From Here On, We Keep to the Rules

(Composed Surgeon x Steady Policy Researcher)

She wore reason as her armor and, on the battlefield of love, performed the most perfect heart-removal surgery for herself.

A marriage contract from her hometown in Jiangbei bound cardiac surgeon Zhao Moran to policy researcher Li Jin.

It was a tacit "marriage of convenience," founded on the friendship between their elders. She was clear-headed, and so was he.

She did her duty and played the part of a proper partner. Even when she ran into his ex, a woman from a prominent family, pestering him at the hospital, she calmly handed over a professional reminder that the woman looked unwell and should consider getting a checkup.

Li Jin admired her sense of propriety, yet was certain she would never cross the line. He believed their relationship was firmly under control.

Until Zhao Moran rose to fame at an international medical forum for a groundbreaking research achievement.

At a banquet, his ex publicly mocked her as nothing more than the beneficiary of a marriage contract, unfit to stand on a truly prestigious stage.

Under everyone's gaze, Zhao Moran merely swirled the water in her glass and gave Li Jin an impeccable smile.

"Li Jin, a letter just arrived from Jiangbei asking about family matters. Would you like to reply, or should I draft an official response as your 'business partner'?"

Only then did Li Jin realize that the scalpel that had once saved his father's life could just as precisely, elegantly, and mercilessly cut his heart from his chest.

The stability he had believed in was a boundary she had drawn.

When he tried to cross it, he discovered she had already stepped beyond the edges of his world.