A Slow-Burning Seduction

[Two wealthy families | Beijing's top-tier elite | Childhood sweethearts | Long-planned love | All-consuming devotion] Scheming heir to the throne × sly heiress Lin Shu Hao, head of the Lin Group, was refined and handsome, with a deep, calculating mind. He was a man at the very top of Beijing's social pyramid. He had kept his deep affection buried for more than a decade. The whole world could see his obsession, except the woman herself. Lu Jialuo, the cherished daughter of the Lu family, was also a radiant little sun in the entertainment industry. Spoiled and full of life, sharp-witted and spirited, she saw Lin Shu Hao only as a dependable older brother. She was blind to the fierce love in his eyes. To spite her sworn enemy, a tipsy Miss Lu slapped the table and declared, “I want to get married! If I'm doing it, I'm going all out!” The man across from her slowly set down his glass. When he looked up, his gaze burned. “As it happens, I want to get married too. Shall we do it together?” A drunken remark that night led to a flash marriage that sent all of Beijing into an uproar. Lu Jialuo thought it was just a game, a marriage born of spite that she could walk away from once the time was up. What she didn't know was that this marriage was a tender trap he'd spent more than a decade laying, one step at a time. As the sealed-away past came to light, the secret love he'd hidden for years was exposed in its entirety. Eyes red, she pounded his chest again and again, her voice choked with sobs. “Lin Shu Hao! You lied to me! You've been lying to me from the very beginning!” He chuckled softly and pulled her firmly into his arms. His lips brushed her ear, his voice reverent and tender: “Jialuo, there's only one thing I've ever lied to you about: I did everything I could to trick you into becoming my wife.”