Song Yu was born aloof. She should have been the beloved youngest daughter of her family, but someone else took her place. At twenty-seven, she married a man she had met only twice.
She knew little about He Shen. The only thing she remembered was that, as the official seal came down, he offered her his hand. His features were refined and noble, but his whole bearing was cold, as if they were merely signing a contract.
"Ms. Song, I look forward to working with you."
Song Yu reached out slowly. Their touch was brief. "Likewise."
~
One day, Song Yu happened to run into the other person named on her marriage certificate. He Shen lounged in a private room as someone beside him brought up his decidedly ill-matched marriage.
He said calmly, "Why shouldn't I get married just because there's no love? I don't love her, and she doesn't love me. That's what makes a marriage stable."
To him, love was the one thing a marriage could do without.
They would keep out of each other's affairs and give one another plenty of space. He wouldn't care how she spent her days, as long as she didn't tarnish the He family's reputation.
But later, he began to feel that his wife was too quiet.
One moment, she was smiling brightly. The next, when her eyes fell on him, they were empty.
Then one day, he opened an old book and found a photograph inside. She was smiling, her eyes bright as a galaxy. He had never seen that side of her before, and she was looking at another young man.
A man who had never wanted for anything, and who had always gotten whatever he wanted, lowered his head to her for the first time. "Song Yu, could you look at me?"
~
Later, Song Yu truly lost her family. Her parents and brother regretted their coldness toward her in the first half of her life, but she impassively closed the door, shutting their voices out.
He Shen had never been so afraid. He held her tight, terrified she would cast him aside without a second thought.
But she pushed him away. "Mr. He, a marriage without love is more stable."
The words he had once said became a knife pointed at himself.
He stopped her and kissed her, his eyes red. He didn't want to hear any of it.
Later, everyone in the capital knew that the dignified Chairman He had knelt with his forehead to the ground at every step through falling snow, all to pray for a safety charm for his wife.
"She didn't love him, so he filled her world with his love."
~
Bonus Scene
After they married, Song Yu could hardly keep up. She often slept until dawn, only to be woken up again before she could fully come to.
In private, she quietly searched online: "If you overdo it when you're older, will you become impotent?"
The last light of day lingered as rain pattered outside. By the floor-to-ceiling windows, Song Yu clung to his shoulders. He Shen pressed against her back and held her waist. Just as she began to lose herself in the moment, he stopped and asked hoarsely, "Wife, I'm old? I'm impotent?"
Also known as: When a male lead meets a female lead even colder than he is, let's see who cracks first.
Song Yu often lamented that she'd been fooled by the rumors about married life. Her back was about to break! He Shen was a beast in a suit!
Content warnings:
Large age gap, both leads are virgins
No fake heiress plot
Marriage first, love later | The high-and-mighty flower falls from her pedestal | The abstinent man loses control
Theme: Come closer, and I'll warm you.
