The Gentle, Thorny Rose and the True Madman, Fake Gentleman
[Two Male Leads + Angsty Romance + Descent into Darkness + Nuanced Characters]
The Bai family of Shanghai was once a distinguished family of scholars, until they were framed and wiped out.
Bai Jiaxing, whose nature had always been exceptionally gentle, was forced to shoulder the mission of avenging his family.
On a stormy night, Ximen Yukui pinned Bai Jiaxing against the back of a car. The scent of cedar cologne, mixed with the tang of rust, filled the air. The man tugged open the third button of his shirt, revealing a crescent-shaped scar over his heart: the very one left by the rebar Ximen Yukui had taken for him when the Bai family manor collapsed three years ago.
“My girlfriend is waiting for me.”
Bai Jiaxing clenched the remote control of the miniature bomb hidden in his sleeve, his nails digging deep into his palm.
Ximen Yukui suddenly let out a low laugh, pressing his burning lips to the pulse in Bai Jiaxing's neck. “Guess who got her hooked on drugs and put her in the ICU?”
At the Ji Group's celebration banquet, Ji Weiping cornered Bai Jiaxing in a fire escape. The glass of red wine he offered reflected the fading kiss marks on Bai Jiaxing's neck.
“The surveillance footage from the Ximen family's basement,” Ji Weiping said, rubbing his fingers against Bai Jiaxing's earlobe. “It started much earlier than you think.”
Three months later, Bai Jiaxing stood in the Ximen family's basement, gazing at Ximen Yukui chained inside a crystal coffin.
The man had Bai Jiaxing's name tattooed on the inside of his wrist, beside a line written in blood: “My rose is beautiful only when it has thorns.”
Ji Weiping's voice came from behind him. “The truth you're looking for lies at the bottom of the Pacific.”
