Self-Deceiving
Yang Chen took a long sigh, staring at the woman who was already emotionally defeated. He couldn"t help but grin at how the situation had panned out.
"Are you done?"
"What more can I say?"
"Alright, then come with me." Yang Chen went ahead and reached for his pocket, searched for a bit before retrieving an item.
The object, placed before Mo Qianni"s eyes, left her in a daze.
"This is…"
Even under the faint light, the visual sensation brought about by the jewelry in his hand was jaw-dropping to say the least.
The huge pink diamond ring was mesmerizing from every angle it shone in. Every perfectly cut vertex and glossed-up edge was brilliantly displayed in the light.
Encrusted within the exterior of the refined platinum ring body were several closely arranged pet.i.te diamonds scattered across the ring. In Yang Chen"s hands, it seemed like a piece stolen from a fairytale.
That naturally was the five-carat rose pink diamond ring from the auction he attended in America. The one that Xue Zijing went to great lengths to obtain only to no avail, which naturally kept it in Yang Chen"s possession.
Women have an inbuilt instinct towards s.h.i.+ny objects, unfathomable by the male species. Mo Qianni was no exception.
So did Lin Ruoxi from a distance. Even though she had seen all kinds of jewelry, it did not diminish her hunger towards it. It even managed to attract the attention of the two elders Guo Xuehua and Ma Guifang.
With her gaze fixated upon the extravagant pink diamond ring, Mo Qianni"s tears had finally subsided. And replacing it was a hungry and longing look.
It was not because the woman was a gold digger, but her pa.s.sion for the finer things in life had replaced the sadness that was there before.
"This is the main reason I hung up on you the other day and left to America," Yang Chen proclaimed with a smile.
Yang Chen thought it through. He would have to gloss over the part where he fought Poseidon over the Pacific and got hit by Tai Qing Heavenly Lightning. It wasn"t the fact that it was a secret but he wasn"t sure if explaining everything now was a good idea.
Moreover, it might seem too dramatic for her to be convinced. A white lie with some alterations in the story would be best for the time being.
Mo Qianni pulled her gaze from the spellbinding diamond ring as she turned to him. "What are you trying to say?"
Yang Chen stoically responded, "That night when I picked up your call, I was genuinely discouraged by Auntie"s words. But my dear Qianqian, while I was not in a good mood that night, I definitely did not give up on us. Why would I?"
"Really?" Mo Qianni saw a glimmer of hope.
"I guarantee it." Yang Chen grinned. "And right at that moment, Christen over in the US informed me of an emergency, which was why I had to leave so abruptly. She explained that there would be an auction over at Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. She was wondering if I was interested in their prized possession. I was intrigued upon seeing the ring from a photo sent by Christen, so I instantly took the next flight off to place the winning bid.
"Because of the rush, I had left my phone at home and carelessly missed your calls. It was Christen who had made the call back home to contact Ruoxi and the others at home.
"I didn"t know you"d think that I was intentionally avoiding you. This is a grave misunderstanding that I"ve overlooked all this while. I a.s.sure you I always wanted to explain to you."
Mo Qianni was doubtful of his narration, but she took a good look at the glistening diamond ring in Yang Chen"s hand and decided that he was innocent. "Are you really… telling the truth? Not because you hate me, but because you left for America to bid for the ring?"
Yang Chen responded with slight agitation. "Are you not convinced? Fine, I"m going to continue with this morning"s incident. This morning, I didn"t stop to talk to you and it was unintentional in every meaning of the word. It was because I was genuinely anxious, Ruoxi had to take Zhenxiu to the exam hall as today is the day of the College Entrance Examination.
"But things turned for the worse as three troublemakers decided to fake a car accident. How could I not chase them away? Besides, you"re in your office attire, aren"t you? I never thought you actually had anything to say to me!
"All the while my phone has been charging in my room. I didn"t have access to it the whole time. If you still don"t believe me, you can ask Ruoxi or visit the police station."
Mo Qianni at this point ultimately gave in to laughter, as joy beamed over her face. "Alright, alright I was too sensitive. I know I shouldn"t have doubted you so easily, my bad…"
Yang Chen reached out his left hand as he caressed the woman"s face. "I was conflicted for a while there, but now I believe that when adversity comes our way, we should not retreat and give up so easily."
Mo Qianni started crying tears of joy as she nodded.
