Snowfall Tonight [Marriage Before Love]

Pre-release: After the Noble Lady Marries a Rough-Hewn Man. Please add it to your collection~~ The blurb is on my author page. Click the blue text in the announcement to go straight there.

Blurb:

Marriage First, Love Later | Older Man | A Powerful Man Bows His Head | He Falls First

Qi Mian has spent her life being cautious. The boldest thing she ever did was submit her résumé to the Cui family, who were looking for a marriage alliance partner.

Before long, she got her wish and married Cui Chenyu, the head of one of the most powerful families in the capital. She became the wealthy wife everyone in their social circle fawned over.

They seemed like the perfect couple, and Cui Chenyu had stood up for her in public more than once.

Everyone was envious. They all said he cherished her above all else and marveled at her good fortune: one day she was an ordinary woman, the next she had soared to the top.

Only Qi Mian had seen the coldness etched into the man's very bones beneath his gentle, gentlemanly exterior.

They first met on the day they registered their marriage.

He wore a bespoke suit, with his tie clip and cuff links perfectly matched;

he sat upright in the back of a Bentley, utterly solemn. When he looked her way, his eyes were full of disdain.

His voice was soft, yet ice-cold and merciless. "This marriage alliance is a matter of mutual benefit. Don't do what you shouldn't, and don't entertain thoughts about what isn't yours. Don't overstep."

"Miss Qi, people with no value get thrown off the table."

He was a complete workaholic. In his eyes, this marriage was nothing more than an exchange of benefits.

After the wedding, he was constantly away on business and rarely came home.

She wasn't allowed to go to Cui Chenyu's company or enter his study. He berated her in front of others, leaving her no dignity at all.

Even their marital duties were treated as a task to be completed, without a trace of affection.

But at some point, he changed.

He became a homebody, became clingy, and started deliberately teasing her with every move.

Qi Mian couldn't understand it. She still proceeded with caution, afraid to make even the slightest misstep. She treated her husband with the deference due to a superior and never asked about his private life.

She didn't dare make a single mistake.

Qi Mian thought she was doing everything perfectly, but the man grew increasingly dissatisfied.

Until one snowy night, he pulled her tightly into his arms.

"Qi Mian, do you regret marrying me?"

"Even if you do, it won't matter."

*

Cui Chenyu was a top-tier businessman. Equal exchange was his bottom line, and squeezing every last drop out of people was his nature.

He would never allow his interests to suffer.

As for agreeing to marry Qi Mian, it had nothing to do with romance or feelings. It was simply a calculation of what would benefit him.

He needed a wife, and according to his investigation, Qi Mian was gentle and well-mannered.

She was exactly that after they married.

Yet he was dissatisfied.

Dissatisfied with her polite distance.

Dissatisfied that she treated him merely as a husband, not as someone she loved.

Cui Chenyu wasn't content with a marriage of mutual respect.

He gave up the leverage in his hands, tipping the scales in her favor and letting her rise to the top just as she wished, stepping on him to get there.

The only price was this:

He wanted her heart.

Bonus Scene:

When they first married, Cui Chenyu set a time limit for their marital duties.

When the time was up, he would leave without mercy, even if he hadn't found release.

Later, he couldn't get enough. Wiping the tears from the corners of Qi Mian's eyes, he said, "I'm making up for what I owe you."

"Are you ready? Let's do it again."

It was only much later that Qi Mian learned that three condoms was the limit for a box, not for Cui Chenyu.

P.S.:

1. They had never met before marriage. Their marriage-first, love-later story begins with them as strangers, with no secret crushes or long-laid plans.

2. The male lead falls first, and the powerful man bows his head.

3. One-on-one, both leads are inexperienced, sweet and fluffy daily life.

Theme: Love is fated