[Money, love, or dignity: how should he choose?]
[First loves reunited after a broken romance] [Status-gap melodrama] [Coercive love] [The pursuing ex faces his comeuppance]
The thing Liang Yan regretted most in his life was saying yes when He Min confessed his love.
Raised in the countryside, Liang Yan had seen little of the world. His gentle, considerate boyfriend’s care made him let down his guard.
Just when Liang Yan thought meeting He Min meant his hardships were finally over, He Min’s parents showed up and doused his hopes with a bucket of cold water.
Only then did Liang Yan understand that he and He Min were worlds apart. He had gotten involved with someone he never should have.
He couldn’t afford to cross someone with He Min’s family connections, but he could run away.
He ended things with a single phone call. He Min’s voice came through the receiver, distorted and impossible to read.
“Why?”
“No reason. I’m just tired of you.”
Years later, Liang Yan saw He Min again at a client’s company.
His ex-boyfriend had become his client.
Liang Yan wanted to run again, but before he could get away, he ran into He Min outside his own home.
He Min lurked in the shadows like a ghost. The man who had once been as gentle as jade was now brimming with menace.
With his escape route blocked, Liang Yan felt more uneasy than ever before.
“How did you find me?”
He Min raised a hand to cover Liang Yan’s mouth and nose, staring at his face with a smile that never reached his eyes.
“I followed your scent.”
“Do I look like a dog to you?”
When Liang Yan woke again, He Min was all he could see. He tried to escape, but was locked in a room. Day after day, He Min punished him, demanding that Liang Yan admit he was wrong to abandon him.
He Min gently wiped the tears from his face and asked, again and again, “Do you regret it?”
Liang Yan instinctively dodged his hand, only to be forced back into place and made to accept everything He Min gave him.
“I regret it.”
Liang Yan regretted getting involved with a madman, regretted not seeing through him, and regretted not running farther away. His attempt to flee for his own safety had earned him He Min’s revenge and imprisonment.
Day after day, year after year, Liang Yan never escaped the cage He Min had woven for him.
An avoidant, resilient bottom vs. a dangerously controlling, unhinged top
Theme: Dare to love and hate boldly
