Yuan Color in My Embrace

[One woman, two men, love-triangle showdown | Stepmom romance]

Younger stepchild, a wolfish bad boy, versus a delicate flower

With an old fox caught up in the middle :)

1.

Wen Yuan became Su Yanli's "wife" after scheming for four years to make it happen.

But Su Yanli's "stepson," who had no blood relation to him, seemed to see through the sweet, obedient facade she put on.

He took an instant dislike to her and made things difficult at every turn.

He was childish and rude. He crushed the diamond engagement ring his father had given her beneath his foot,

then spitefully coaxed her into drinking glass after glass,

and looked at her with endless mockery,

every word he said ridiculing her as his "stepmom."

Later, Su Yanli died in a car crash, leaving her a "widow."

Bound by an agreement, she was forced to live under the same roof as Yuan Hengyu.

2.

On the rainy night she fell out with Su Yanli,

Wen Yuan slapped him hard and snapped, unable to hold back any longer:

"Yuan Hengyu, I didn't marry your father to be your maid."

The young man brought his long, slender fingers to the left cheek she'd just slapped and gazed at her with longing.

Then he said something that made her heart pound with alarm.

"Wen Yuan, what else do I have to do before you'll look at me?"

3.

Su Yanli had known all along why Wen Yuan had accepted his proposal. He was a born gambler, though,

and wanted to wager on how far things might go.

So he indulged her at every turn,

until the situation spiraled out of control,

until he realized Yuan Hengyu was on her side,

until he realized that he... had fallen in love with her.

He'd thought she was walking straight into his trap,

and he'd carefully calculated every move in his scheme.

He never expected to trap himself, too.

By the time he was in too deep, there was no turning back.

Content warnings:

None of the three are related by blood, and no romantic feelings develop while the family relationship remains in place;

the female lead and Su Yanli never legally married;

Su Yanli uses her at first, but later he fights to win her back;

one woman and two men early on, one-on-one ending; male lead has no prior sexual experience, female lead does;

Mid-length story, approximately 150,000 Chinese characters, expected to finish in late February. The whole manuscript is drafted, and the launch has been postponed until then.

If you're willing to wait, feel free to bookmark it. If it sounds like your kind of story, you can also check out the author's other works. This author always finishes what they start!

Theme: Regret is the norm, as is loving someone you cannot have.