In London on one Friday afternoon, Albert received a stack of envelopes. One was from Candy.

"Dear Albert,

How are you doing in London?

All are fine with me. We took care of the lawsuit well. Our hospital won, which the way it should be. Now our hospital can accept and give equal treatment to anyone regardless of the patients'financial status. I am very pleased with that. That's what I always believe Anthony Brown Hospital should be. Just like the spirit of the boy who owned the name.

Everythingelse is fine. Oh, I also got a new date. His name is Tom. He's the head of the surgery department. His qualification was excellent so we decided to hire him. That's how I met him.

Please never talk about Carl anymore. He's history.

Lakewood is fine, once in a while I still go there to enjoy the lake. The grass in the mansion was just being cut yesterday as well as other trimming, so it looks exceptionally beautiful.

My regards to Grandma Elroy and Anne.

Love you all,

Candy"

Albert smiled at that. He's happy that she never stopped to write him and to reply to his letters. He folded the letter nicely and put it among the stack of letters that needed to be replied. Then he continued reading his next letters. The routine was interrupted when one phone from his private line rang demanding his attention. He picked up the phone. It's Neal.

Unfortunately, Neal didn't know that Albert just read Candy's outdated letter where she wrote that her current boyfriend was Tom.

"Hi Albert, it's Neal." Albert heard Neal's voice on the line.

"Neal?" he wondered why he called again. They just talked on the phone this morning to discuss business issues.

"Do you have a moment?"

"Sure, anything that we haven't discussed?" asked Albert.

"I have a personal matter to discuss. This is not about business," said Neal then paused briefly. "Albert, I wonder if I could get your blessing to marry Candy." He gathered all his strength to say that one short sentence. Here we go again, asking Albert's permission to marry Candy for the second time, he thought.

Albert almost dropped the phone from his hand, surprised to hear such an abrupt change of topic from their usual dry business conversation. But suddenly he thought something didn't feel right.

Marry Candy? thought Albert, but I thought she said in the letter that she was with Tom.

He hurriedly tried to look for her letter to re-read and verify the information especially the date. Unfortunately, he couldn't find it. It seemed to disappear among the stack of paperwork he had on his desk. To borrow time, while searching, he asked a set of questions to Neal.

"Why do you want to marry her?" he asked flatly, half listening and half looking for Candy's letter.

Neal told him how much he loved her and how much she meant to him.

This was weird, I thought she said it was Tom, Albert thought.

Finally, Albert found the letter and verify, while listening to Neal at the same time. Indeed it was "Tom" not "Neal" written in there. And from the date, the letter was sent not too long ago. He wondered if Neal was up to something again like last time. But now that he knew him better, he thought that's unlikely. So he tried to find out more about the situation politely.

"I think we discussed this engagement proposal in the past, didn't we?"

"True,' said Neal started to feel uneasy on how the conversation developed. The way Albert dragged on the conversation instead of giving a yes answer worried him. The dark memory started to haunt him again.

"I remember you said she should marry the one she decides to marry," said Neal again. He started to feel like a clown who's trying to convince Albert about his love for his daughter for the second time.

To avoid mishandling, Albert decided to talk to Candy first before answering to him. He felt so bad he couldn't give a yes answer to Neal. He wished he could explain to Neal, but how could he do that? How could he possibly say that he just received a letter from Candy which stated clearly that her current boyfriend was "Tom" not "Neal". So he tried to gain some time and and said politely, "What if you call me again in three days to discuss this issue further."

Neal couldn't believe it, wait for three more days. He's already so impatient to hear a yes sooner than that. He tried to seize the opportunity to convince him before he hung up, "Albert, just a second, before you hang up, I want to tell you how much I love Candy. I can promise you that this time I will treat her much better."

Neal used the opportunity to emphasize his love for Candy, hoping it could boost his chance to win Candy. He gave his speech which he had seriously prepared. He also promised Albert he'd work hard to fulfill her needs and be a good and worthy husband.

