~|confession #10 - yeah, i am setting records for making bad choices|~

"Do you know what making a deal with the devil looks like?" ~ Dr. Sang Tian

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After over an hour of going through her closet and looking for a nice dress to wear, Sang Tian decided on a creamy ribbed knit sweater and midi skirt set that she paired with nude stilettos. Contrasting with her outfit and shoes, Sang Tian chose to carry a grey-colored handbag.

Styling her hair in loose curls, Sang Tian wore a pair of rose gold earrings that had a square cut charcoal grey colored glass stone set at the top. Sang Tian kissed both Shao Paw and Luna on their heads before leaving. She just hoped that Fang Haoran would agree to continue with the façade that she had created.

With a positive mind and a nervous smile on her face, Sang Tian drove herself to the Four Seasons restaurant. As she entered and enquired about her reservation, Sang Tian was led to the private dining room by a waiter.

Fang Haoran who was already seated at the table, stood up to greet Sang Tian, "Hello, Miss Sang." he greeted with a smile which was responded in kind as Sang Tian greeted back, "Hello."

"Come, let's have a seat." he gestured towards the round, dining table in the middle of the room. He pulled out the chair for her before going back to his seat.

"You are looking beautiful tonight." Fang Haoran complimented causing Sang Tian's smile to widen, "Thank you." she replied shyly.

A waitress came forward to fill the glass of water for Sang Tian and Fang Haoran and placed a menu card each in front of the two occupants of the table.

After a few minutes of deciding and ordering their choice of dishes for dinner, the two were left alone to talk in private.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" resting his forearms on the table Fang Haoran entwined his entwined his hands loosely. His eyes were trained on Sang Tian, his lips stretched in his trademark smirk as he waited for Sang Tian to respond.

Exhaling deeply, Sang Tian took a sip of water and placed the glass in front of her as she began telling Fang Haoran about her problematic situation, "I lied."

"Come again." she had spoken in such a loud tone that Fang Haoran didn't quite hear what Sang Tian was saying.

"I lied." repeated Sang Tian in a louder voice.

Fang Haoran chose to say nothing to give Sang Tian enough time to explain herself, "What happened is that my grandfather and his best friend had an arrangement. They wished to become in-laws so they had this promise going on between them that they would have their kids get married."

"But both of them had sons so the promise was passed on to the next generation." Sang Tian made a face and drank a few more sips of water.

"Ah!" Fang Haoran could now clearly picture as to what must have happened that day.

"So you lied because you did not want to marry the guy that your family chose for you." that was a statement and not a question.

"Eh," she made a face and added, "not exactly."

Noticing the confusion reflecting on Fang Haoran's face, Sang Tian continued explaining, "That guy, Zhang Ri Shan, is already in a relationship with someone. It's their matter so I won't say much except for the fact that Zhang Ri Shan's grandfather is against his relationship."

"Grandfather Zhang was adamant that he is to marry me and all of Zhang Ri Shan's protests fell on deaf ears, all his attempts to reason with his grandfather went in vain that's why he approached me." informed Sang Tian, "Well, his girlfriend did." she smiled.

Fang Haoran was listening intently as Sang Tian continued further, "They asked me to refuse this alliance and that's what I did."

"I told all of them there and then that I cannot marry Zhang Ri Shan because I like someone else and then you came." Sang Tian looked apologetic while it took Fang Haoran a few seconds to understand the whole situation.

"And I talked about your bracelet." chuckled Fang Haoran, "Given the situation and my choice of words, I can understand what you did and why you did it."

A whoosh of breath escaped Sang Tian's lips that she didn't even know that she was holding in, "Yes." she said, pure relief could be heard in her tone.

"You have been the part of the rest of the conversation so you know how things went. I managed to convince my family and Zhang Ri Shan's family that this marriage cannot and won't ever happen." she said while tracing random patterns on the tablecloth.

"So, what's the problem then?" questioned Fang Haoran but before Sang Tian could respond they were interrupted by the servers.

They were served the dishes that they had ordered along with the red wine that Fang Haoran had specifically requested. Once the two of them were alone again, Sang Tian answered Fang Haoran's question.

"Once we were back at home, my family started questioning me about you and how we got into a relationship so I made a story." Sang Tian began telling Fang Haoran the same story that she had told her family.

As Sang Tian animatedly told Fang Haoran the story that she had weaved using the threads of lies, she missed the way Fang Haoran's expressions changed from confusion to disbelief to amusement and finally, the man burst into peals of laughter.

"So did you manage to convince them of our love or not?" he asked while wiping at the corner of his mouth.

"Totally!" exclaimed Sang Tian with a sheepish grin stretched across her lips, "They are pretty convinced that you and I are dating but the problem lies with my Grandpa."

