Chapter 601: Putting on the Ring

Nina couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her eyelashes were fluttering uncontrollably, and she finally squinted, leaving just a sliver of vision to see exactly what Miles was up to.

What she didn’t expect was that Miles was also observing her, afraid she would suddenly wake up. The moment Nina opened her eyes, he caught her.

He immediately yanked his hand back, hid it behind his back, and stood up straight.

Since she’d been caught, Nina dropped the act. Feigning that she had just woken up, she let out a yawn. "What... what are you doing?"

"Nothing." Miles quickly hid the ring in the palm of his hand.

Nina wondered if it was really nothing. Miles’s behavior looked incredibly suspicious no matter how she looked at it.

"Then why did you come over here? Do you want to sleep in the bed too?" Nina suspected he had come over because she was hogging his bed.

A fleeting emotion crossed Miles’s face, but his expression remained aloof. "No, I just saw that your blanket had slipped. I was tucking you in."

However, where Nina couldn’t see, Miles was clutching the ring tightly.

She wasn’t sure if her blanket had actually slipped; she felt she had been covered up just fine. Without pressing the issue, she simply let out an "Oh."

Miles walked back toward his sofa. "Go back to sleep."

"Okay." Nina switched off the bedside lamp.

Miles had caught a slight cold. Before long, the sound of faint coughing drifted over. He tried his best to suppress it, not wanting to wake her.

Feeling guilty, Nina sat up in bed. "Why don’t you sleep in the bed? I’ll take the sofa. I’m smaller, so it’s a perfect fit for me."

This was his room to begin with; it was embarrassing enough that she was monopolizing his bed.

"No need. I fit just fine," the man’s voice replied in the dark.

"But you have a cold."

"My cold has nothing to do with sleeping on the sofa."

Nina didn’t know what else to say. In truth, the bed was quite large. If Miles didn’t mind, they could easily take one side each. But she figured he would definitely mind!

Having barely slept the night before, Nina’s mind was buzzing with chaotic thoughts. Yet, she ultimately couldn’t fight off her drowsiness and drifted off to sleep.

Little did she know, Miles sat up again in the middle of the night. Holding the ring, he was incredibly nervous. This time, he even called out to her softly twice to ensure she was truly asleep before switching the small lamp back on and getting up.

Moving stealthily and with utmost caution, he approached her side of the bed. Fast asleep, Nina had lowered her guard. Very gently, Miles pulled her hand out from under the covers and slipped the ring onto her finger.

On a previous late night, he had secretly measured her ring size, so it was now a perfect fit.

Nina’s hands were exceptionally beautiful. Her skin was fair, and her fingers were slender and elegant—hands perfectly suited for playing the piano. Perhaps from holding a pen too often, there was a tiny callus on her index finger.

The ring looked quite lovely resting on her ring finger.

Miles gently tucked her hand back in and adjusted the covers. Looking down at her face, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips before he returned to the sofa.

Having finally completed this major task, a wave of relief washed over him.

When Nina woke up the next morning, she saw Miles still on the sofa.

Didn’t he usually get up early? Normally, by the time she woke up, he had already freshened up and left the room.

"Good morning," she greeted.

A person usually looked their absolute worst right after waking up, but she didn’t care. No matter how messy she looked, Miles probably wouldn’t bat an eye anyway.

He gave a curt nod, and Nina went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. While brushing her teeth, something felt off, though she couldn’t spot what it was in the mirror.

It wasn’t until she washed her face and felt something scrape against her cheek that she froze. When did she get such a massive ring on her finger?

She was absolutely certain it hadn’t been there last night.

Suddenly, Nina recalled Miles’s bizarre behavior the previous evening, claiming he had just come over to tuck her in. Looking back, he had been trying to put the ring on her! But she hadn’t been able to keep her eyes shut and had interrupted his mission.

Had he snuck over in the middle of the night to slip it onto her finger?

Nina rushed out of the bathroom. Miles was no longer in the bedroom, so she hurried out to the living area and caught him pouring a glass of water. She quickly intercepted him and held her finger up right in front of his face.

"Did you do this?"

Miles readily admitted, "Yes."

"So last night when you came over to ’tuck me in,’ you were actually trying to put this on me?"

Miles remained silent.

"And yesterday, when you told me to hold out my hand, was that also..." Nina trailed off.

But hadn’t Christian just made that comment casually the day before? Where would Miles even find a ring on such short notice—let alone one that fit her perfectly? Could he have prepared it in advance? But if so, when did he do it? It must have been prepared early, right?

As Nina’s mind spun with questions, Miles didn’t offer a single word of explanation.

She continued, "Is this because of what Christian said? Don’t take his words to heart; he was just making an offhand remark. Who says married couples have to wear rings? Plenty of married people don’t wear them. Besides, given our situation..."

"Do you dislike the design? Is the diamond too small?" Miles asked, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"No, no, that’s not what I meant! I just felt like... maybe it’s not appropriate?"

Such a massive diamond ring, boasting an exquisite, sparkling design—Nina had instantly loved it the moment she laid eyes on it. She didn’t even dare to guess the price; it looked exorbitantly expensive.

"What’s not appropriate about it?"

"It’s just... well..." Nina couldn’t pinpoint exactly what felt wrong. "I just think it’s unnecessary. If it’s just because of Christian’s comment, he really didn’t mean anything by it."

"Are you so close to him that you know exactly what he meant? Besides, isn’t it perfectly normal for us to wear wedding rings? It saves us a lot of unnecessary trouble. If you’re really unwilling, just take it off."

Miles wasn’t angry, but for some reason, whenever Nina brought up Christian, a vague sense of discomfort settled in his chest. Furthermore, the very first time he had the ring custom-made and ready to give to her, it was because of her dismissive remarks that he had abandoned the idea.

Miles truly wasn’t forcing her to wear it. After mulling it over, Nina had to admit he had a point. At the very least, others would know at a glance that she was married, saving her a lot of pointless explanations.

In the end, Nina didn’t take the ring off.