The arranged marriage between the Shu and Gu families of the capital became a quagmire the adopted daughter shoved onto the biological daughter. Shu Yining, kidnapped as a child and forced to endure a lifetime of hardship, was pushed toward the abyss by her own birth parents, made to take the adopted daughter's place and marry Gu Yanshu, the rumored cold-blooded, ruthless head of the wealthy Gu family, a man said to have no interest in women.
They got their marriage license and were married at once, only to part as soon as they met. Getting the license was the only time they saw each other. After the wedding, he left for overseas, leaving Shu Yining alone for two years to face a cold, empty mansion and suspicion from the entire family. She lived like a shadow in the Gu household, bound by a marriage in name only. Over those two years, she learned to stay silent, to endure, and to weather every storm on her own when no one was watching.
Then he returned to the country and happened upon Shu Yining standing alone in a hospital corridor, her eyes injured. Her stubborn profile was etched with loneliness and resilience. In that moment, the ice sealed around Gu Yanshu's heart shattered.
He had never imagined that the woman he regarded as a “tool in a transaction” had quietly endured two years of neglect and rumors without complaint or attempt to escape. A substitute marriage born of calculation, followed by a long-delayed reunion and a meeting of their eyes. He began to look anew at the little wife he had overlooked, while she finally glimpsed the possibility of being cherished in his increasingly tender gaze.
