Tremolo on the Mad Patron’s Strings

“He came for a kiss beneath the moonlight, but ended up my prisoner.” The first time Cheng Yansheng, the financial king of Shencheng, lost control was in a hotel suite, when he took the drunken beauty to bed. The calluses on the young man’s waist, formed by playing the violin, brushed against his palm. His ragged gasps were more intoxicating than any market report. The “Keeping Agreement” Cheng had drawn up himself concealed a selfish desire: to keep those tearful, peach-blossom eyes filled with his reflection forever. Lin Hemian signed the contract with a smile, then burned his biological father’s invitation when no one was around. His mother’s sheet music wept blood beneath the violin strings, and the scandal surrounding the Golden Bow Award twenty years ago burned his fingertips. He would use Cheng Yansheng’s indulgence as his strings and his own flesh and blood as his bow, then shoot down the hypocrite on the grandest stage. “Mr. Cheng, would you like to play a revenge game that gets the heart racing?” “As you wish, my concertmaster.” ■ Unhinged financial king, pursuer Cheng Yansheng: 28 years old / 189 cm / possessive control freak ■ Beautiful but tragic, sly concertmaster, pursued Lin Hemian: 19 years old / 178 cm / seemingly innocent but secretly dangerous hunter ■ Contract romance with violin strings around the neck / face-slapping in the industry / mutual taming ■ Revenge arc: expose plagiarism and strike back + public-opinion siege + prove legitimacy ■ Romance arc: intense push and pull + family protection Fictional setting: Republic of Donglu; financial center: Shencheng