Love Addiction

[This is not a groveling-after-the-breakup story that goes all the way to the crematorium. If that's what you want, please move along and spare us both! And please don't jump around the story or draw conclusions before finishing it.]

Fu Lize, who had been Jiangcheng's richest man for three consecutive years, was lavish with his money, especially when it came to women.

Tu Wan knew that all too well.

Limited-edition designer handbags, luxury jewelry worth tens of millions, a private yacht she rarely used, and private islands with names she could barely pronounce: Fu Lize gave them all to her without batting an eye.

But no one knew these were only perfunctory gifts from him.

She had loved him in secret for three years and lived with him for three years. He had gone from a campus celebrity admired by everyone to a financial titan dominating the business world, but she had never gotten the love story that went from college straight to a wedding dress.

Not until his moonlight white returned from abroad.

Watching the lavish birthday banquet he had arranged for her, surrounded by clinking glasses and elegant guests, she saw the radiant smile of a peach-blossom-faced woman, and the matching diamond ring on the woman's middle finger. Each sight was like a sharp knife, cutting Tu Wan to pieces.

That very night, she asked to break up.

"Are you done making a scene? Then take the ring." Fu Lize casually opened a square blue velvet box, his gaze as calm as that of an outsider.

Looking at the matching rings, Tu Wan gave a self-mocking smile and rubbed her middle finger. "I'm not taking it!"

"Still making a fuss? Do you want a pink-rose wedding on an island?"

"I don't want it!"

Fu Lize nodded arrogantly, gripping her chin. A trace of anger flashed in his eyes, though his voice remained as calm as water. "What do you want? Me, or everything I own?"

Tu Wan stubbornly broke free. "I don't want any of it!" She packed her things and left without looking back.

*

In Fu Lize's heart, Tu Wan was his first love.

In his eyes, she was a woman who loved money more than life.

When he saw her laughing at some rookie young man performing a cheap magic trick, beaming over a cup of bargain milk tea, and grinning at the stars as if she'd just won a million, he thought:

Damn it, this is so annoying! How had he become a complete outsider?

Later, at the birthday banquet of a wealthy heiress, someone saw Jiangcheng's richest man cornering a woman against the wall. His eyes were filled with a scarlet, surging desire as he gritted out a plea: "Wanwan, the roses will be flown to the island next week. When are you coming back?"

The next second, the woman slapped him without mercy, not a trace of anger on her face. "Mr. Fu, if you're done making a scene, please leave!"

The rusty taste of blood spread between Fu Lize's lips and teeth. He didn't care, only stepping forward with concern. "Wanwan, does your hand hurt?"

Tu Wan backed away two steps, dodging his hand, and looked behind her.

A dignified, straight-backed middle-aged man approached at an unhurried pace. Seeing the finger marks on Fu Lize's face, he interrupted in a grave voice: "Mr. Fu, I'm sorry. I failed to raise my daughter properly!"

The next moment, the woman had already linked her arm through his. She glanced back at her handiwork and looked at Fu Lize with concern. "Mr. Fu, I'm sorry. Put the medical bill on my tab!"

Everyone at the banquet knew that Tu Wan, the only daughter of the family ranked second among Jiangcheng's richest, had slapped Fu Lize, the city's richest man. But all the richest man cared about was whether the woman's hand hurt.

May the stars fill your eyes, and may Wanwan always be at peace!

1. The heroine's surname is pronounced Tu. The moonlight-white situation is a misunderstanding.

2. The heroine does not actually love money more than life. This will be explained later.

3. One-on-one, happy ending.

A good-natured princess-syndrome heroine vs. a cold, aloof hero who later goes all out to win his wife back.

Blurb dated 2021/03/02, screenshot saved!

Please add my upcoming stories to your favorites: The One I Love and The Cold, Powerful CEO Is Actually a Green Tea Boy

Blurb for The One I Love:

On the day Fang Luyue interviewed at a new company, she ran into an investor who had come to inspect the place.

She never expected him to be Shi Ji, the man who had almost been her first love back in the day.

The man had long lashes, cool eyes, a high nose, and thin lips. His satin suit made him look especially refined and elegant. Surrounded by a crowd, he walked forward without once letting his gaze fall on her.

Later, the two became superior and subordinate, with Shi Ji above and Fang Luyue below.

For work, Shi Ji pointed at himself. "Can't praise the product? Praise me."

Fang Luyue made up a few adjectives and gave him an objective compliment from head to toe.

"Are you satisfied?"

Fang Luyue nodded. "Yes. Are you satisfied, sir?"

Shi Ji nodded, a faint, hard-to-read smile playing at his lips. "You're pretty good at praising things. You can't do it when the subject is a product, but you can when the subject is me?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"People are alive, products are dead. How can a dead thing answer whether it's satisfied?"

The living thing, which had only one more mouth than a dead thing, turned ashen in an instant.

*

On the eve of the college entrance exams, the school organized a trip for the seniors to pray at the nearby temples.

It was said that Manjushri Bodhisattva presided over wisdom, and that day his hall was packed with worshippers.

The only female devotee stood in the quiet hall, gazing up at Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's golden image. Though she had never believed in gods, she pressed her hands together and made a sincere wish.

Someone asked what she had prayed for before Ksitigarbha.

She smiled and said, "My countless wishes are too many to put into words."

The passage of time scattered everything to the winds.

The boy who had stood outside the hall that day watched her retreating figure and silently prayed:

May he/she pass the imperial exams, be safe and well every year, and have every wish come true.

* 2021/04/09

* The blurb will probably be something like this. The names are settled.

* Contemporary urban setting with flashbacks to high school.

* A youthful love comes true. One-on-one, happy ending.

* A story of saving and being saved.

* #EveryDayIUseMyWitsToDealWithMySharp-TonguedBoss#

He was an unreachable dream, and she was a lonely moon far beyond the horizon. Luckily, the night brought them together.

Theme: May the stars fill your eyes, and may Wanwan always be at peace!