“Yes, I know.” Toby ruffled her hair. “So, I don’t blame you.”
Sonia stuck her tongue out. “Actually, you could have told me about the ring earlier. You didn’t have to wait until I noticed it. If I had never noticed it, you wouldn’t have told me that you’re wearing the ring now, would you?”
“Of course not.” He shook his head slightly. “If you never noticed, I would still look for an opportunity to tell you about it. All right, wait for me while I get the ring.”
With that, he stood up and walked
toward his room.
She watched him as he went inside and emerged some time later.
Toby walked over to his previous spot before he held out a fist in Sonia’s direction. Then, under her watchful gaze, he slowly opened his fist to reveal the sparkling ring within.
Sonia reached out and picked up the ring, after which she held it up to study it for a while to ensure that it was really hers.
As she played with the ring, she spoke, “I thought that you spent 5 million on this ring just to give it to Tina. Then, I never saw her wearing any ring, which was only when I knew you didn’t give it to her. If not, judging from her personality, she would definitely wear it and show it off in front of me."
“I never thought of giving her any ring.” Toby took the ring in her hand as he explained, “If I had loved her, I wouldn’t purchase a ring that someone else has worn before for her. Since I actually don’t love her, there’s even less reason for me to give her a ring.”
“At that time, you didn’t know that Rina wasn’t me and not to mention, you were still hypnotized. In other words, at that moment, you were indeed in love with Tina,” Sonia said a little bitterly as she looked at him.
He took her left hand and raised it. “No, I didn’t love her at that moment either. It was just the hypnosis that made me feel like I loved her, but in reality, I’ve done so many things to express that I never loved her at all. On the day of the charity auction, I saw you donating the ring and my first reaction to it was anger. I was mad that you actually didn’t want the ring, which was when I decided that I had to get it. The ring mustn’t fall into anyone else’s hands, for at that time, I knew very well that I cannot afford to have this ring appear on anyone else’s finger. So, when Tina asked for the ring from me, I never thought of giving it to her at all.”
“Really?” She found those words hard to believe. “You were still in hypnosis, so how would you have such feelings?”
“It’s true.” He nodded firmly. “I’m not lying. When we were first married, I was still thinking of you because the only person I've loved before being hypnotized was you. So, even under the hypnosis, I still care about you subconsciously even if I have forgotten about my feelings for you. This ring is proof of that.” “W-What do you mean?” Sonia was stunned. She could barely understand what was being said.
Toby raised the ring and showed her the inner surface of the band.
“Actually, you had no idea that I was the one who bought these rings.”
“Impossible!” She immediately retorted, “I bought this ring! I chose it when I went to the jewelry shop alone.”
He nodded. “True, you chose it at the jewelry shop, but the one who really bought it was me. Can you see the inside of the band?”
She gave it a glance. “It’s the initials of your name.”
The engravings on his ring were her initials as well.
Toby nodded. “Anything else?”
“There’s more?” Sonia frowned.
The center stones of the rings were naturally-formed blue diamonds. As they weren’t artificially colored ones and a famous designer had designed those rings, the price tag should have been quite costly.
However, the shop had told her that the rings cost only 300,000— something that she could hardly believe at first. Then, the shop informed her that because she was the 100th customer of the day, she could have a discount. That was why she believed them.
It was only now that she learned that she wasn’t the 100th customer of the day or something. Rather, it was because he had paid a large amount of the cost for her to own the rings.
“I see.” Sonia fiddled with the ring on her finger. “I always thought that I had bought the rings alone, but the real person who bought them was you.”
Toby took her fingers and lowered his head to plant a kiss on her ring. “At that moment, I should have forgotten about my feelings for you, but when I saw you happily picking the rings, I was also filled with joy. That was why I had Tom do all those things. This is enough proof that even if the hypnosis made me forget my feelings for you, you were still someone special to me. I still remembered that I loved you in my subconscious mind or I wouldn’t have done anything to the rings. So, that was why I said that the rings were evidence. Also, aside from the rings, the Ocean’s Heart was
also a proof.”
“Even the Ocean’s Heart?” Sonia looked up at him as surprise once again colored her eyes.
He gently caressed her hair. “Yes. The Ocean’s Heart wasn’t a gift from me to Tina. It was actually a gift that I prepared only for you.”
“How could that be?” She was shocked.
“It’s true.” Toby rubbed his thumb against her face. “After the divorce, I wasn’t happy at all. I couldn’t figure out why I was unhappy thanks to the hypnosis. I just knew that I had to keep my eyes on you, so in that period of time, I sent people to keep watch over you. I wanted to know how you were doing and whether you’re alright. I went abroad for work during that period of time and it was at a local auction there that I saw the Ocean’s Heart. At first glance, I thought that it suited you very well, so I went ahead and bought it.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Madam Escaped Again Sir