Chapter 365: Protect and Cherish Your Heart

She bit her lip and tightened her arm around his neck. "Well, that is the depth of my feelings for you. It's obvious that I want to marry you again."

"I feel the same way. But are you sure you really want to spend the rest of your life with me?" he asked. His eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Do you really have to ask me that?" she asked, shaking her head slightly.

He suddenly took her side. "I don't need to ask. You were made for me. There is no one else." Her heart thudded wildly in her chest. "There could never be anyone else."

"When you put it that way, I really feel like you want to marry me right back," she mumbled. 

"You think?" he asked, raising his eyebrow at her. 

She shook her head. "I know. I know that you would marry me in a heartbeat."

"Good. Now tell me what the other reason for wanting to marry me is," he said lightly. 

"Two things, actually. Sometimes I think we cheated ourselves out of a real wedding. And the new bridal line… the marketing team thinks we should document our wedding so that people can see a fragment of our story."

His eyes widened fractionally before he spoke. "I am more interested in your first response. Cheated out of a wedding?" he asked. 

"Well, we just mechanically filed the papers. The day didn't mean that much to either of us. I mean, I knew I was starting a new chapter in my life, but that way… the wedding certificate didn't reflect anything between us."

His eyebrows pulled together. "I never really thought about it," he answered after a beat. "Some people don't put as much significance on a wedding ceremony as others."

Qian Meng nodded. She had been one of them. "I know. But don't you feel a little regretful that we didn't get to embrace the moment?" she asked. 

"Do you?" he questioned back. 

"A little, yeah." He looked troubled at that, so Qian Meng continued to explain. "It's not a big deal. I just think it is sad that we don't have a definite moment of commitment. I know we are committed to each other now, but we are stuck in this grey area where people still aren't sure how we got there. Sometimes, I don't realize how I got here," she admitted. 

"How so?"

She thought about her answer for a minute. "If we never had the contract and just allowed everything to happen naturally, would we be married at this point in our relationship?"

He answered immediately. "If I had my way, yes."

She bit her lip as she pondered on that response. "Yeah, maybe I am being mushy and caring about a wedding. But as I said, part of the idea came about because of my employees showing me beautiful wedding videos," she chuckled, defensively. 

"I understand what you are saying," he assured her, taking her chin and turned her face to look at him. "But standing in a church in front of hundreds of people and saying some pre-written vows doesn't mean much to me. Especially, if the idea comes from your employees who want to monetize our relationship."

She opened her mouth to answer, but he cut her off. 

"It's these moments of authenticity that matter to me. Me and you. It wouldn't matter if we had a ceremony because we were madly in love. I didn't want a ceremony with cake and grand food with people I barely know. I would rather just listen to your heartbeat. That is what I consider real."

She nodded, rubbing her hand up and down his thigh. "I'll discard the plan," she said quickly.

"No. We aren't done talking. If you had a real wedding… how would you want it? What would you do differently than the norm?" He really wanted to know if she wanted a wedding or had the idea been planted in her head. 

"If I had a real wedding, I think it would have meant a lot to me. I could look at the pictures and remind me of the day I was full of love and astonishment that I was marrying my other half."

She looked down at the ring on her finger. "And this," she added, holding it up. "This ring would represent the commitment I made for a lifetime."

It was the ceremony of it all.

"I would have done things differently if I was in love with you when I married you. I would have written my own vows, my own promises of the wife I want to be for you. And I would have declared it to you and the world before I let you put the ring on my finger. It wouldn't be an agreement between two people. I want the world to hold me accountable for the responsibility I had to protect and cherish your heart."

Mo Qingchen gulped. 

"Say it to me then."

Qian Meng gaped at him. "What?"

"What would your vows be?" he asked. "Tell me. Like you are marrying me right now."

Her throat closed up with emotion.

Amusement and mischief mixed with the love in his smile. 

"You and me. Right here. Just us. Marry me now. Show me what you want to promise." The corner of his mouth rose up towards the crinkled edges of his eyes.

All the uncertainty was gone. He made it simple. 

"You want a simple wedding that is authentic. Don't you?" she asked. He nodded. He had told her as much. "But you are not saying no to the wedding shoot. Which you know was the catalyst for this."

He shrugged. "I just want to make sure you know that I would marry you in the simplest way possible. With just the two of us and vows. I don't mind a wedding for the world to see, but I wish you choose what kind of wedding you want without the influence of outsiders. Your wedding should be something you look back to with fondness."