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Ring

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Chapter 17: Ring (Rose's POV)

"So," Anastasia mused, "when will you put a ring on it, Mrs. Warner?" 

I groaned, half in disgust and the other half in annoyance. I set the coffee cup on the table hard enough to knock down the salt and pepper shakers. "I'm glad my misery is amusing to you, Anastasia, but this is not funny," I said through gritted teeth. "This is a life-or-death situation." 

"This is not a life or death situation, Rose," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Don't put our profession to shame using such big words. This is simply a game." 

"A game?" I asked incredulously. "Is my life a game to you? My father practically sold me off to the Warners. My one bet at getting out of this was Kai refusing, but what do you know, the bastard agreed." I let out a shaky breath and slumped back in my seat, scanning the restaurant while my brain raced at a hundred miles an hour. 

Weeks had passed. Weeks of torturous engagement preparations, miserable meals with the Warners, and disastrous social dinners where the Warners and Chens left breadcrumbs of the news, building up anticipation in New York's elitist social circle. The clock kept ticking, time was running out, and I still had no way out of this mess. 

Anastasia sighed lightly, running a hand through her hair. "Maybe if you stopped trying to dig into his brain so much, you'll see that the answer is in plain sight." She paused, lifting her brows at me. When I remained silent, she spoke again. "Rose, maybe it's not that deep. Maybe he agreed because... he had to. Maybe he was circumstantially obligated just like you were." 

"I know that, Anastasia. There's no way in hell he would agree to it out of the goodness of his heart." 

She shrugged lightly. "Maybe he's sadistic enough to marry you just to spite you and ruin your life." 

My eyes narrowed. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" 

"No, it's supposed to make you aware of your situation," she said. "You're in this now, for better or worse. Unless you find a way out before tonight, I recommend finding a way to survive Kai. Till death do you part," she smirked at the end. 

"Funny," I mutter sarcastically. 

Tonight. The dreaded engagement party we'd spent weeks preparing for. I'd spent the last few days running from work to dress fittings to ring shopping, and if there truly was a balance hidden somewhere between fiancée and FBI agent, I was really struggling to find it. 

Kai, for one, was nowhere to be found. He was meant to accompany me from dress fittings to jewelry showrooms, but he was as visible as a phantom to my naked eye. He hadn't shown up for anything, and contacting him was beneath me. 

You would think his absence was a good excuse to wriggle my way out of this engagement, but it didn't so much as faze my father. 

"Look," Anastasia said, drawing my attention, "I'm not telling you to give up. I'm just saying to play pretend for a little while. I highly doubt stressing over the same thing for weeks is helping you come up with a solution." 

I sighed, "I know... but there might not be a way out once I'm in this. This isn't just a ring." I slid the box over to her. "It's my prison sentence." 

She opened the box, her eyes scanning the three-carat oval diamond. The diamond itself was huge and had the entire gold band covered in smaller solitaires, with a complementary wedding band also covered entirely in diamonds. "It's a very beautiful prison sentence, I must say. Did you buy it?" 

I shook my head. "Kai did." 

She slid the box back over. "I thought you said he didn't show up." 

"He didn't. He just had someone bring it to my office this morning." 

"How romantic," she snickered. "I didn't think Kai had such... refined taste. You don't think his mother picked it out, do you?" 

I shook my head. "He picked it." 

"How are you so sure?" 

I exhaled, "Because he knew that I picked it. I've had this ring on hold for weeks. I just kept putting it off." 

"That's one hell of a rock, Rose," she chuckled, "it's perfect for you. You'll be just fine, okay? You'll get through it." With a pat on my hand, she called for our bill. "So, I'll see you at the engagement party tonight," she said as we walked out of the restaurant side by side. 

My footsteps slowed, and a small breath escaped me as I stopped in front of the spot where I'd left my car. It was gone, and in its place stood a sleek black Ferrari Roma, and accompanying it was Kai. I folded my arms across my chest as I made my way over to him. "I see someone finally decided to show face," I said. 

He pushed off from where he had been leaning against the passenger door with that devilish smirk. "Missed me, my love?" 

I scoffed, "You wish." 

He glanced at the Tiffany & Co. bag in my hand. "You got the ring," he pointed out. "A thank you would be nice." 

"You'd be deserving of that 'thank you' had you shown up even once," I retorted. 

He smirked, "Did my loving fiancée miss me that much? I'm here now." 

"And why is that? What do you want?" I sighed in annoyance. 

He stepped closer, towering over me now. "I thought it would be a good idea to have a little briefing before publicly announcing this engagement tonight." 

My eyes narrowed slightly. "I wasn't aware we had something to discuss regarding that." 

He chuckled in amusement and leaned in, holding one side of my face as he brought his lips to my ear. "Be nice, baby," he whispered warningly, "people are watching." 

I huffed, following his gaze to the window behind me, where several women dined at a table while shamelessly pointing at us and whispering. "Don't call me baby," I said, my voice low. "I'm not your baby." 

His lips twitched as he opened the passenger door. "Ms. Chen," he mused, bowing his head down at me. 

I wordlessly slipped into the passenger seat and buckled myself in. 

"Where are you headed?" he asked, starting the car. 

"Home," I answered, "I have to start getting ready." 

"I'll drop you off, and we can get our facts straight on the way." 

I glanced at him. "Is this necessary?" 

"Well, sweetheart, if someone asks you a question about your fiancé and you stand there, not knowing the answer, that wouldn't look good for us now, would it?" 

"I know you better than you think I do, Warner." 

He looked at me. "Is that so?" 

"As unfortunate as it is, I've known you my whole life." I turned to look out the window. "And I highly doubt people will go around interrogating us to test the authenticity of this relationship. There's no need to pretend. Everybody knows it's a marriage of convenience. It's strictly business." 

"That doesn't mean we don't need to put up a good front. Anything but perfection will be taken as a sign of weakness. You don't want people underestimating us, do you? No matter what we do behind closed doors, we will be husband and wife to the public eye. That is something this city should fear." 

I stared at him silently for several seconds before caving in. "Fine. I'll bite," I say. "Let's who knows who better, shall we?" 

He smirked, glancing at me briefly. "We shall."

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Chapter 17

I know this chapter is shorter than what I usually write, but I finally felt motivated to write after so long!

I'm still not sure when I'll be back to writing for good, but enjoy this chapter for now :)