Sang Tian let out a nervous sigh while Fang Haoran waited for her to continue, "He wants to meet you."

"Oh!" exclaimed Fang Haoran as understanding dawned upon him.

"Yeah." Sang Tian groaned and hung her head in shame, "All my lies are catching up but what else can I do? I don't want to risk alerting Grandfather Zhang about the truth. He already had his grandson locked up in his own home and you have seen how scary that old man is."

"I am afraid that even if I continue denying this proposal they will keep on delaying things until they get us married." admitted Sang Tian.

"So what do you want me to do?" asked Fang Haoran.

"My Grandpa told me to bring you to his place this Sunday afternoon. All I want from you is to do me this favor and accompany me to meet my Grandpa." requested Sang Tian.

"All we need to do is to convince him that you and I are truly in a romantic relationship. Just once, I request you to meet with my grandfather only for this time. Please." she pleaded and bit into her lower lip in nervousness as she waited for Fang Haoran to respond.

"What if they wish to meet me again?" he asked instead of giving Sang Tian an answer.

"That won't happen." said Sang Tian with conviction, "But if such a situation were to arise I will tell them that you are extremely busy with your multi-billionaire business. Off to one foreign country or the other on a business trip. There are a bunch of excuses available but that's for the future when they will be sure that we are in a relationship."

"Right now, we have to convince him of the same and that's why I cannot keep delaying this so much to give Grandpa enough time to catch onto my lies." Sang Tian dreaded the day her grandfather would know of her lies. Not just her grandfather but her parents and brother as well.

"Why not tell them the truth? That would be much easier." suggested Fang Haoran, "They might get upset at first but I am sure they will forgive you."

Sang Tian knew that one day, sooner or later, she would earn her family's forgiveness for the lies that she had told but, "I just don't want to disappoint them." confessed Sang Tian.

"I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, made too many bad choices, especially in men. I don't want to give them another reason to be disappointed in my choices and take away my right to choose just because of my previous failures." the somber expression on Sang Tian's face quickly faded away and a soft but not exactly genuine smile curled upon her lips.

Fang Haoran took only a minute to make his final decision, "I will go with you." he said causing Sang Tian to brighten up, "I will meet your grandfather and do my best to convince him about our relationship."

"Thank you so much!" Sang Tian fought the urge to walk over to his side and grab him into a hug. That would be improper.

"I will do that but you have to do something for me in return as well." a cryptic smile curved upon his lips, Fang Haoran's eyes gleamed with an unknown emotion as he leaned back on his chair and added, "I don't do things for free Miss Sang. If I am to do you a favor then you have to promise me something in return."

Sang Tian was so utterly relieved and excited that she didn't think twice before promising, "Anything!"

"Anything?" asked Fang Haoran giving her a chance to rethink her decision but Sang Tian remained determined and repeated, "Anything."

Sang Tian was so lost in her sweet world that she failed to notice the dangerous gleam sparkling in Fang Haoran's eyes and the smug smirk that curled upon his lips.

The two continued enjoying their dinner while talking about random things. It was decided that Fang Haoran would spend the whole Saturday with Sang Tian and her friends at the Lakehouse going over basic and important information about each other and perfecting the story of their love.

Later that night, after finishing up with their dessert, Fang Haoran walked with Sang Tian to her car, "See you tomorrow." he said while opening the car door for her.

"See you tomorrow." smiled Sang Tian and was about to sit inside but stopped as she was reminded of something, "Hey!" without thinking about it she placed her hand on his arm and asked, "Didn't you say that you wanted to discuss a few things as well?"

Slapping her other hand lightly on her forehead, Sang Tian let out a groan before saying, "We spent the whole dinner talking about my problems, my issues. I forgot that you wanted to talk about something as well. What is it?" she questioned.

Fang Haoran simply smiled and took out from the pocket of his trousers the earring that she had dropped that day at the restaurant. He handed her the earring and said, "We will talk about it later but for now take this."

Sang Tian's eyes widened seeing the familiar earring, "Oh, God. Thank you so much for this. It's one of my favorites."

Fang Haoran continued to smile and then took out the bracelet that Sang Tian had dropped at the nightclub causing her eyes to widen comically, "You should take better care of yourself and your things." instead of handing the piece of jewelry to Sang Tian, Fang Haoran grabbed her wrist and clasped the bracelet around it.

Sang Tian moved her gaze from her wrist to meet Fang Haoran's eyes and the intensity of his stare caught her off guard, and took her breath away.

There was something magnetic about his gaze that made Sang Tian want to hold that eye contact. It was so easy for her to get lost in those dark pools in which she could see herself drowning.

"Miss Sang." that brought Sang Tian out of her daze, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." she smiled nervously and pulled her hand out of his grasp, "Thanks." she mumbled before sitting inside the car and driving away.