Breaking You

Blurb: The story of an innocent younger sister who mistakes her mad older brother for her savior, only to abandon him and marry his friend, before her brother forcibly drags her back.

Pei Wan is merely a lowborn daughter, sent away to a Taoist convent and brought back to the household sixteen years later. She was fostered by the Pei family, always cautious and deferential, and knows nothing of her birth mother.

The Pei family's legitimate eldest son, Pei Lingjun, is as noble and pure as an orchid. He is the virtuous gentleman whom all the scions of prominent families aspire to emulate, with a brilliant future ahead of him.

Wanwan has always remembered how her elder brother, Pei Lingjun, saved her from drowning when she was little. After returning to the household, she revered him like a god.

Her governess taught Pei Wan to curry favor with Pei Lingjun: marrying into a good family was her only way out.

So Wanwan treated him well, sending him plate after plate of exquisite pastries, hoping he would find her a good match.

Pei Lingjun, however, never lacked for people trying to please him. When Pei Wan sent him her delicate pastries, he casually passed them on to the servants.

Why would a saintly gentleman bother with a lowborn girl?

Everyone mocked Pei Wan for overestimating herself.

He never imagined that one day he would come to care for her, and even crave the pastries he once despised, day after day.

At a spring banquet, the bright, cheerful young Marquis Ning chatted and laughed with Pei Wan. The sight fell into Pei Lingjun's cold eyes, where it stood out like a thorn.

In a secluded corner, he took the initiative to grasp Pei Wan's hand. His gaze held an inscrutable emotion. “Wanwan, didn't you promise to always treat your elder brother well, and keep only him in your heart?”

Wanwan had grown up in a Taoist convent and knew nothing of worldly romance. She couldn't even remember when she had said such a thing to her elder brother. She nodded dumbly, remembering only how distant he had always been.

At his coaxing, she answered with confusion and obedience:

“Love...?”

When his insignificant younger half-sister tried to please him, it was like a soft feather brushing his heart. He scorned it, yet did nothing to stop her...

He never imagined he would lose his mind and fall madly in love with his little sister, Pei Wan.

Nor did he expect that she was only trying to get him to arrange a match between her and Marquis Ning. Watching the two of them exchange tender glances, he gritted his teeth in hatred.

The saintly gentleman fell into the mire, yet refused to let go.

Even after she had married Marquis Ning and donned her red wedding dress, he plotted at every turn to take her into his grasp.

Later, Pei Wan enters the palace and her true identity is revealed. They are neither siblings nor related by blood, yet they remain entangled with each other.

[The male and female leads are not related by blood] (The heroine is not the male lead's biological sister and has no blood or familial connection to him. She has another identity and was merely fostered by the Pei family.)

Theme: Love means respect