Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
I was eight years old, standing in the crowd with Yan. She was tugging on my hand, bored and restless, but I couldn’t look away from the spectacle unfolding in front of us.
The park in the center of the East had been transformed for the occasion.
Blue silk banners fluttered in the wind and the scent of incense hung heavy in the air.
The entire clan was there—soldiers, advisors, their families—all gathered to witness what my father called "The Rededication."
My father never really spoke of his emotions, but on that day, he wore them like armor. His voice boomed through the space as he stood beside my mother.
And she looked radiant, dressed in a sapphire qipao embroidered with silver. She’d had her hair swept up and a sapphire crown sat atop it.
He placed that ring on her finger for the first time in front of everyone. “Ten years ago, I made this woman my wife but I couldn’t give her the wedding she deserved. Back then, we were battling poverty. Every ounce of strength, every dollar we had went to ensuring our survival.”
The crowd was silent, hanging on his every word.
“So today, I correct that mistake. Today, I show the East what this woman means to me.” He turned to her then. “This woman isn’t just my wife. She is my heart. If I am the Mountain Master then she is the Mountain Mistress. You should know that the woman who wears this ring is in possession of everything I have, everything that I am. My loyalty, my devotion, my soul.”
The crowd erupted into cheers.
The memory faded and I was back in the present with my fingers curling into fists.
That ring wasn’t just a symbol of tradition or power.
It was a declaration of my father’s love, a vow carved into stone that all the East would recognize, even if Moni had no idea what it meant.
And now my father had given it to Moni—my Moni.
Why?
The answer churned in my gut.
I opened my eyes.
She watched me. “Lei. . .talk to me. . .”
This isn’t just a gesture of tradition. That’s bullshit that he told her.
It was something else, something far more dangerous.
More rage rose in me.
Is he in love with her?
The thought was ridiculous.
Absurd.
But the more I turned it over in my mind, the more the pieces fit.
He wanted to spend time with her on his possible last night on Earth. I should have known from that moment. But there were so many other clues. . .so many other times. . .
He was infatuated with Moni.
He had to be.
There was no other reason, no other explanation.
He wasn’t just trying to manipulate or control her. He wanted her in a way that made my blood boil.
However, it didn’t matter.
Moni wasn’t his to love.
She was mine and she’d wear my ring, not his.
My mother’s ring belonged buried with the past, not wrapped around the finger of my future.
“Lei?”
I met Moni’s gaze, the warmth and concern in her eyes cut through my rage like a knife.
None of this was her fault.
It was my father’s doing—his games, his endless need to control everything around him. His sick plotting turning to twisted fascination.
The thought of my father imagining her—wanting her—drove me to the brink. This wasn’t just a battle for tradition or legacy or revenge over Chanel and Romeo.
This was even more personal.
“I just realized something but. . .everything is okay.” I slipped the sapphire ring off her finger.
Moni didn’t protest, but her gaze searched mine. “What did you realize?”
I didn’t say anything as I pocketed my mother’s ring and took my ring—the one I’d chosen for her, the one that belonged to us—and slid it onto her finger where it should’ve been all along.
“There.” I swallowed down some of my anger. “That’s much better.”
“What’s up with the other ring?”
“You’re going to be my wife. Let’s just focus on that.”
She blinked.
“I’m happy that you said yes.”
“But you look mad. Very mad.”
“That has nothing to do with you.”
“Then, tell me what’s going on.”
“I won’t let him ruin this moment. Not right now. Let me. . .enjoy the fact that you said yes. . .that one day. . .very fucking soon. . .you will be walking down an aisle in a beautiful gown and the world will know that you are my wife.”
Moni’s lips parted, but before she could speak, I couldn’t wait. I pulled her into my arms, clutching her like she was the only thing anchoring me to this world, the only light against the storm raging inside.
She didn’t hesitate.
She wrapped herself around me, her arms sliding over my shoulders, her warmth pressing against the cold fury still simmering in my chest.
Her touch was a balm that slowly healed my darkening soul.
Her lips found mine. Soft and sweet, they carried the kind of gentleness I didn’t deserve but couldn’t resist.