Chapter 335 Only a Kid Will Make a Choice
More and more people gathered at the plaza, and the scene turned lively as they held hands and started dancing. Courtney was feeling a little dizzy, and she didn’t know how long it had passed when a man dressed in a white suit finally walked out from behind the Christmas tree.
“What are you doing? Did you prepare this?” She trotted over and punched him playfully on his chest, laughing uncontrollably. “Do you have to make such a big fuss over a new year countdown?”
“This is our first New Year’s Eve together, and I hope that you’ll be the one by my side for every New Year’s Eve in the future.”
“That’s for sure!” Raising her brows, Courtney looked very proud as she added, “Whom else would you like to spend New Year’s Eve with besides me? You must be dreaming!”
“Don’t regret what you just said.” Smiling gently, Alexander grabbed her hand, which had punched him earlier, and went down on one knee while everyone was watching.
All of a sudden, Courtney froze. The light blue, rectangular box looked very expensive, and it popped open with a light snap in his hands.
It turned out that there were ten diamond rings of different designs laid out in a row within the box, and they were sparkling so brightly under the lights that it almost blinded Courtney.
Staring unblinking at it, she was dumbfounded although she had already guessed what was happening and was a little moved. “Is this a proposal?” she asked.
Raising his brow, Alexander said with a matter-of-fact expression, “To prevent you from using the excuse that you don’t like the ring which I bought, I had ten pieces custom-made. There must be one which will be to your liking.”
She placed a hand over her mouth as she laughed, whereupon tears of joy welled up in her eyes.
“Pick one.” Alexander gazed at her with affectionate, tender eyes.
Sniffling, she turned away from him deliberately and extended her right hand. “Only a kid will make a choice. I will take all of it.”
“Really?” With a smirk, he put a ring on each of her fingers, and soon, all five of her fingers on her right hand had a diamond ring on it.
Initially, she was merely kidding with him, but she didn’t expect that he would put a ring on each of her fingers. She shrunk backward. “Are you serious?”
Spreading his palms, he flashed her a smile. “There’s still another hand.”
When all ten of her fingers had a ring on it, she pursed her lips. For some unknown reason, it should have been a very moving event, but it turned out to be a little comical instead. Her tear-filled eyes glimmered like stars as she opened up her hands and couldn’t stop herself from laughing.
“This is so tacky. I look like a country bumpkin who had just struck it rich!”
“You’re mine now that you’re wearing my rings.”
“Yes, yes,” she mumbled. “I’ve been yours since a long time ago.”
It hadn’t been a smooth ride for her and Alexander along the way, and it was also a fate bestowed by God. Even though she struggled within herself before, she had straightened out her thinking; if she had to choose a person as her partner for the rest of her life, she couldn’t think of a person other than Alexander. To her, he was no longer one of the options in a multiple-choice question, but the standard answer.
The new year’s bell was about to ring, and the people dancing in the plaza danced even more merrily. Then, Alexander brought her to a western restaurant on the higher floors, overlooking the entire night view of Melrose as it glimmered with prosperity.
“I thought you’d bring Tina and the others with you. Isn’t that how everyone else proposes, with their friends and family as witnesses and source of encouragement on the side?”
With a soft look in his eyes, he said calmly, “That’s because I wish that you’ll say yes solely because of me.”
Not because of the children or because your aunt and uncle have accepted me; neither should it be because of other reasons nor anyone’s influence when you make a decision, but simply because I’m the person you love.
Dumbfounded, Courtney’s cheeks turned hot, and she felt her face with her palms, muttering, “Did you swallow honey before leaving the house today?”
Since the proposal earlier, everything he said was oozing with sweetness and didn’t sound like him at all.
The waiter came over to deliver the dessert, and he cast a confused look at Courtney. “Uh, Madam, Sir, this is your dessert.”
“Thank you.”
After he placed down the dessert, he stole a glance every time he took a step away until he finally whispered something to his colleague.
Puzzled, Courtney asked Alexander, “Is my makeup running from the tears? Do I look weird?’
“I don’t think it’s your makeup which he finds weird,” he answered, looking at her hands thoughtfully.
Following his gaze, she came to the sudden realization that she was still wearing all the rings on her hands. Almost blinded when she took a look at them, she then hurriedly hid them under the table.
“Why didn’t you remind me about it?”
“Why would I do that? You’ll have to eat, after all.”
“It’s all your fault,” she grumbled. “Why did you buy ten rings?”
With a playful glint in his eyes, he said, “Honestly speaking, I didn’t expect that you’d wear all ten of them.”
Peeved, she uttered, “Are you laughing at me? I’ll take them off now.”
“No,” he warned sternly.
“Hey, can you be a reasonable person?” She gave him a kick in frustration under the table. “It’s really heavy, and I can’t even lift my hands to eat.”
Despite what she said, she actually couldn’t bring herself to take them off. Who would be willing to take off their engagement ring on the day of their proposal? Instead, she stole a peek at it every second just to be sure that this happiness was real.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The sounds of bells marking the beginning of the new year chimed, and outside the full-length windows of the restaurant, the New Year’s Eve fireworks show in the distance flourished in the air, creating a colorful blooming flower in the sky. Mixed with the pleasant sounds of the bells, it ushered in the biggest carnival of the year in the city.
“Quick, make a wish,” Courtney urged. “Make a wish before the bell ends.”
Upon hearing the sounds of the bells, she instantly closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, making a wish as she would in previous years.
“I wish for Tina to be cured of her asthma soon, Jordan to recover completely from his antisocial syndrome, and Cameron to end her treatment for depression as soon as possible and return to a normal life. May there be someone by Elijah’s side to keep him company, and I wish that Grandpa, Uncle William, and Aunt Alicia will all be healthy…”
She had so many wishes, and she muttered them under her breath until the bells stopped ringing. Without missing out anyone, she managed to make all her wishes the second the bells stopped.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Alexander didn’t move an inch from his position earlier, whereupon she frowned. “Why didn’t you make a wish? Don’t doubt this; it will really come true.”
Chuckling lightly, he gazed at her affectionately. “But my wish has already come true. I don’t need to make more.”
“It came true? What is it?”
Stunned, Courtney didn’t realize what was happening at first. After a while when he kept staring at her, it slowly dawned upon her that his wish was to be successful at his proposal!
The second she realized this point, her face, which was already flushing from the heating of the restaurant, turned bright scarlet all the way to her neck.
This man didn’t only have a whole jar of honey before leaving the house today, she thought. He literally bathed himself in honey before going out and is now oozing with sweetness.
