Albert and Anne enjoyed more and more of each other's company. Anne told him about her work and he's so proud of her. One day, she's invited to a local award ceremony for incoming women in business where she'd be one of the recipients. Shyly Anne called Albert and asked if he wanted to be her date.

"Of course," replied Albert right away, ignoring the consequence it might bring, especially the reaction from his aunt. He liked to be with Anne, too.

Needless to say, Albert's presence brought a shouting reaction from everyone especially the press. It's rare to see Sir William in public especially in a public event as someone's date.

The following day, as Albert had expected, there was a big picture of him with Anne on the front page of all local newspapers.

Almost at the same time, a servant knocked at his door to announce, "Madam Elroy would like to see you, Sir."

Great, here we go again, thought Albert already anticipating this.

Albert came to visit his aunt. He promised himself not to shout or quarrel with her. Ever since he came back from amnesia, he appreciated how much she did for the sake of the family. He hated his aunt when he was young but despite their differences and her strictness he gradually understood how loyal she was to his father.

The servant opened the door.

"Good morning, Aunt," said Albert kissing her cheek pretending not knowing why she wanted to see him.

"Good morning, William," said his aunt looked sharply to his eyes. In her heart she was thinking of her late brother. He looked more and more like you, Will, she said to herself.

Composing herself she started showing her strict look again. "Who is she?" pointing to the photo of him and Anne on the newspaper.

"Anne Rogers," said Albert.

"I can read fine, William," said his aunt sharply. "Who is she to you?"

"She's a friend, she wanted me to accompany her to that event so I did."

"What did you do with her? Where did you go after the party?" asked his aunt still looked at his eyes sharply to catch any possible trace of dishonesty.

"We went home. Our own home, that is," said Albert. "We didn't do anything, but I believe this is my private..."

"Who are her parents? Where did they come?" cut his aunt.

"I don't know."

"You don't know? And yet you went out with her in public. You should remember that you carry the name William Ardlay wherever you go and that the press follows you constantly. Before you go out with her again to any public event, she must meet me first. I will ask my staff to check her background and if there's a slight discrepancy, you must not see her anymore."

"You want to meet her?"

"I said that. You take her here and have her meet me."

"Are you going to interrogate her?" asked Albert started to be irritated this time. "I just took her once to one public event and you want me to invite her to meet you? Could we just do it a bit slowly?"

"The last thing I want in this family is a scandal, William. You go find a time for her to come, you arrange the scenario, I don't care. All I care about is to meet her in person. If you want it to be easy, take the girls whom I have introduced to you. They all have been screened and safe. But Anne's background has not yet been checked."

"I can't believe we need to go to all this trouble every time I go out to meet someone," said Albert trying so hard not to shout.

"Look," Aunt Elroy took a deep breath. "You carry your father's name and the ancestors' name. You might be the head of the family business, but for household matters, you will follow my rule until you get married. Let me remind you that's clearly written in your late father's will. My staff told me that you helped her business and you have been seeing her. It was very irresponsible of you to go out with her last night without checking her background first! You must make sure to have her come here before you go out with her again now that the press starts to hunt her down. Understood?"

"Yes," said Albert, trying hard not to explode.

"You can go now."

As soon as Albert left, aunt Elroy sighed,"I hate this job."

She wished Albert got married quickly so she didn't have to do this anymore. She wondered if she gave him too much pressure but she believed there's no other option.

Albert hurriedly left before having another round of outburst with his aunt. The same problem over and over again just by going out with a girl. Very irritating. In the past he'd choose to stop seeing the person rather than to have them meeting his aunt. But Anne was different, he still wanted to see her. So he complied to her request.

That weekend he invited her to come to his place with an excuse, "There's a better place to fish, do you want to see?"

"Where is it?" Anne said excitedly.

"Lakewood," said Albert without explaining that Lakewood was a private lake in his private residence.

He arranged her to pass the mansion where aunt Elroy was waiting for her.

"Aunt Elroy, how are you doing," said Albert playing his part pretending he accidentally stumbled into her. "Oh, let me introduce you to Anne."

She nodded to her and Anne politely shook her hand.

