and stationery seller," Candy told Sir William. "I just met him again today."

Sir William agreed. Candy was excited. Sir William never failed her in any time she lived. Sir William sent his staff to Neal's bookstore to notify him about the business deal. Neal was very happy. It must be Candy, he thought. Since Neal was in dire need of money, he's extra excited with the new possible business opportunity. He highly appreciated what Candy did so much. He promised himself to treat her with nothing but the most respect from now on.

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WHAT HAPPENED TO CANDY AFTER THAT NIGHT...

Let's go back to find out what happened to Candy that night when she was in the empty mansion with Neal and suddenly traveled to the past:

Candy was in that empty mansion with Neal when she suddenly experienced what Neal was experiencing. Everything was spinning, buzzing and BBzz-ing...

When all stopped to her surprise she found herself sitting in a dinning room having lunch with her family. She looked around examining the room. It was her first time to be there, strangely she knew everything as if she really had lived there. She examined the people one by one. Strangely, she knew them too.

Finally her eyes arrived at one man. She heard him saying,"Are you okay, Candy?"

Hearing his voice, seeing his face, Candy jumped up in shocked. Her sudden movement pushed her chair to fall which made a loud ringing sound that echoed throughout the mansion's big dining hall. Her conscience told her that he's Sir William, her father. How similar he was with Albert! In awed, she stared at him for a long time. Just like Albert, he had blonde hair, blue eyes and was devastatingly handsome. At this point, Sir William felt something must go wrong. He put down his fork and knife and excused himself from his wife and others. He kissed his wife briefly and accompanied Candy to her room. He talked to Candy gently while waiting for her personal maid to come. He instructed the maid to accompany Candy and to never leaver her. In her room, her maid who had been with her since she was adopted talked with her slowly and had ever since helped her to adjust to the new live.

Candy got adjusted quickly and finally realized she had traveled in time. She found out that her name here was Hilda Candice. But since she liked to eat candies when she was little, people called her Candy. The name had stuck with her ever since. Sir William had been nice throughout her adjustment process. She estimated that this man was a bit older than Albert. He was extremely nice just like Albert and the way she always imagined uncle William would be. He was already married. His wife was pregnant with the couple's second child. His wife was stunningly beautiful. She's very kind and gentle, an excellent match for the perfect man.

To Candy's excitement, she also met "Terry" again, son of Duke Grandchester. He looked so much like Terry in her own world. He's Terry's ancestor, but what exactly his relation was to his own Terry, she's not really clear. She tried to recreate the Grandchester family tree but got lost in total confusion. Regardless, she felt excited about it.

What a nice treat, she giggled to herself thinking about Terry.

Terry was as handsome as in her own world. Candy in this world loved him so much. He often came to visit her, always especially kind and sweet to her too. They were childhood friends. He's a few years older than the Terry she knew in her own world.

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NEAL AND HIS BUSINESS

Meanwhile, Neal found out that he got more money by selling books on the street. Soon he tried other places to sell books. He observed that no sellers were fighting with the guards. Doing it with a blunt force like fighting was definitely not a good solution. Last time, without Candy's interference, he could have lost all his money and probably books too. He thought hard to find the correct strategy. He tried to make friends with the guards. Whenever one came and asked him to leave, instead of fighting he chatted friendlily and offered them money to buy beer or lunch. They started to like Neal and graciously allowed him to stay and do his business.

Neal made more and more money every day. Soon, they had enough money to pay the house rent, medicine and even more. His parents were very happy and encouraged him to buy new clothes as they promised. But, Neal refused. It made him ashamed that he cared for such a little thing in the past. He used some of the profit to expand the business and gave the remaining net income to his mother.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

Thank you so much for reading.

Summary: Neal and Candy traveled in time to the past. Neal became his grandpa Neal when he was young. His parents here were Martha and Aaron.

Candy was again the adopter daughter of Sir William (Albert's ancestor). Candy was the love interest of Terry (Terry's ancestor, that is). Terry will appear in the next chapter.