Lost in Love After Marriage

[Completed. The next book is Starfall into His Arms] Childhood friends / Reunited after a breakup / Marriage before love / The male lead has been plotting this for a long time Proud heiress VS powerful tycoon who strictly adheres to gentlemanly conduct Mu Chenfan, the new head of the Mu family, rose to fame at a young age. He was once a household name and a top-tier star with over a hundred million fans, unmatched in popularity. After leaving the entertainment industry, he inherited the sprawling family business and expanded its influence throughout the business world. He wields immense power and is known for his sharp decisiveness and unfathomable nature. His fans say he has romantic eyes that look at even dogs with tenderness. Yet his refined, distant aura is like cold jade atop a snow-capped mountain, eternally untouched by melting snow: bright and noble, but so chilly that no one dares approach. No one could imagine what a celestial being like him would be like if one day he succumbed to worldly desire. When Jiang Li read those comments, she rubbed her aching waist and replied below using her alt account: Don't be fooled by how cool and gentle he acts in public, all elegant and otherworldly. He has plenty of tricks up his sleeve in private. User A: How many tricks could he possibly have? User B: Exactly. You make it sound like you've done it with him. How would you know so much? Jiang Li's alt: How do you know I haven't? User C: Was it in a dream? What a coincidence, I had one too! User D: Girl, you and I are kindred spirits! Before long, Jiang Li's alt account was exposed. Her comments about Mu Chenfan, posted under that account, were also screenshotted by his fans and shared online. In no time, the news that Jiang Li, a hugely popular award-winning actress, was infatuated with the former top-tier star and current head of the Mu family became a trending topic. At the time, Jiang Li had just won an award, and the person presenting it to her at the ceremony happened to be Mu Chenfan. The event was livestreamed across the internet. A crowd of spectators waited to see Jiang Li die of embarrassment when she had to face Mu Chenfan. After the award presentation, the host deliberately steered the conversation toward the trending topic to stir things up. "I hear, Teacher Jiang Li, that you've been quietly following our Mr. Mu with an alt account. Now that you're standing face-to-face with him, is there anything you'd like to say?" Jiang Li pressed her lips together, so mortified her toes curled. Mu Chenfan took the microphone and said to the host, "My wife is shy. Don't tease her." Host: ??? Your wife? Jiang Li??? - After the ceremony, netizens tagged both Jiang Li's main and alt accounts: Last time, you said Mu Chenfan had lots of tricks in private. What exactly are they like? Tell us more? Jiang Li: … · Mostly daily life, with little about the entertainment industry · The leads don't get married right away. There's some back-and-forth before they register their marriage, and the romance is a little slow to warm up · The heroine has an ex-boyfriend, but they were never intimate ↓ Please add my upcoming novel Starfall into His Arms to your reading list ↓ Mu Xingyao didn't realize until she enrolled at Lan University that her childhood friend Jiang Yue, now a graduate student there, was famous on campus for his exceptional talent and stunning good looks, and for getting away with anything on account of his face. During one open class, a classmate who knew her noticed her staring at Jiang Yue and kindly warned her, "Every year, the department's beauty and the campus belle pursue him, and they all get rejected. If you've got a crush on him, prepare yourself for rejection." Mu Xingyao snapped out of it. "I'm not into guys like that." After class, Jiang Yue cornered her by the stairwell door. With classmates looking for her outside, inside he gripped the back of her neck as if punishing her and kissed her until her cheeks burned red and she could barely breathe. - When they were little, Mu Xingyao always followed Jiang Yue around, calling him "big brother" this and "big brother" that. Their elders had even joked about arranging a betrothal for them. Mu Xingyao never took the joke seriously. She thought Jiang Yue hadn't either. Until one day, a friend introduced her to a guy. His name was Song Xiao. He was sunny and cheerful, with a rebellious, roguish air, blazing and dazzling. The first time Mu Xingyao met him, he made her laugh out loud. Some time later, Song Xiao confessed his feelings to her. That night, at Jiang Yue's apartment, Mu Xingyao curled up on the sofa and talked to Song Xiao on a voice call. When it ended, she turned her head and saw Jiang Yue watching her with a dark expression. "Are you together now?" "No." Mu Xingyao didn't have a strong desire to be in a relationship, but Song Xiao was so enthusiastic and forward. "I'm thinking about whether I should give it a try with him." Jiang Yue said nothing and turned to go into the bedroom. Mu Xingyao could tell he was in a bad mood, but she didn't pay