When I Look Back

A calm, self-possessed older man with a devoted-husband vibe x a bright, gentle butterfly

Rekindled love / Marriage first, love later

-

She saw her ex-boyfriend again at a friend's wedding. It seemed that Xie Cheng had someone new by his side.

The aloof, unattainable man she'd once pursued relentlessly no longer looked her way.

During the five years she'd been away, Li Xing had often wondered if Xie Cheng had ever liked her at all. He was always distant and taciturn, showing no emotion. Even getting him into bed had been difficult.

When she needed him most, he hung up while she was crying.

Thinking they would never cross paths again, she tried to start a new relationship, only for him to trap her in a room. His cold eyes bore down on her. "When you were holding him, did you think about me?"

-

By a twist of fate, Li Xing was forced back to Xie Cheng's side.

For the two-year term, all she had to do was keep their marriage from being exposed and do her best to play the role of a wife who couldn't bear to be apart from her husband for even a moment.

After they married, she and her ex-boyfriend lived together like courteous strangers.

He didn't touch her or talk to her much, yet he quietly fulfilled all sorts of requests.

Until things got out of hand and their polite relationship moved into the bedroom. Li Xing didn't want to repeat the past, so when the time seemed right, she handed him divorce papers. He demanded, "Are you saying you've been treating me like a fuck buddy all along?"

His fingertips turned white, but he said he would respect her decision.

During the cooling-off period, she moved out. The man who had always been hot and cold, and never sent her a message first, began haunting her every waking moment.

He had something to say about her social media posts, what she wore to a dinner party, and even her chatting with a college student. He appeared and disappeared without warning, and refused to leave her place.

"He can stay, so why can't I?"

The guy was only helping her walk her dog, but Li Xing huffed, "He's young, considerate, and knows how to make me happy."

Xie Cheng sneered, his face dark. Even this usually composed, dignified man resorted to a threat:

"Does he know the baby in your belly is mine?"

Please add the next novel, Spring Night Rain, to your reading list!

Divorce first, love later / Secret marriage

At eighteen, Jiang Shiyu began sneaking out of Pei Zhi's room in the middle of the night.

At twenty-one, Jiang Shiyu took the place of Pei Zhi's beloved and became his wife. She knew that Pei Zhi had chosen her not only because she had spent so long in the Pei family, but also because she was unassuming and harmless, wouldn't get jealous, and wouldn't interfere in his life.

To him, she had always been an invisible, safe presence.

-

After they married, Pei Zhi rarely came home and rarely contacted her.

Most of their interactions took place in bed. He was lustful, controlling, and cruel, and he never held back from fulfilling his marital duties or his physical needs.

In the final year she had decided to love him, while he was at his most passionate, Jiang Shiyu steadied her breathing and calmly said, "I want a child."

Pei Zhi got out of bed, his expression cool. "You really know how to ruin the mood."

He wouldn't have a child with someone he didn't love.

-

After the divorce, Jiang Shiyu moved out of the Pei family home and began rebuilding her life and career from scratch.

She still paid little attention to most of the world's causes. She was doing well, had her own standards, and remained true to herself, shining on stage.

She was willing to accept new suitors, but dating never went smoothly. The younger guys seemed unreliable. They started out passionate, then gradually disappeared, and finally sent her a message:

Sis, you're married. You should love your husband and stay faithful to him!

She couldn't make head or tail of it. Then she returned to the Pei home to collect some things, and the man who came into the room locked the door.

Pei Zhi closed in on her, pressing her into a corner. "After all these years, have I treated you well?"

Jiang Shiyu said, "The Pei family has been kind to me."

Kindness, not love. Pei Zhi's expression darkened as he said coldly, "Then marry me again and have my child."

-

When you have it, you take love for granted, as if it were only natural.

Once it's gone, you lie awake night after night, haunted by it, and finally realize it was always her.

P.S. A possessive, arrogant man who chases novelty and never stays for anyone x a sweet, unassuming woman who quietly draws out the most extreme love and hate

Both are virgins / Happy ending

Mission: Love life.