The following day, Anna arrived back in Birmingham carrying a tender notice from the Joan Group. She had to go through the usual procedures of attending the tender because Gerard had destroyed her previously private arrangement with them.
Andrew agreed with her after she showed him the tender specifications. He said, “Oh, don’t worry. We can satisfy all of these needs, and the design of the staff uniform is not complicated. So, as long as no one gets in the way, this project will be ours.”
“Great! Thank you.”
Andrew asked as he set down the leather ruler in his hand, “By the way, when is Peace leaving?”
After giving it some thought, Anna responded, “Oh, I suppose it’s the day after. Jasper said they were leaving at the end of the month, so it’s probably that day. What’s up? Do you want to say goodbye to her?”
Andrew replied decisively, “Oh, no. Please advise her to return as soon as she’s recovered. She can still succeed me as a head designer even if she returns earlier. If she doesn’t return until a few years later, she’ll only have to be my assistant.”
Anna grinned at him after feeling resigned. After staring at Andrew for a moment, Anna teased him by asking, “Hey Andrew, I heard that you used to date Peace when you were at college. Is that true?”
Andrew’s tanned face immediately flushed. Then, he denied it while glaring at Anna, “What? That’s ridiculous! How could I possibly like her?!”
Anna answered with a serious nod, “Yeah, right. I heard that Peace had been smitten with you for a while before, and she had made a lot of effort to convince you to become her boyfriend. Well, then, you broke up with her a few days after you started dating. It does appear that you didn’t like her, though.”
After briefly freezing, Andrew asked, “What? Did she tell you that?”
“Yes! She said she’d been trying to get your attention, but you thought that her designs were crap. So, you broke up with her after a fight.”
Andrew was silent for a long time. He was panicking and measuring something with a leather ruler when Anna cast a questioning glance his way. Also, he looked slightly dazed.
“Hey, Andrew!” Anna said.
Andrew snapped back to attention and explained, “Huh? Oh, you know what, I broke up with her because she was so grumpy. I don’t like grumpy women.”
Anna exclaimed, “Oh,” grinned, and then turned to leave.
Anna suspected that Andrew might not have wanted to accept the fact that he still had feelings for Peace. Andrew wouldn’t have given Peace his cell phone number when he left Birmingham if he didn’t like her. Being a man who cherished isolation, his ideal way of life was to live alone in the mountains. However, the fact that he only told her how to find him was proof that he had actually fallen for her before.
Anna had no idea what had happened to them before. Therefore, she had no idea if their breakup was because of a misunderstanding or something else.
Two days later, Peace and Karl were ready to go to America. At that time, Anna drove them to the airport.
“Peace, call me when you get there. Don’t forget me, okay?” after saying that, Anna gave Peace a big hug.
She sensed that Peace had significantly lost weight during these days and even noticed that her face had sunk a bit.
Peace was very emotional at that moment. Then she appeared quite sorrowful and had tears in her eyes shortly after Anna stated that.
Anna couldn’t bear to look at her anymore, so she turned her head to glare at Karl and said, “Hey, Karl! I’ll show up in America immediately if you ever do anything mean to her. You know, we haven’t settled the scores yet. Besides, you still owe me a favor.”
Karl nodded immediately. He then glanced at Jasper, who was beside him, and said in a strange tone, “Don’t worry. You see, Jasper is with us all the time. He owns half of Wall Street, doesn’t he?”
Anna looked at him indignantly and said, “Come on, no one is expecting you and Jasper to get along well, but you don’t have to keep talking like that. You know, on top of being a pain in the ass, you’re a bad example to my Peace.”
“What? Hey! She’s mine! Her body and her soul belong to me!” Karl glared at Anna as well since he wasn’t scared of her.
“Huh? Who are you to make that claim? Even if you say that, she won’t actually become yours if you do. Let me tell you, no one agrees to that! Me, Jasper, and Andrew, who aren’t here, are all her best friends. So, you can’t say that!”
As Peace stood between Anna and Karl, watching them arguing, she felt a bit of déjà vu with this scene. After giving it some thought, she realized that Anna had always been the peacemaker whenever she and Karl had a disagreement in the past.
She had never imagined that their roles would be swapped one day.
As she thought about it, Peace had mixed emotions. She tried not to cry and said, “Well, the plane is about to take off. It’s time for us to go.”
Karl grabbed her arm and shouted, “Wait! Wayne’s not here yet.”
When she heard Wayne’s name, Anna froze. Neither Karl nor Peace knew how long they would be in America. So, Wayne was supposed to come to the airport to see them off.
They had been at the airport for half an hour, but Wayne still hadn’t arrived. Maybe he‘s shunning me, Anna thought to herself.
Peace said as she cast a quick peek at her watch, “Hey, let’s go. He’s probably too busy to make it. You see, our plane’s about to take off.”
“Oh, no, I want to wait for him.” Karl, though, insisted.
A young man eventually entered the lobby where they were after waiting for five minutes. When Karl spotted him, he abruptly broke away from the group and started running in his direction.
“Hey! I’m here! Wayne!” When Anna and Peace noticed them, they exchanged resigned glances. Karl returned panting because he had run so fast. When Peace was about to leave with him, he suddenly came down on one knee. Many people were walking around the airport, and some were staring at them.
Peace froze and said, “What are you doing? There are a lot of people watching us here! Please stop.”
“Peace, I have something to say to you, and I have to do it in front of them before we leave.”
Karl lifted his hand and held up the black heart-shaped suede box. Everyone was amazed to see the sparkling diamond ring inside the box as he snapped the lid open. That diamond was priceless and dazzling. The diamond appeared to be a cluster of a flickering fire amid the ring in the light.
“I’ve proposed to you before, and you’ve refused me. And I am not forcing you to say yes to me now. You know, my dear, that you still have the right to reject me. But I’m not going to flinch like a loser like I did before. Peace, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even if you say ‘no’ to me.”
Karl’s voice echoed in the hall. Everyone was moved by his earnest gaze, and Peace had already started crying. Looking at the handsome man in front of her, she had mixed emotions.
“That ring is called ‘My heart beats for you forever,’ and I made it especially for you, sweetie. Peace Brooks, will you marry me?”
Peace trembled. When Anna saw it, she firmly gripped her hand. She knew better than anyone how happy and torn Peace was at that moment.
Everyone knew how much Karl loved Peace. Anna had been dubious about how much he cared for Peace up until that point.
He turned out to be willing not only to care for Peace for months but also to fly with her to America for treatment.
Anna knew that very few rich young men could do this. He did a lot for Peace even though they were only dating,
If she were Peace, she didn’t think she could refuse him at this time.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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