Entwined in Flames

Originally titled A Jade Tree in the Orchid Garden. Please add my upcoming books, Brilliant Twilight and Don’t You Dare Fall for Me, to your collections!

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Blurb

Lin Yu accompanied her best friend to an audition and fell in love at first sight with Huo Lanzhi, a powerful entertainment-industry executive.

After going broke and falling on hard times, Lin Yu saw him as a ray of light in her life. She pretended to be the sweet, innocent girl he loved and gave him everything she had. She stumbled into acting to pay off her debts, becoming a minor actress just to get closer to him. At last, one day, she got what she wanted and won Huo Lanzhi’s heart.

She had thought that if he was willing to be with her, he must at least like her.

Then one day, by chance, she heard someone ask him when he planned to get married. The man gave a cold sneer. “It’s just casual romance between adults. Talking about marriage is a little ridiculous.”

So all the love and effort she had poured into him had been nothing but a joke.

At last, seeing him for the careless jerk he was, Lin Yu broke up with him without hesitation.

Time passed. Lin Yu became a sensation in the industry, hailed as the actress most likely to win every major award.

A celebration night. A luxurious private room, all glitter and excess.

A group of young male stars surrounded Lin Yu. One teased her as he fed her fruit, while another held a glass to her lips. Lin Yu smiled coquettishly, her fiery red lips radiating allure. She turned none of them away.

With a bang, Huo Lanzhi stormed in, his handsome face tense. He dragged Lin Yu outside. His phoenix eyes were bloodshot, and he said in a trembling voice, “I was wrong. Will you come back to me?”

Lin Yu looked at him in surprise, then laughed scornfully. “You don’t think I’m dirty anymore? But I think those pretty boys are a lot more satisfying than you.”

His face turned deathly pale, his expression utterly miserable. Yet his large hand clung tightly to hers, refusing to let go. All his usual ease was gone; his eyes held only her. “Please. I can’t live without you.”

1. Both leads have only ever been with each other. He’s just a jerk who messed things up.

Lin Yu: Heart turned to ash, determined to become a heartbreaker.

Huo Lanzhi: Regrets everything and desperately tries to win the heartbreaker back.

Brilliant Twilight: I’ve got plenty of ways to make you devoted to me

{Sweet-looking girl with a hidden dark side * free-spirited musician}

Song Can had a crush on Xi Mu.

After their first kiss, the man turned on her and sneered mockingly. “You’re so young. Why are you trying to pin this on me?”

After they got together, his first words were, “Your big brother here doesn’t believe in marriage and doesn’t want kids. When we get tired of each other, we’ll split.”

When Xi Mu was composing, he would hole up in his studio for days on end and wouldn’t let her in, while other people could come and go as they pleased.

Song Can was tired.

After they broke up, Song Can disappeared, and Xi Mu panicked.

When he finally found her, Song Can smiled sweetly at him. “Big brother, I’ve thought it over. Maybe we’re only suited to being siblings.”

“True love is exhausting. From now on, I want to date my way across all five continents and seven seas.”

Xi Mu was horrified and filled with regret.

After that, he finally managed to coax her into moving back in with him, only to watch her act as if she couldn’t care less about him every day. He was miserable and frustrated.

Then one day, he saw her all dressed up to go on a date. Xi Mu could take no more. He smiled darkly. “Do you really think I’m your actual brother now?”

Song Can looked surprised for a moment, then smiled brightly. “Yes, big brother. Don’t worry, I won’t cling to you like I used to.”

“I’ll find you a brother-in-law someday. You’ll have to help me decide if he’s a good match.”

The door closed. A fist slammed against it with a bang.

Outside, Song Can lifted her chin, the meaning behind her smile unmistakable. Sweetness overload.

[Extra Scene 1]

At a temple, after Song Can had prayed devoutly, she turned to the eminent monk with an earnest look. “Master, I have a friend. If he has the potential for enlightenment, how can I help him enter the Buddhist monastic life?”

Xi Mu, listening from behind a red pillar, turned green.

[Extra Scene 2]

He went to great lengths to coax Song Can into moving back in with him.

One day, Xi Mu leaned against the balcony railing, smoking and feeling frustrated. He fought down a cough, holding his breath as he watched the smiling girl in the living room chatting with someone, pretending not to care. His heart felt heavy.

She used to say his lungs were bad and always stopped him from smoking.

Was she really going to ignore him now?

“Are you really not going to do anything?” a friend asked Song Can.

Song Can glanced over without much interest. “No. This is a necessary step on his journey to becoming a henpecked husband.”

Her friend: “???”

The book after next: Don’t You Dare Fall for Me. Please add it to your collections, fairies!

{Beloved darling of heaven / invincible sweetheart VS cold academic genius / stubborn softie of a jerk}

At first, Chu Ying approached the handsome, lonely man sitting in a shadowy corner. He was the most famous academic genius at their school.

She carefully crouched beside him. “Don’t be sad. I... I’ll take care of you from now on.”

The man raised his eyes and glanced at her without emotion, his lips curling in silent mockery.

Later, as rain poured down, the birthday gift box she had prepared with such care was thrown into the trash. Her hot tears mingled with the rain, and the cold wind chilled her heart.

Later still, Chu Ying met a sweet junior student who looked about eighty percent like Chu Yi.

The junior was so sweet, like a walking scoop of ice cream, constantly calling her “sister” and following her around all day.

Everyone on campus said the campus belle had finally started dating. It was even the fashionable kind of older-woman-younger-man romance.

[Extra Scene]

Chu Ying and her junior walked side by side across campus. They were chatting and laughing when they passed Chu Yi. Her heart twisted, but she held her head high and walked past him as if he weren’t there.

The very next second, he scooped her up around the waist. No matter how much Chu Ying struggled, the man wouldn’t let her go.

For no apparent reason, she was carried into a room. He pinned her firmly against the door, licking and nipping at her lips. His voice was hoarse. “Sister?”

“I can call you sister, too.”

Chu Ying lowered her eyes, hiding her expression, and spoke coldly. “Don’t call me that. Let go. I have to meet someone.”

“Who? That kid?” Chu Yi smiled mockingly. “Haven’t you always liked my muscles? Didn’t you sneak a look before?”

Chu Ying glared at him, her chin raised defiantly.

He undid his shirt buttons and tossed them to the floor. His belt buckle clicked. He lowered his eyes, his whole body radiating a sinister, violent aura.

“Looking for someone else? Then guess whether I’ll let you walk out of this room... sister.”

Theme: The long road to winning back the one you love