it much mind. She stretched and went to sleep in the next room. The air conditioner in her dorm was broken, so she'd been staying at Jiang Yue's apartment lately. At dawn the next day, Mu Xingyao opened her eyes in horror to find herself lying in Jiang Yue's bed! This wasn't the first time she had woken up like this. Thinking she must have sleepwalked again, she was about to sneak away when the man beside her suddenly opened his eyes, stretched out an arm, and forcefully pulled her back. - Jiang Yue's phone rang on the bedside table. It was Song Xiao. Song Xiao had made plans to go out with Mu Xingyao that day, but she wasn't answering her phone. Worried something had happened, he called Jiang Yue to ask, "Senior Jiang, is Xingyao with you?" On the rumpled bed, Mu Xingyao's lips were swollen from his kisses. At the sound of Song Xiao's voice, she came to her senses. Her damp lashes trembled as she glared at Jiang Yue, who had suddenly gone mad. Jiang Yue's gaze was dark, his voice hoarse and simmering with obsessive anger: "He's only been pursuing you for a few days, and you're already thinking of giving it a try with him?" "I've been so good to you, big brother and all. Why don't you give me a try?" He glanced down at the phone, still connected, then bent over and bit her earlobe. "Tell him whose bed you're lying in right now." [Bonus scene] Mu Xingyao always thought she had a sleepwalking problem, and that when she sleepwalked, all she did was crawl into Jiang Yue's bed. Whenever she and Jiang Yue lived under the same roof, she always woke up in his bed the next morning. It was a long time before she learned the truth: Jiang Yue carried her there in the middle of the night :):):) Older man, childhood friends, mildly coercive The male lead has been plotting this for a long time Each other's first love, and each other's one and only ↓ Please add my upcoming novel Wrongly Entangled to your reading list ↓ Bian Ying had been raised in the Zhou family since childhood. With skin as fair as ice and features as delicate as jade, she was a true beauty. As Bian Ying grew up, the Zhou elders quietly began considering using her in a business marriage. Her intended match was said to be a fat, drunken wastrel who also had an illegitimate child outside the marriage. Bian Ying refused and tried to call off the match, only for Madam Zhou to tell her, "The Zhou family has supported you for over a decade. It's time you repaid us. Don't tell me you intend to be ungrateful?" With nowhere else to turn, Bian Ying thought of Zhou Yubai. Zhou Yubai was Madam Zhou's son. Gentle and refined, he was considerate toward Bian Ying. Bian Ying knew Zhou Yubai liked her. He was her only way out of the arranged marriage. The night Zhou Yubai came home, Bian Ying mustered her courage and crept into his room in the dark. Zhou Yubai had already gone to bed. She quietly lay down beside him, not daring to move. Then a strong arm reached out, dragged her under the covers, and rolled on top of her. - At dawn the next day, Bian Ying woke, thinking that she and Zhou Yubai had now officially become a couple and should discuss how to deal with Madam Zhou. She opened her eyes and met a pair of dark eyes, deep as a frigid pool. Her eyes flew wide, and she nearly cried out. The man lying beside her had sharp brows, a broad forehead, and the unmistakable build of a mature man, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, faintly visible beneath the thin blanket. This wasn't Zhou Yubai. It was Zhou Yubai's uncle, and the true head of the Zhou family, Zhou Linyuan! Years ago, Zhou Linyuan had taken her by the hand and brought her to the Zhou household, entrusting her to Madam Zhou. He said he was busy with his studies, and that the First Madam would be better suited to care for her. From then on, she called him Uncle, just as Zhou Yubai did. He rarely returned to the Zhou household over the years, and they had little contact. In her eyes, he was a dignified man who could not be offended. But last night, the two of them... Unable to face him, Bian Ying forced a smile that looked worse than crying. She wanted to grab her clothes and flee, but before her feet even touched the floor, Zhou Linyuan pressed her back down again... "Uncle, why are you in Yubai's bed?" "And you? Why are you here too?" "…" *Male lead's perspective* 1. That year, in the Zhou family's back courtyard, his nephew Zhou Yubai stared for a long time at Bian Ying reading in the garden, then said to him, "Uncle, Bian Ying is a wonderful girl. I like her." Zhou Linyuan lifted his teacup. The tea's fragrance curled through the air, steam rising as he lowered his eyes and pondered for a long while. "She really is a wonderful girl." So, he could never let her belong to anyone else. 2. At some point, Bian Ying began appearing in Zhou Linyuan's dreams. Every time, she was crying in his bed. Once, by chance, Zhou Linyuan slept in Zhou Yubai's bed. That night's dream felt more real than ever before, and she cried just as earnestly. Eight-year age gap Innocent little rabbit X sly old wolf Theme: Personal growth in love