Chapter 241 The Heart That Forever Beats For You
After reading the message, Courtney laughed and swiftly replied, ‘Gale deserves it. You, on the other hand, should probably gird your loins.’
Gale had a tendency to skip on the important details whenever he gave out secondhand information. It seemed as if nothing good could ever emerge from giving him the information in the first place—he was a born troublemaker.
As amused as she was by that thought, she knew that whatever happened today had nothing to do with his ineptitude and Alexander was aware of it as well. He had never encountered a situation in which he was forced to admit his mistakes and he simply needed an outlet for the resentment that he felt.
At the end of the day, Courtney knew better than to expect an apology from him.
The next day, she returned to Melrose City with the tender notice for Sakura Group in hand. Tobias’ intervention had led her to abandon all prospects of a private partnership, so she could only hope to collaborate with Sakura Group through normal means hence her attendance at the tender.
She showed Bill the requirements that they would need to comply with in order to submit a valid tender and he nodded after he read through them.
“It wouldn’t be hard to come up with a design for the uniforms and we are able to meet all the other requirements,” he responded. “As long as no one tries to mess things up for us, we should be able to succeed in the tender.”
“Then, I shall thank you in advance,” Courtney said.
“Don’t worry about it.” He gave her a dismissive wave before he put the measuring tape that he was holding away. He appeared to have recalled something. “Oh, right. When is Cameron leaving?”
“The day after tomorrow,” she answered after counting the days in her head. “She said she would leave at the end of the month, which would be the day after tomorrow. Are you going to see her off?”
“No,” Bill replied with an air of finality. “Tell her to come back as soon as she recovers from her illness. She might even make it in time to compete against me for the position of chief designer. If she can’t make it back before that, then I guess she’ll just have to settle as my assistant when she returns.”
Courtney smiled and shook her head in mock exasperation before curiously eyeing Bill with a mischievous grin. “Bill, is it true that you used to pine for Cameron when the both of you were studying in St York University?”
“What? Who said that?” he sputtered as his face turned crimson and he glared at her while denying vehemently. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I pine for someone as crazy as her?”
She nodded, pretending to be in thought. “You’re right. I mean, I also heard that she was pining for you for the longest time before you finally agreed to date her, but you broke up with her three days later. I guess she really wasn’t your type after all.”
Upon hearing that, Bill stiffened. “Did she tell you that?”
“Yes, she did. She said that getting you to date her was one of the hardest things she ever had to do, but at the end of the day, you told her that her designs weren’t good enough. You broke up with her after the both of you got into a huge fight.”
There was a long pause. When he did not respond, Courtney glanced up at him and saw that his gaze was lowered as he pretended to be busy with the measuring tape. He looked like he was in a trance.
“Bill?”
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her. “Huh? Oh. I broke up with her because she was temperamental. It just didn’t work out for me.”
“Oh,” Courtney answered breezily, smiling as she walked away.
She knew that men rarely meant what they said. If Bill did not have the hots for Cameron, he would not have given his contact to her when he left Melrose City back in the day. Why would a loner like him try so hard to keep in touch with Cameron despite moving someplace far away? To say that he had never loved her would be a blatant lie.
However, there was no way for Courtney to find out about the misunderstandings and slip-ups that unfolded throughout Bill and Cameron’s relationship, so she gave up pestering him on that matter.
Two days later, Cameron was flying off to America to undergo medical treatment and Gale was accompanying her throughout the trip.
Courtney dropped them off at the airport.
“Cameron, remember to keep in touch when you get there,” Courtney said gently as she threw her arms around Cameron and she was surprised at how much weight the latter had lost. She could not help but panic, but she put on a brave front nonetheless for her friend’s sake.
Meanwhile, Cameron was tearing up at Courtney’s words. She was no longer as tough as she used to be, making her more susceptible to sentimental thoughts.
Courtney could not bear to see her cry, so she turned to look at Gale with a somber expression. “I’m warning you, Gale—if you so much as make her cry, I’m going to fly over and kick your butt. You still owe me for what happened the last time, in case you’ve forgotten about it.”
Gale swallowed and dutifully nodded. He cast a curious glance toward Elijah—who was standing next to him—and grumbled, “I wouldn’t dream about hurting Cameron when he’s with us. Didn’t you say that he owns half of Wall Street or something?”
Courtney rolled her eyes at him. “No one’s forcing you to get along with Elijah, so you don’t have to sound so annoyingly perplexed by him. You’re going to lead Cameron astray with your ridiculous thoughts.”
“She’s not just yours. She’s ours,” Gale retorted sharply and glared at her.
“Do you have any proof to support your argument? All you have are empty words, you punk. It’s not as if you could just claim her as your own because you’re dating her; nobody agreed to it. Besides, Elijah, Bill and I are Cameron’s family. We won’t just let you get away with this so easily.”
Cameron stood between the both of them and watched their rapid-fire exchange with amusement. There was something familiar about the scene; it used to be her who bantered with Gale and now the peace-loving Courtney was taking over her place instead. How the tables had indeed turned.
Thinking about that made Cameron’s heart wrench and she choked as she interjected, “Okay, it’s getting late. We should be heading through security by now.”
“Let’s wait out here for a while longer.” Gale tugged on her arm to hold her back. “Alexander’s not here yet.”
At the mention of Alexander’s name, Courtney stiffened.
He ought to be here to see Gale off. After all, there was no telling when he would return from America, but they had been at the airport for nearly half an hour now and Alexander was still nowhere to be seen.
She wondered whether he was avoiding her.
Cameron lowered her head and glanced at her watch. “Maybe he’s preoccupied. We shouldn’t wait around anymore or we wouldn’t be able to make it for the flight.”
“Just a little while longer,” Gale pleaded insistently.
Five minutes later, a familiar figure sauntered across the airport’s international departure hall. Upon seeing that person, Gale took off like a rocket and tore through the crowd. “We’re over here!” he cried out excitedly.
Courtney exchanged an exasperated look with Cameron, but before they could make good-natured remarks about the public display of bromance, Gale ditched Alexander and came running back toward them.
He was out of breath by the time he reached them; he clearly overexerted himself. Cameron was about to pull him toward the gate when he suddenly got down on one knee before her.
It drew the attention of the many passers-by in the lobby.
“What are you doing?” she asked with widened eyes. “Stop fooling around. People are watching.”
“Cameron, there’s something I’d like to say to you before we go through the gates and it has to be now—right here in front of everybody.”
Gale brought his hand up—and nestled within his palm was a black velvet box in the shape of a heart. The box snapped open to reveal the brilliant diamond ring tucked within. The cut and clarity of the rare diamond were astounding to behold. Under the lights, the diamond looked as though it had an ember pulsating from within, gently encircled by the delicate band of the ring.
“I know this isn’t the first time I’m saying this to you and I know that you’ve turned me down multiple times in the past, but please know that I’m not trying to force you into saying yes. You can still turn me down today, but I promise you that it will be different this time. I won’t give up on you and hide away just because you’ve turned me down. I’ll stay by your side forever, even if you never say yes.”
Gale’s voice reverberated throughout the hall and all the onlookers were moved by the sincerity of his declaration. Cameron, on the other hand, was already tearing up as she gazed at the man kneeling before her. Words could not describe the emotions that were rushing through her.
“I had this diamond custom-made for you. It’s called ‘The Heart That Forever Beats For You.’ Cameron Miller, will you marry me?”
Cameron swayed slightly at the proposal. Courtney gazed at her and reached out to clasp her hand in hers.
She understood better than anyone else the joy and conflict that Cameron was feeling.
