Moonlight Butterfly

My new novel, Pure-Hearted Monologue, is now underway. Please add it to your favorites! =3=

[Completed]

[An ultra-possessive Beijing power player x an innocent, flirtatious beauty]

*I opened my eyes, surrounded by fireworks. Never thought I’d be reborn. Perhaps Heaven has shown me grace, letting my heart grow warm once more.* - Caged Butterfly

Blurb:

A rainy day, a damp night.

The streets were deserted, neon lights still dazzling. A man pushed open the door of a convenience store that was open 24 hours a day.

Rong Die was standing behind the checkout counter, lost in thought. Not long ago, she had received the notice confirming her mother’s diagnosis. Along with it came the enormous cost of treatment.

She looked sickly and pale, her eyes black and hollow. She stood motionless like a lifeless doll, not even noticing when someone walked in.

This wasn’t the first time they’d met. They had crossed paths at a university lecture, or perhaps even years before that.

The man gently tapped the counter.

Rong Die snapped back to her senses and bowed. “Hello!”

When she looked up, she found herself face-to-face with a man of peerless beauty. His stature and bearing seemed entirely out of place in these surroundings. “Hello. One umbrella, please,” he said with a smile, his deep voice melodious.

Rong Die took his money in a daze.

-

As the leading executive at one of the country’s top securities firms, and a formidable figure who could move the financial world at will, Si Huaiyan was an elite among elites. Handsome and refined, disciplined and impeccably mannered, he was always dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit.

Rumor had it that he was always cool and abstinent, with no scandals to his name. Nobody knew that he had always kept a beloved woman in his heart.

-

Later, Rong Die found herself with nowhere to turn, crouching on a street corner beside the hospital.

It was another damp, pitch-black night. Si Huaiyan’s car passed by her, and he lowered the window, revealing that same handsome, striking face.

“I can help you.”

Rong Die heard him say.

He was a capitalist, and capitalists never made a deal at a loss.

“What’s the price?” Rong Die asked.

“The price…” He paused, then looked again at the bewildered girl lost in the night. “You.”

The price was her.

From beginning to end, you were the only thing he wanted. Nothing else.

◆ One-on-one romance, two consenting adults, both each other’s first and only

◆ P.S. Professional details are based on research. There are plenty of fictional elements, so don’t scrutinize them

◆ I’m jealous of myself. Warning: a male supporting character lies. Happy ending

◆ The final line is from the lyrics of Caged Butterfly

-------My new novel, Pure-Hearted Monologue, is now underway. Please add it to your favorites-------

Beijing power-circle romance / pseudo-siblings / age and size gap / foster care

■ Mature daddy type x honest, sweet little sister / rich heir x pure-hearted campus belle

■ Chasing his wife / obsessive love / hero is restrained and proper at first, then goes off the rails

01

During the period when she was most infatuated with Lu Tingzhou, Cheng Buxi ignored their difference in status and threw herself at him like a moth to a flame.

She had been raised in the Lu household since childhood. Used to separations and the painful tug-of-war over wealth and power, she tried to please everyone and was always careful.

The Lu family had been wealthy for generations. Their eldest son, Lu Tingzhou, was aloof and haughty, with unmatched good looks. He was recognized throughout their circle as a prodigy and someone everyone respected.

On a midsummer night, he had pressed a restrained, tender kiss to her brow.

He never knew that his little sister had been awake.

On New Year’s Eve, she worked up the courage to confess and, emboldened by alcohol, knocked on his door.

Her cheeks were flushed, her clothes disheveled. “Big Brother Lu, I like you.”

But all she got in return was his icy reply: “Stop fooling around.”

She suddenly understood that it had all been wishful thinking, and that kiss might have been nothing more than a dream.

From then on, she never approached Lu Tingzhou again. She dutifully fulfilled her role as an adopted daughter of the Lu family and never crossed the line.

02

When she reached marriageable age, her adoptive mother handed her a stack of photos of prospective matches.

Just as her heart had given up, fate brought her Ning Ci.

Ning Ci was refined and handsome, gentle and considerate. Even a heart sealed away in concrete could melt for him.

Cheng Buxi felt right at home with him. She planned to follow the Lu matriarch’s arrangements and marry him soon. It would be a lovely match.

It turned out she was using the very same approach she’d once used with Lu Tingzhou, now applying it to Ning Ci without changing a thing.

“Second Brother Ning, Xiaoxi likes you.” She smiled at him, confessed her feelings, and did everything she could to treat him well.

But Lu Tingzhou watched it all, and now he wouldn’t allow it.

03

On her wedding night, she slowly regained consciousness.

But she wasn’t in the bridal suite. She was in a strange villa overseas, and her groom was nowhere to be found.

The entire house was an exact replica of her childhood princess bedroom, and a heavy iron chain was wrapped around her ankle.

“No, you can’t…” She trembled with fear, her voice choked with tears.

Her elder brother, who was always refined and gracious in public, wore a chilling smile. The iron chain clinked as he clapped his hands.

He leaned down, his gaze falling on her pale, trembling face. His voice was soft, almost coaxing, yet filled with an unmistakable, obsessive desire.

“Koukou.”

“Tell your big brother, who do you really like?”

Tips:

◎ The heroine’s nickname is Koukou, using the character for “button,” with the sense of keeping someone close

◎ The hero is a jealous, disciplined workaholic who doesn’t realize he’s in love. Both leads are each other’s first and only

Theme: Children without umbrellas must learn to run