Albert was touched by his sincerity but he had no option. Feeling awful, he tried to be as polite as possible but firm and assured him that they'd talk again regarding this matter. They hung up.

What a father! Neal thought to himself, Oh Candy, if it's not for you, I'd never do this again.

He still remembered how Albert rejected him in public last time. The humiliation was still fresh in his memory. Now he needed to go trough this again, the old wound opened again. He remembered his mother's stories about how tough The Ardlay family was. "They really picked and sorted the in-laws," she said to him in the past. All sad possible thoughts came to his mind. What if Albert really thought he's not qualified because of his status.

After putting the phone down, Albert hurriedly tried to get contact on Candy but he couldn't reach her. He told his secretary to keep contacting her until she could successfully get hold of her.

The following day finally he could reach her where he told her about her letter and Tom.

"Candy, I just got your letter. I read about Tom, how's Tom doing?" asked Albert indirectly trying to verify her dating status.

"I am not with him anymore." Candy paused where Albert waited impatiently really curious what her situation was with Neal and Tom in Chicago. "I am with Neal now."

Candy explained that many things happened since she wrote that letter. She explained that she really loved Neal now. He's the one she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. Albert could visualize Candy's smile from the way she talked. He's very happy too. He also noticed how good Neal was since he started to work for the Ardlay enterprise in Europe after his wife passed away. He thought highly of him and definitely a worthy man to marry Candy. The best possible man in the market he could think of for Candy.

After finished talking with Candy, he called Neal right away without waiting for him to call to give his blessing for the marriage.

"Neal, this is Albert," greeted Albert on the phone.

Neal's heart jumped anticipating what Albert would say. Since their last phone call, he had prepared counter arguments to tell Albert if he said other things but yes. He impatiently waited what Albert had to say.

"You are a dream son-in-law we could have hoped for. Anne and I are ecstatic that you and Candy are going to be married," Albert said.

Neal was relieved beyond measure. The rest of the phone call was some nice words Albert said about him and Candy. Neal felt like on top of the world. He called his parents right away. His parents were very happy too and of course agreed to the engagement. Their hearts had been crying silently for him since he lost Beth. They also knew how much Candy meant to him. His mother was secretly excited about the "Ardlay" family name that Candy had as a big bonus point. Neal was very happy that finally all clear to marry the woman he loved.

When he met Candy to tell the happy news, he walked to her silently with open arms while his eyes looked straight at hers tenderly. For a while, he hugged her tightly in silence enjoying her in his arms.

"Albert agreed," he whispered softly. "Thank you for telling me that you love me. Thank you for convincing me that we can be together. Without it, this infinite happiness would have passed me by."

Neal suggested that they visit the Pony's home to tell Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane about their engagement. Candy was so excited and grateful for his kind thought.

"They will make cooking together party for us. They usually do that for a happy celebration."

"I don't know how to cook or how to wash dishes. Should I take a servant to have someone covering my part?" he said worriedly.

"No, the fun part is in doing the job together. You'll learn it, I'll show you," said Candy with a loving smile.

Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane hugged the new couple with a big smile. Candy showed them her finger which now had a ring in it with face sparkled with joy. They were happy to see her wearing the ring with happiness and excitement on her face unlike last time with Carl where her face stayed dull and unmotivated. They felt happy to finally saw Candy freely laughing happily without burden on her face just like the little girl they used to know in the distant past. That night, Candy took her fiance to enter the kitchen for the first time to cook and dry dishes. They looked to one another, laughed and smiled incessantly, the flames between the two lit the room warmer than fire.

Candy took Neal to walk outside where suddenly she stopped walking and sobbed in tears.

"What happens?" her fiance asked concernedly.

"I feel very happy. Usually I walked alone in the night right here thinking about you and wishing you were here with me. It's like a dream that you really are here right now holding my hand."

He felt so touched by her words. He put his arms around her and said softly, "From now on, all you need to do is to tell me and I'll accompany you wherever you want to go."

They embraced each other with so much happiness in their hearts. They were grateful that they had each other.

-To Be Continued -

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