Addiction

[The print edition will officially go on pre-sale at 8 p.m. on August 25. Available from major e-commerce platforms.]

[The second-generation novel, Heart Melts, can be found on my author page.]

When Shi Yuan first entered the entertainment industry, she was dubbed the cool, aloof goddess. Trained in classical dance, she had an exquisitely beautiful face.

Although she had only been in the industry a short time, she was astonishingly active in promoting herself.

Online haters mocked her for putting on an act, but only Shi Yuan knew the truth: she really needed money.

Once she paid off her enormous debt, she planned to return to Jiangnan and become a classical dance teacher.

But then, one day, everything fell apart.

The movie she was halfway through filming was abruptly halted, and her opportunities were snatched away.

Everyone wondered if she had offended some powerful figure. Even the big shot backing her could do nothing about it.

It wasn't until one day, when the media photographed Shi Yuan pressed against a car by a strange man in an extremely intimate pose, that the truth began to emerge.

The man had a devilishly handsome face, but his phoenix eyes brimmed with menace.

Someone recognized him as the Pei family's adopted son, who had recently returned to the country. He was ruthless and volatile, and no one dared to cross him.

The two had wildly mismatched temperaments, yet somehow looked strangely harmonious together.

Shi Yuan turned her face away to avoid him, but there was nowhere to run.

The man held her chin, his eyes dark as he smirked coldly. "Shi Yuan, who gave you the nerve to find someone else to back you?"

*

Shi Yuan lowered her eyes, her voice so soft it made one's heart tremble.

"Pei Ji, I'm begging you. Let me go."

One of his hands held her slender waist, but he didn't dare apply even the slightest pressure.

His thin lips parted, and through gritted teeth he forced out a few words.

"Sure."

His eyes were shrouded in gloom, and his smile looked almost mad.

"Unless I die."

[Little Scene]

Rumor had it in Beicheng that Pei Ji, CEO of the Pei Group, was grim and cold, with a volatile temper.

Every piece of news about him vanished from the internet within half an hour. He was deeply mysterious.

Then one day, a reporter took a photo in the little courtyard where the Best Actress Shi Yuan lived in seclusion...

The usually arrogant, unruly man was crouched on the ground with his suit sleeves rolled up, massaging the feet of the woman sitting in a wicker chair.

The photo went viral, staying at the top of the internet for three straight days, an unprecedented turn of events.

In the courtyard, he laughed huskily. "Everyone saw it. My reputation is ruined, so you'll have to take responsibility."

Shi Yuan raised her foot to kick him away.

Pei Ji caught her ankle, smiling lazily and seductively. His voice was low and teasing. "What should we do, Mrs. Pei? Make it official tonight?"

"..."

*

Possessive CEO * gentle on the outside, strong on the inside beauty

CEO * female celebrity

Happy ending / Getting back together after a breakup / Mutual salvation / Both virgins / Sweet romance

Note: The story has a strong old-school feel and a melodramatic plot.

No accusations of plagiarism without evidence. If you have proof, bring it forward. If you don't, go to the police.

---The upcoming novel A Sick, Intense Love can be found on my author page.

Mad, eccentric CEO * sickly beauty

Getting back together after a breakup * mutual salvation

Yu Qing Wan was known in Lincheng as a delicate beauty, a fragile flower raised in a greenhouse, with skin like ice and bones like jade. People joked that a gust of wind could knock her over after just two steps.

Then the Rong family, who had taken her in, went bankrupt overnight.

The old master Rong died suddenly of a heart attack, and his adopted daughter Yu Qing Wan was about to be cast out and become the laughingstock of Lincheng.

At the funeral, Yu Qing Wan saw the culprit who had single-handedly orchestrated the Rong family's bankruptcy.

A light rain fell in the cemetery. The man stepped out of a Porsche Cayenne in a black suit. Tall and imposing, he seemed like the King of Hell himself.

Of all the people who had ever betrayed and bullied him, only Yu Qing Wan remained.

In the rain, she knelt before the grave, her thin, frail frame shivering. Yet no one dared to hold an umbrella over her.

He crouched down, gripped her chin, and forced her face toward the gravestone.

Feeling her tremble, He Sheng leaned close to her ear and smiled with satisfaction and cruelty. "The tree you depended on has finally fallen."

"And now you can only come begging to me."

Yu Qing Wan bit her lip, then suddenly turned her head and sank her teeth into his palm.

She raised her face and said each word distinctly. "In your dreams."

Even as blood slowly seeped out, the man still didn't let go.

His smile was icy. "Too bad you don't have a choice."

*

One day, a set of photos of rising artist Yu Qing Wan's paintings went viral online.

In the photos, the woman wore a black jacquard modern Chinese-style dress. Her skin was fair as snow, and her slender waist could be encircled with one arm.

At an auction, a mysterious buyer paid the astronomical sum of one hundred million dollars for the dark, sinister oil painting that made Yu Qing Wan famous, Evil Deeds.

The next day, the head of the He family, whose reputation was said to be the worst and who supposedly had no appreciation for art, was astonishingly photographed by the media at Yu Qing Wan's private art exhibition. The news stunned everyone.

A reporter nervously stepped forward. "Mr. He, may I ask what about this painting held your attention for so long?"

He Sheng stared at the painting without looking away. "The artist."

"And..."

He raised his eyes lazily, his tone impatient. "My wife painted me. Is there a problem?"

"Then, about the astronomical sum of one hundred million dollars you paid for it..."

"I was indulging her."

*

Online comments poured in, all feeling sorry for the delicate beauty. How had she ended up in the hands of the King of Hell? Surely she had been forced into it.

"The He family's tyrant has claimed her. Won't the sickly beauty be so frightened that she'll get even sicker in just a few days?"

Not long afterward, another set of photos appeared.

In them, the fearsome head of the He family was crouched down, holding a bowl of medicine and patiently feeding the sickly beauty. He didn't even care that his sleeve was stained with medicine.

His voice softened as he coaxed her. "Wanwan, be good. Have one more sip."

"It doesn't matter how long he lives.

His Wanwan is going to live a long life."

---Without you, I would become nothing but evil.

Mired in misery * a flower blooming in the mud

Wolf * rabbit * both virgins / happy ending

Theme: In a life full of wounds, love is the only cure.