"Cookie it is," Nitocris said with an indulgent smile as he looked upon his beloved puppy who was looking at him so happily.

The past few weeks had been a nightmare for him.

Finding out that his puppy was an engaged man had hit him hard. All the years of patiently waiting, only to find out during that one sliver of hope … it was dashed before it could even begin.

He had already made a promise that he would not force his love upon his puppy, so he resolutely buried himself in work. However, no matter what he did, his feelings didn't lessen at all.

Nitocris knew that it would take time.

Lots of time.

He kept telling himself that even though it didn't feel like it, it would get better.

It had to.

And now?

Nitocris watched as his beloved puppy was finally in his arms, looking as pure and innocent as he always did. He had already fallen asleep, and his head was snuggled at the crook of his arm, while his legs and arms were wrapped around him like an octopus.

Nitocris kissed the top of Xing Han's head and thought to himself, that, for now, he'll take what he can get.

As the saying goes, 'yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.'*

Nitocris chose to enjoy his present very much.

✿ Author only posts on w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l. ✿

Sam was nervous.

Today, was the day, that he was going to ask Betty's parents' permission to marry their daughter. After the initial shock, Betty had accepted his rather sudden proposal with tears in her eyes.

He promptly brought her that weekend to choose an engagement ring.

✿ Mini Flashback ✿

Betty stood in front of the well-known jewelry store and hesitated. She turned to Sam, saying, "We should just go to another store. This place has only .."

"The best," Sam finished, "Which is why it has to be here."

"But Sam!" Betty hissed, "It's too expensive. We're still just students."

Sam smiled sweetly at Betty, kissing her hand that he was holding, "Don't worry. One, I can afford it. Two, we'll choose a design that is simple. One of the things I learned from Kyle was that you can still have things of high quality that looks ordinary. Did you know that his normal outfits actually cost hundreds of dollars?"

"What? Really?" Betty said, her eyes wide.

She had always wondered why Kyle, who was the Smith Heir, would wear such normal clothes. Now she knew better.

"Come on. If there's nothing you like, then we'll go elsewhere, okay?" Sam said, gently persuading her.

"Okay," Betty agreed reluctantly.

Naturally, when two teenagers enter a high-class jewelry store, it is unlikely that anyone would think they are there to buy anything. After all, the cheapest item was at least four figures.

As such, most of the salespeople there ignored them. These kids were just browsing, right? What was the point of servicing them when they wouldn't result in any sales?

Of course, not all were like that.

In this case, Helena decided to help the two kids. They just looked so cute and adorable. Were kids really so serious so soon? Even if they weren't going to buy anything, Helena thought that the effort the boy was putting in would be worth it.

As she walked over to them, she could hear how some of her colleagues laughed at her doing so, but she ignored them. What was their problem anyway? The way they acted, it was as if they, too, could afford the items in the store. What right did they have to be so high and mighty anyway?

Putting on her sweetest smile, Helena asked, "Hello, my name is Helena. How may I help you?"

Sam looked up, and nodded, grateful that someone was kind enough to come over, "Could I have a look at your engagement and wedding ring sets?"

"Certainly, Sir," Helena replied with a smile, "Any particular design or stone that you have in mind?"

"Minimalist design, with pink diamond," Sam answered.

Helen's eyes widened at that.

White diamonds were actually the cheapest type of diamond. The rarer the colour, the more expensive it is. While pink diamonds were not the rarest and most expensive, it certainly was not cheap. It could cost 20 times more than a white diamond.

Although Helena was surprised at his choice, she kept quiet and led them to the display. She took out the tray and showed them, and Sam studied all the rings seriously.

He pointed to one set and said, "May I see this, please?"

"Certainly, Sir," Helena said politely and took it out.

The engagement ring was a small pink heart-shaped diamond while the wedding band had a slight 'v' shape and small pink diamonds were in a row.

The engagement ring would be worn above the wedding band, so that the bottom of the heart-shaped diamond would fit into the 'v' shape of the wedding band.

The male wedding band was a simple gold band with one singular pink heart-shaped diamond in the middle.

"Do you like this?" Sam asked Betty.

Her eyes sparkled and she gingerly touched the ring.

Sam knew that her favourite colour was pink, so that's why he chose it. He had deliberately avoided a stone that was big, as he did not want to garner any attention. It wasn't too small either, so that it didn't look like a toy ring.

"It's beautiful," Betty said breathlessly.

Then, her eyes fell onto the price, and she gasped.

"Actually, it's not really my taste," Betty said with a straight face, her nose twitching.

Sam stared at Betty and suddenly brought his face really close to hers.

"Say that again?" he said, his voice having a warning tone in them.

Betty gulped.

He wasn't going to threaten to kiss her in public for lying, would he?