I Won't Be a Substitute

My new novel, Stirring Up Trouble, is now underway: a little temptress versus a woman who pretends to be proper, marrying first and falling in love later.

Cheng Nuo and Lin Yiyan's first meeting was anything but romantic. Stranded in the rain, Cheng Nuo was offered a hand by a woman whose voice sounded like an invitation: "Will you come with me?"

Blinded by her beauty, Cheng Nuo absentmindedly placed her hand in the woman's.

Lin Yiyan was undoubtedly the perfect lover: wealthy, beautiful, mature, and considerate. She could give Cheng Nuo everything she wanted.

The only problem was that this woman never said she loved her.

Cheng Nuo had been confused by this, but she still fell helplessly into that tenderness, willingly becoming Lin Yiyan's little lover.

Until one day, Cheng Nuo saw the woman who was always so calm and restrained, standing before a gravestone and overcome with grief.

Only then did she realize that Lin Yiyan had always carried a "white moonlight" in her heart, someone she had loved until death.

And Cheng Nuo might have been nothing more than a stand-in all along.

"Did you ever love me?" Cheng Nuo asked humbly, holding on to one last sliver of hope.

Lin Yiyan was silent for a long time. Then the lips that had kissed her so tenderly uttered three cold words: "I'm sorry."

Cheng Nuo's heart died completely on that rainy night when they broke up.

At a banquet, the fragile little flower had transformed into a dazzling rose, beautiful and thorny, stunning everyone as soon as she appeared.

Lin Yiyan watched the alluring figure in someone else's arms on the dance floor, and felt a sharp pain in her heart.

That should have been her darling...

Lin Yiyan forcibly took Cheng Nuo away, kissed her tenderly, and pleaded in a hoarse voice: "Sweet Nuo Nuo, won't you come back to me?"

Cheng Nuo pushed her away with a mocking smile. "Does Miss Lin think I'm as foolish as I used to be, or that I like being someone's stand-in?"

Lin Yiyan opened her mouth, then stopped.

Cheng Nuo pressed a finger to her lips. "Sorry, I don't want to play along this time."

A few notes:

1. Ten-year age gap. Sweet young woman and mature older woman. The pairing stays the same!

2. The heroine chases her ex to win her back. Expect sweet, angsty, then sweet again. A clichéd, melodramatic plot, so proceed with caution if that's not your thing.

(Cover art from @Jun Momo)

Theme: Love life, love yourself