She hadn't been fond of anything so far, so she had no reason to believe this would be any different. He took her hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger. He looked at it carefully for a long moment before smiling and speaking.

  "This might be the one," he said confidently.

  Qian Meng took her hand back from him to look at the ring herself; anxious to see which one he finally felt was good enough.

  No sooner had she laid her eyes on it than her breath hitched. It was outrageously beautiful and she knew the designer. It was perfect as far as diamond rings went. It had a large square-cut diamond in the middle, surrounded by tiny diamonds all along its perimeter. The tiny diamonds also trailed down along the band.

  She had never envisioned her wedding or engagement ring when she was younger but if she had, this might have been the ring.

  "That's a lovely choice." The man behind the counter commented to them. "That's a cushion-cut surrounded by beat-set diamonds. The band is fourteen karat white gold."

  "What do you think?" Mo Qingchen asked.

  Qian Meng shifted her eyes up to look at his face which was watching her with scrutiny. There was a particular answer he wanted and he knew she was going to give it.

  "It's beautiful," she said with a conceding shrug. "But not as good as something I would design." She looked at it closely.

  "Yeah?" he asked with a smirk. "How would you design it?" he asked casually.

  "I wouldn't use diamonds. I would use something with color. I would also make something matching for you," she stated.

  Mo Qingchen hummed. "So, why don't you make it yourself?" he asked.

  Qian Meng stiffened. "Did you just waste my time to ask me to design our rings?" she asked.

  She looked down at the ring Mo Qingchen had selected… it was strange. She wasn't looking down at something she wanted to wear her whole life. This was beautiful but just not… enough. She was simply looking down at beautiful jewelry. It was exciting but…


  "You haven't designed the two pieces for this year. You might as well work on your ring," Mo QIngchen commented, his tone enticing.

  "And you would wear something I designed without question?" Qian Meng asked.

  He shrugged. "I would like to have something lightweight. I want to wear it while I code," he said simply.

  Qian Meng thought closely and grinned. "Prepare yourself," she warned.

  "Do you want to look at the wedding bands that go along with the ring? We have three different suggested bands to go with this particular engagement ring." The employee tried his best to make a sale.

  "No," Mo Qingchen answered. "We have an important meeting to get to. Thank you for showing around. We might come back later on."

  Qian Meng snorted.

  "Certainly," the man said without emotion, knowing he had missed the sale.

  Qian Meng took the ring off and handed it back to the employee so he could return it to the case. "You just wasted their precious time," Qian Meng protested.

  "To inspire you," Mo Qingchen argued. "And I succeeded." Prideful scoundrel.

  "Where are we going now?" she asked when they were both strapped inside the car.

  "To meet my family," he said casually. Qian Meng's fingers tightened about the seatbelt.

  "You're introducing me to your family?" she squeaked——

  "I can't believe I am meeting the Mo family as the future daughter-in-law," Qian Meng commented with awe.

  "I told you not to comment on the situation. See? I was not the last man on the planet you would marry," he bit back. He knew how to hold a grudge, that was for sure.

  "Well, you are the last man I would marry… I am marrying you, aren't I? I just won't marry anyone else." Qian Meng shrugged.

  Mo Qingchen stared at her for a solid second before snorting. "It's a logical fallacy. You're just twisting your own words to save your face, aren't you?" he teased.

  Qian Meng shrugged it off. "One thing is for sure, your family is going to hate me."

  "No, they're not," Mo Qingchen said with an exasperated sigh.

  "Mo Yize might throw a fit when she realizes I am going to be her eldest brother's wife… which makes me her elder, huh?" The last part pleased her immensely.

  "You seem awfully happy about being her elder. Why don't you marry my grandfather and be her step-grandmother, then?" he commented.

  "I didn't know your grandfather was still alive," she retorted sarcastically. "Maybe I should have considered him as a potential husband!"

  "And Mo Yize won't hate you. She might act all tough, but she actually liked you… still likes you."

  "You don't know her better than I do," Qian Meng demanded.

  "She's my sister," Mo Qingchen claimed.

  "And? That doesn't mean anything. When was the last time you spent over two hours with her? You don't even go back home for vacations…" She saw how he was looking at her incredulous. "You should know that your sister feels lonely. She thinks none of you like her enough," Qian Meng informed.

  Mo Qingchen sighed. "Yize will understand. She saw us together the day you trashed Bai Ye Qing's car. Xiao Chen thinks you are entertaining and would love to have you around because you make life interesting. My mother loves you to the moon and back." And then he stopped. "Stay clear off my father."

  Qian Meng raised her brow. "You do dislike him. And you are trying to protect me from him?" she questioned.

  "I don't need to protect you from him, but he is an asshole of a different degree. He will not believe that we are in love and he will try his best to kick you out."

  Qian Meng scoffed. "I thought he was mildly better than my father, but it seems they are just different species of bad fathers," she agreed.