"William, I forgot to take my glasses. Could you please help me bring my glasses here?"

We didn't have this in the plan, she beat me, thought Albert about his aunt. He understood that she wanted to have a private conversation with Anne. But he followed her order regardless.

When he's back, he found aunt Elroy laughing happily with Anne. Wow! This is rare, he thought.

"Well, thanks William, now I will go inside, it starts to be chilly here. Have a great visit, Anne." She left and Albert and Anne went fishing by themselves.

That night aunt Elroy told Albert how much she liked Anne. Her grandparents came from the same town as her. Her staff also finished doing background checking and gave a clear signal.

"Finally we have a match, William," she said with a little smile. "Where you want to go from here is up to you. Either you will be just a friend or to pursue more serious relationship with her is your choice. But," she made a big emphasis on the word "but". "Make sure no babies before you make a formal wedding to any woman including her. Our family can't afford such a scandal. That would be the last thing I want to hear from you. Do you understand?"

Albert nodded to avoid more lengthy, heated, and boring discussion. He gave her a good night kiss and said, "I understand. Don't worry. Good night now." He was secretly happy that his aunt liked Anne.

Albert started to enjoy her company more and more. They gradually saw one another more often. One day Albert proposed to her which she happily accepted. They got married. On the wedding day, aunt Elroy barely could contain her happiness. No one had ever seen her smile that big. She cried when they exchanged vows. Finally she accomplished what her brother made her promise as he lied dying tearfully and hopelessly on his deathbed: To secure Albert's position as the successor of the Ardlay empire and to ensure he married a woman worthy carrying the Ardlay name.

Brought up as a conservative woman, aunt Elroy had used to believe that the idea of power struggles and intrigues belonged to men not women, and especially not for her. She never had thought the consequence of saying "yes, I promise" to her brother would brought her right at the center of all those. With wits and guts she maneuvered all family intrigues and power struggles. She protected the young Albert from fierce competitors who wanted to remove him as Sir William. The burden was especially high when he had amnesia and disappeared for months without trace. The cover up she devised to protect him would have made her brother proud. She's no doubt a worthy Ardlay.

Albert gave her tearful aunt a long tight hug thanking her for all things she did to him before going with Anne to the honeymoon.

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Candy was disappointed to know that Albert was taken. Although she never believed that they'd be together, she couldn't help to feel disappointed regardless. To help to heal the wound, she went to Pony's home. She always liked children, they helped her to be busy and occupied to forget Albert. But still she couldn't entirely forget him. Once in a while she'd feel so down and sad. Sr. Lane and Ms. Pony sensed something was wrong and decided to talk to her.

"Although we are happy that you are here, we have a feeling that you're not here for the point of helping us," Ms. Pony said.

"Pony's kids don't hide. We don't surrender, we face challenges," Sr. Lane said.

Sr. Lane and Ms. Pony believed that as the daughter of Sir William she had an ample of opportunities that many didn't have, such as pursuing a great college education. They believed she should use the opportunity to continue studying and do something useful for herself or society in the future.

So Candy went to University of Chicago to continue studying.

She stayed in a dormitory to make it more fun and be with lots of friends everyday. She met new friends and got busy by her homework so she started to forget Albert gradually. Albert still deeply cared for her and took care of her as his own daughter. What remained between the two was a strong bond of friendship to each other.

Among her friends, there's one boy named Carl.

Carl was the head of the male dormitory. She met him when she visited her group mate for a class project. This person was always late in turning in his homework. She had to always go to the male dormitory and waited for him there. That's how she met Carl. After a while they started to chat and he took her out. He's a bit taller than her with dark hair and dark eyes. Candy thought he's cute. She liked to spend time with him.

One day they were canoeing to see the sun set and Carl asked if he could be her suitor. Carl was fun. He often talked about his dreams and his future. He's a motivated man and fun to be with. The only exception was that he's pretty moody sometimes. If he got a bad grade, for example, his tantrum would last for hours or days. But overall he's okay so she accepted. He gave her his first kiss. She felt very happy.

-To Be Continued-

Thanks for reading!