Drowning Kiss

Coming soon: Beloved Marriage, Bound in a Cage, Heartbeat Tide. You're welcome to follow them!

1.

Jiang Zao's first love began eight years ago.

Back then, the person she liked was a blazing sun hanging high in the sky, the most outstanding genius in the capital in nearly a decade.

He won a national-level competition at fifteen and became the undisputed top scorer on the college entrance exam at seventeen. He was talented and handsome, with exceptional bone structure and a pair of deep, dark phoenix eyes, cool and arrogant enough to send many girls who tried to pursue him running.

She had secretly loved him and confessed to him,

but for all sorts of reasons, things did not end well.

Then the college entrance exams were over.

After the graduation ceremony, she brought a farewell letter to find him and carefully offered him her best wishes for the future.

Jiang Zao never dared to meet his eyes. All she could steal glances at were his long fingers twirling a pen and the prominent Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

"A farewell?"

He leaned toward her. His arrogant, dark eyes filled with desire, and his low, husky voice mingled with the breeze, tempting her:

"Jiang,"

"I don't think I can bear to leave you. What should I do?"

2.

The two of them met again on a winter night.

The poor boy had become a pillar of one of the country's top-tier hospitals, as well as the adopted son most likely to inherit the Huo family's fortune, one of the capital's wealthiest families. He had steadfastly refused an arranged marriage, sparking all sorts of speculation, until one day he suddenly announced he had been married for some time.

After digging into the story, curious onlookers discovered that Mrs. Huo was none other than the first love who had abandoned him eight years ago. The sight of the young man, disheveled and humble in the snowy night, moved countless netizens.

Behind the cameras, everyone was talking about how Jiang Zao had abandoned the Huo heir. The memory was still vivid.

And as the person at the center of it all,

Jiang Zao herself never imagined that one day she would enter into a marriage of convenience with him, and attend public events as Mrs. Huo.

"We're only pretending."

Jiang Zao had just been pulled close and kissed deeply by the man. She hurriedly turned away, trying to hide her already chaotic heartbeat.

Beside her, the man's slightly hoarse voice broke into a low laugh. He emphasized every word: "Of course. What else did you think, Miss Jiang?"

"Do you think I'm that pathetic?"

3.

When the internet voted for its sweetest couple of the year, the winning pair was not a celebrity couple or a wealthy power couple, but the usually low-key Mr. and Mrs. Huo. The judges even brought out a trove of pictures of the two snuggling together, firmly cementing the title.

But some media claimed they were not really in love, only pretending to be married. And that Huo Zhi had once been toyed with emotionally by Jiang Zao, who had won his heart only to dump him.

A reporter finally got the chance to interview Dr. Huo and asked two brief questions:

"Mr. Huo, what's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?"

The man answered calmly, "I was pursued at school, then got dumped. She said she was only playing with me."

Everyone sighed. They could guess that the woman in question was Jiang Zao.

"Then what do you regret most?"

The reporter guessed it was probably pretending to marry Jiang Zao.

The man's deep, dark eyes lifted to look straight into the camera. His thin lips curved into a smile. "I regret not letting her keep playing with me back then."

Reporter: ?

"It was my fault for making her lose interest in me."

"All rivers run the color of those who have drowned in them."

*Reunion after years apart / marriage of convenience / mutual pining / rekindled love

*Possessive, sharp-tongued doctor x gentle, down-on-her-luck heiress

*Both are each other's first

Coming soon: Bound in a Cage

Pei Shenjin is the most unusual figure among E City's elite.

He controls the businesses of half the families in the capital. He has refined, handsome bone structure, but a dark and vicious nature. His long brows and deep-set eyes are like those of a cultured scholar, yet even his smile sends chills through people. He is a master of ruthless tactics that leave his opponents with no way out.

Mr. Pei has done many insane things.

The most shocking was when he blocked the most congested elevated highway in E City with his expensive Koenigsegg, then pressed his foot down on another man's face in full view of the surrounding camera flashes.

A storm was brewing.

Raindrops as big as peas pelted down in dense, needle-like streaks. He calmly turned to look through the car door at the girl's pale, delicate face and her clear, round eyes filled with fear.

"A Zhi,"

The man's voice was gentle, his tone slow and patient:

"I don't think you'd want to elope with a dead man."

·

Wen Zhi first met him three years ago.

Pei Shenjin was twenty-seven then. He stood beside her father in an elegant shirt and trousers, looking like a refined gentleman. When he smiled, his peach-blossom eyes were strikingly beautiful. He greeted her gently and called her A Zhi.

There was no one in the world more good-tempered than Pei Shenjin.

And Pei Shenjin always treated her well. Whatever she wanted, he gave her: the antiques she loved most, the glass candy she loved to eat, the certificates and awards she wanted most.

Even when something belonged to someone else, Pei Shenjin would take it and give it to her.

That was until the third year after she abandoned him.

The Wen family was ruined overnight in an act of revenge, its members scattered. She was brought before the one responsible and met his clear yet cold peach-blossom eyes. A chill sank through her flesh and into her bones.

"A Zhi, have you missed me over these past three years?"

Pei Shenjin looked at her with a longing that seemed ready to devour her. One hand bound her waist, while the other took hold of her hand, gripping a sharp fruit knife with her.

He pressed his thin lips to her ear.

Using the knife in her hand, he aimed it at his heart and slowly pushed it in. The tip pierced his shirt, and bright red blood flowed out.

Wen Zhi's hand shook with fear, and her whole body trembled.

"Either tell me you missed me,"

he said slowly in a gentle, indulgent tone, as if soothing her, but sounding more like a threat:

"Or kill me."

·

Pei Shenjin believed:

When dealing with a selfish little girl,

the best approach is to be even more selfish than she is.

Theme: Courage