Yang Chen smirked as he winked. "You know me. I don"t have aspirations. The only things that interest me are beautiful women. Why would I ever abandon one of the most beautiful women on the planet?"
Mo Qianni affectionately rolled her eyes on his remark, before her focus once again fixated upon the ring in Yang Chen"s palm.
"Aren"t you curious as to who the ring belongs to?" Yang Chen took to ask.
Mo Qianni pouted coyly as she glanced towards Lin Ruoxi who was watching from a distance. Simultaneously, Lin Ruoxi"s soul-piercing gaze met with hers.
The two women shared a glance but nonetheless with no hatred for one another.
Mo Qianni turned back and nodded with a smile. "The ring is hers…"
Before she could finish Yang Chen held up her hand and placed the rose pink diamond ring in the palm of her hand.
Mo Qianni watched in awe as Yang Chen did all that, uncertain on how she should respond.
Yang Chen sighed but continued in a calm, soothing voice. "I might not be allowed to personally put it on your wedding finger, but never doubt me for this ring is for you, Mo Qianni."
Mo Qianni had to rea.s.sure herself that it was not a dream, but instead, a reality that was hard to believe.
Lin Ruoxi who was still standing by the car witnessed the entire scene unfold. Even when she was prepared for the situation to resolve in a similar way, she was still pale and frail from the shock before her eyes.
Even though a ring worth tens of millions was nothing much for her, she was paling at the fact that her husband had given a ring to one of his lovers in front of her!
Yang Chen made sure to leave some respect for his legal wife by not putting the ring onto Mo Qianni"s finger, but it was nothing more than a self-deceiving act.
Watching the turn of events, Guo Xuehua froze. She was relieved that Mo Qianni was comforted and rea.s.sured, but was anxious towards Yang Chen"s actions. How could he hand out a ring of that value to just anyone?
As her daughter-in-law gradually became more pale and dejected, Guo Xuehua was in a state of hysteria.
Ma Guifang too was stupefied as she witnessed Yang Chen handing her daughter a s.h.i.+mmering ring before Lin Ruoxi"s eyes. But to see her daughter so happy left her thinking about recent events.
Mo Qianni was so happy that she was oblivious to everything around her.
Even though she felt extremely apologetic towards Lin Ruoxi, nothing in the world would mean anything more to her.
Yang Chen chose to give her a rose pink diamond ring worth millions in front of his mother and his legal wife. The true intentions and genuine affection he had towards her was priceless.
"You like it?" Yang Chen watched as his woman conflictingly stared at the ring, as he couldn"t help but asked.
Mo Qianni nodded. "A lot…"
"Guess how much I paid to bid for it."
"H—how would I know? It must be really expensive…" Mo Qianni was anxious at his answer.
Yang Chen brought himself close to Mo Qianni"s ear and whispered, "13.14 million dollars. Is the price sincere enough for you?"
Mo Qianni"s hands shook from the staggering amount, nearly dropping her prized possession. Even her breathing instantly sped up. She nearly choked at the price. "You… are you trying to freak me out? How could you just hand me something like that?!"
Yang Chen shrugged as he replied, "Compared to you, Little Qianqian, it"s not worth nearly as much to me."
At that moment, she knew full well that it was his trademark sweet talk, but it still managed to crack her up. It was slightly weighty to bear, but she had no reason to reject.
Watching the scene unfolded in close range, Lin Ruoxi had enough.
She glared soullessly at Yang Chen before she turned around and hopped onto the driver"s seat of the BMW behind her and darted off into the horizon.
Guo Xuehua by the sidelines was quick to advise her stubborn son. "My child, even if you have to be upfront with Qianni to calm her woes, could you not have done it in front of Ruoxi?"
Mo Qianni who was woken from her stupor lowered her head in embarra.s.sment.
Yang Chen dried the cold sweat on his forehead as he smiled bitterly. "Mom, you don"t have to remind me. But there are some things that have to be brought up sooner or later. It needs to be said that I will not give up on Qianni. What Ruoxi witnessed today was necessary."
"Just because you chose to hold on, that everything would turn out fine?"
A cold, stern voice resonated from the gate of a neighboring house. It was Ma Guifang who had spoken while strolling up to Yang Chen.
Lynic"s notes:
Chapter 4/7
Had so much fun at Movie World, Gold Coast today! Was too busy to post yesterday. Bear with papa.