Chapter 22- The surprise

Abigail’s heart was beating faster. She was staring at him intensely, trying to figure out what was hidden within his mind. She was eager to know what he was about to say.

Charles rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb. It was getting difficult for him to suppress his feelings, and he opened his mouth to confess.

Tring… Tring… Tring…

He was interrupted by the loud ringing on his phone, and the words he wanted to say remained stuck inside his throat. His hand froze in the air, and he stared at her with complex feelings in his heart. Then he took the phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen, just to see Aidan’s number. He came to his senses and realized that he was about to make a mistake in the flow of emotions. He wiped his face, contemplating the situation before pressing the answer button.

“Hey, where are you? How long will it take to get here?” Aidan’s impatient voice came off the phone.

“We will be there in no time,” Charles replied and hung up the phone.

Abigail was looking at him curiously, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Who is that?”

Charles only chuckled and didn’t reply. He glanced at her and asked, “Shall we go now?”

“Where?”

“There, where surprise is waiting for you.”

“Oh…” She smiled and said, “I can’t wait for the surprise.”

They got into the car, and Charles drove off. Fifteen minutes later, the car halted in front of a luxurious building. It was one of the expensive banquet halls in the city M.

Abigail was stunned. She didn’t expect that Charles would bring her to a banquet hall. She actually thought he was taking her to dinner at a restaurant. Could it be that he planned a surprise birthday party? There was no limit to her happiness when this thought went through her mind. She looked at the building with a smile on her face.

While she was dazed, Charles opened the door for her and offered his hand. She looked at his hand, and then slowly her eyes shifted towards his face. Her smile grew wide, and she took his hand and came out of the car.

He rubbed her knuckles with his thumb and gazed at her earnestly. Then his eyes drifted down at the small heart of the diamond, resting quietly on her chest. He smiled, thinking that at least she was wearing the necklace that he had given to her. He made a gesture to her to move ahead, and she started walking in the banquet hall gracefully. Charles kept looking at her retreating figure until she disappeared from his line of sight.

Abigail was so delighted that she didn’t notice that Charles had not followed her. She entered the building with great enthusiasm. The staff stood in two rows and welcomed her. One of the staff gave her a bouquet of red roses. It was so romantic. She was astonished to think that Charles had arranged such things for her. Now she was even more eager to know what else he had planned for her. The woman who gave her the bouquet showed her the way to the party hall.

The door of the hall was shut tight. The woman smiled at her and walked away. Abigail was dumbfounded. She turned to look at the woman, and it was only then that she noticed that Charles was not with her. Where did he go? She panicked a little and looked around her surroundings, but still, she didn’t see him. Perhaps he was busy carrying out his plans, she thought.

The smile resumed on her face, and she pushed the door open. The door led her to a dark room. She couldn’t see anything inside. Her expression froze, and she frowned deeply. She was wondering why that woman showed her to enter this dark empty room. Despite the anxiety, she stepped inside the room carefully and looked around.

When she approached a few steps inside, the room illuminated brightly all of a sudden. Only then did she notice that the room was an enormous hall. A big crystal chandelier was hanging in the middle of the hall. The room was decorated with different flowers, and she found herself standing inside a heart made up of red rose petals. The clapping of the people echoed the room, and the birthday song started playing.

She saw her father standing amidst the guests, clapping and singing the birthday song. There was a wide grin on his face. She was pleasantly surprised and couldn’t help but smile. Then she saw Aidan approaching her, singing the birthday song. Her smile froze in the corner of her lips to see him.

‘So, it is his plan.’

Now she figured out that the surprise Charles referred to was planned by Aidan. She felt as if her heart had stopped beating, and an atrocious pain propagated through her body.

Aidan came closer to her, took her hands into his hands, and looked at her dotingly. The music went off, and the people stopped clapping. All the pair of eyes were focused on them. The murmur of the people could be heard faintly.

Aidan rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs and said, “Happy birthday, honey. I know you are upset. You may be thinking that why I didn’t wish you in the morning. I actually wanted to give you a surprise. I have been busy arranging everything since morning. Do you like this?”

Abigail was too shocked to react. She only stared at him blankly. He chuckled and looked down at their hands. Suddenly he knelt in front of her and took out a diamond ring from his pocket.

Abigail gasped and stared at him with a puzzle written on her face. It was a big, dazzling pink diamond ring. She could imagine how costly it would be. Her eyes sparkled with this thought. She knew what was coming next, but she was not ready for it. Her heart was beating without a rhythm. Then she heard him say, “Dear Abigail Mills, will you marry me?”

Abigail could feel nothing but numbness. Her jaw automatically fell apart. She had no idea what to say to him. All these years she waited for this day, and now that he finally proposed to her, she couldn’t answer him. She lifted her eyelids to look at her father, but she perceived the sight of Charles standing beside the front door, not very far from them. He was staring at her with a faint smile on his face. But there was a glimmer of sorrow in his eyes. Before she could see it properly, he just lowered his head and looked down at the ground.

Abigail peered at him, raising her eyebrows. But her trance was broken by Aidan’s next words, “Hey, where are you looking?”

She turned her head frantically and looked down at him, completely lost. Her chest was moving up and down rapidly. She was nervous and tensed.

Aidan laughed awkwardly and swept his gaze at the surroundings before speaking again, “Abi, say yes. I am kneeling in front of you.” His voice was low so that only the two of them could hear.

Tears started gathering in her eyes. She couldn’t respond at all. She again looked in the direction of Charles. But this time, she saw him looking at his phone and going out of the hall in haste. She felt a stabbing pain in her heart to see him leaving.

‘He left me. He just left me.’ She murmured in her mind. Why did he leave? Maybe he got a call from his girlfriend. She was even more agitated by this thought. She nodded in realization. The tears that were threatening to fall finally streamed down her cheeks. She bit her lower lip to suppress her pain and looked down at the tip of her shoes.

On the other end, Aidan took her nod as a yes and thought that she was crying because of the happiness. He was delighted. The smile on his face grew wider. He put the ring on her ring finger and exclaimed, “Abi, my darling. I love you. I love you so much.”

He stood up and pulled her into his embrace. “I was waiting for this day. We will get married soon. Oh, baby, I am so happy today.” He cupped her face and wiped the tears off her face. Then he placed a kiss on her forehead. “Come on. Your Dad is waiting for you.” Then he took her to Robert Mills.

Charles received a call from Angelina’s mother, and he came out of the hall to take the call. The moment he answered the call, he heard her panicked tone, “Charles, can you come to the Lifecare hospital? Angelina is hospitalized again. She just blacked out. I am scared.” She started crying as soon as she finished speaking.

“What? But Why? Is she having a fever again?”

Charles exclaimed while walking to the parking lot. His expression went dark. The worry spread across his face.

“I can’t say it on the phone. Come quickly.” With that, the call ended.

Charles walked out of the building with long strides. He didn’t delay to drive away from there the moment he got into the car. Angelina and her mother were very important to him. They had helped him and his mother in many ways in the past. If he had not had their support, love, and care, he would have broken down and become mental after his mother’s death. He had doubts since the last time that Angelina was suffering from a serious illness. He would do anything to cure her. Now it was his time to pay back the favor. He stepped on the throttle and increased the speed of the car.

It was half an hour’s distance, but he reached the hospital within fifteen minutes. He rushed into the reception and asked the receptionist, “The patient, Angelina White. Where is she?”