[Love Across Borders: Marrying Into a Powerful North American Family] Older man | Size difference | Sweet romance | An old flame rekindled
While studying in the United States, Lin Shuangwu visits the Naval Academy as a tourist, completely dazzled by the uniforms filling the streets.
On a whim, she stops the tallest, most handsome “passerby” she can find and, blushing, asks in broken English, “Can you take a picture of me with the handsome guys?”
The blue-eyed man glances at her. “Sure.”
After taking her photos, she runs off shyly. She doesn’t notice the two handsome men in uniform saluting the “passerby” behind her, or the faint smile that lifts his lips.
She meets him again late at night by the Potomac River. She has just graduated from the San Francisco Film School, given up on her dream, and rushed to reunite with her boyfriend, only to be dumped without warning. The jerk says, “I’m sorry, but she has a green card.”
Fine, fine. So having legal status makes her better than everyone else, huh?
She drains a whole bottle of wine and sits by the river, wondering what to do with her life.
A low voice comes from behind her. “Hey, need help?”
What, does he think she’s about to jump in? Drunk, she turns around and falls right back into those deep blue eyes.
She rambles to him about her miserable life all night, then laughs foolishly. “I didn’t know getting drunk could improve my hearing.”
The blue eyes widen, then he chuckles. “No, I was speaking Chinese. I’ve studied it.”
Lin Shuangwu: “...” Is it too late to jump in now?
She thinks that will be the last time they ever meet.
With her cinematic camera work and editing skills, Lin Shuangwu becomes a photojournalist for a local news outlet. One day, she rushes to the Pentagon to photograph a press conference, accidentally turns into a restricted lane, and is immediately stopped by three security vehicles. Under the glaring red and blue lights, she nervously hands over her driver’s license and press pass.
“I’m doomed. I’m going to be trending.”
Just as she panics, a black car slows to a stop. The door opens, and a pair of long legs steps into the flashing lights.
She jerks her head up, breath catching. Those same blue eyes.
He steps out in a custom-tailored suit and clears things up with the security staff in a few words. Then he turns and walks her to the side of the road, asking a question he already knows the answer to:
“Hey, need help again?”
Her heart races and her mind goes blank. She blurts out the first-grade English she can remember:
“I am fine thank you.”
Under his amused gaze, Lin Shuangwu’s ears burn. She tries to recover. “Um... how do I get to the press conference?”
“Come with me.”
Later, he leads her into his world.
He takes her to a private preview at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to the top of Rockefeller Center to take in the city at dusk, and into MIT’s most cutting-edge science labs...
Her camera shutter clicks again and again, and her world gently lights up.
From an international student in North America, to the woman standing by his side, and then to him casually saying, “Your favorite director will be at the Venice Film Festival next month. Would you like to sit at his table as a guest photographer?”
#That night, she thought her life had ended by the river where she was abandoned. She never imagined fate would lift her up and show her a wider world.
#LoveAcrossBorders #MarriedFirstLoveLater #OldFlameRekindled #SizeDifference #AgeGap #UnhingedRomance
[Reader’s Guide]
1. International student story, sweet and satisfying romance, not a university story. The heroine grows and is not weak.
2. No political themes. The male lead is an industry consultant working across multiple fields.
3. Romance-focused, happy ending, older man, male lead has no prior sexual experience.
4. If you like it, please add it to your collection. I’ll start writing it as soon as I can.
Theme: Never surrender to fate.
