The Caged Sparrow Knows My Heart

[Contemporary romance / beautiful but tragic leads / younger man / groveling for his wife / rekindled romance / happy ending]

Possessive, unhinged CEO gong × cool, restrained lawyer shou

Wu Qingmian spent fifteen years as Jiang Duan’s blade.

From a penniless student with nowhere to turn to the Jiang family’s coolest and most capable star lawyer, he hid all his tenderness behind indifference, daring only to count down the days until his contract expired in the dead of night.

Jiang Duan was both his benefactor and his prison.

He used his sister’s medical bills to threaten Wu Qingmian into signing a new forty-year contract. He wounded him with the cruelest words and kept him at his side like private property.

Jiang Duan never knew that beneath Wu Qingmian’s impassive mask lay a heart already full of wounds, a deep-rooted sense of inferiority, and a love he didn’t dare confess.

When the contract finally ended, Wu Qingmian disappeared for good, carrying a body covered in scars.

Three years later, they meet again. A smiling, gentle young man stands by Wu Qingmian’s side, and he looks so full of life it hurts to see.

Jiang Duan goes mad.

He kneels in the rain, gripping Wu Qingmian’s trouser leg, and begs in a hoarse voice:

“A-Mian, I was wrong. Please come back. I’ll learn to love you. I’ll learn anything…”

Wu Qingmian gently pulls his hand away, his voice as faint as mist:

“Mr. Jiang, I’ve moved on with my life.”

Content warning: The shou suffers early on. The groveling is suitably intense, and there’s no forced forgiveness. Happy ending.