Breaking and Climbing

An autumn shower threatened to fall. The evening air was damp and stifling.

Yun Shu opened the window and sat at the dressing table beside it. A hot breeze swept through her long hair.

She traced her red lips again and again, pinching her fingertip until it hurt. Then she looked at the man in the mirror, her eyes cool.

"Doesn't it bother you? I used to be with your brother."

Xiao Yunqin slowly removed his black leather gloves.

"Is that so?"

He leaned over and pinned her back against his chest. His long fingers, roughened by calluses, settled on her slender waist, stroking it idly. "Does he know you were with me first?"

"Has he ever kissed you like this?"

"And you don't know that every trace can be erased."

Climbing the Fold

[Everyone said the Yun family's heiress, Yun Shu, had been brutally taken down by Xiao Yunqin overnight. Only later did Yun Shu learn that he had always been right there, gazing up at her and loving her deeply.]

-I fought against the tangle of desire, but in the end, I fell into your eyes.

Cultured, unhinged man × Beautiful, scheming heiress

Capital city power broker × Art restorer

*Reader's Guide:

Three-year age gap, older male lead / Reunion after years apart / Love triangle / Forceful pursuit / Rekindled romance / Mutual surrender

An overbearing CEO goes mad for love and steals her away | The predator is tender

Neither lead is perfect. Readers who are especially critical of the female lead, please take note! (Important!)

A mix of sweetness and angst, with classic melodramatic tropes. If you feel uncomfortable while reading, please stop; there's no need to tell me you've dropped the book.

Mainly contemporary urban romance, with a small number of flashbacks, HE

See the author's note in Chapter One for detailed content warnings.

The blurb for the arranged-marriage-turned-love novel, Flawless:

*An arranged marriage with an ex-boyfriend

Scheming, high-maintenance actress × Cunning, ruthless big boss

Ye Jibai was a mysterious man with an equally mysterious background, yet he steadily climbed the ranks of Beicheng's financial world and amassed a trillion-yuan fortune.

The company website posted a photo from its annual gala. At the center, the man raised his glass in a toast, veins pronounced on the back of his hand. His casual gesture exuded distant refinement.

The photo unexpectedly went viral. Countless heiresses came running, only to hear that he was cold and heartless, and had no interest in women.

Since her debut, Shu Lingyin had stayed famous for ten years on the strength of her face alone, and was notorious in the industry for her terrible reputation.

When her career hit its greatest crisis, Shu Lingyin had nowhere else to turn. Someone introduced her to a powerful figure in the industry.

The moment she saw him, she trembled from head to toe. He was the man she'd once callously abandoned when they were young.

On a rainy night, Shu Lingyin had just escaped a chaotic drinking party. She had no one to look after her, and the rain had soaked her clothes.

A Maybach stopped nearby, and an unfamiliar man stepped out with an umbrella.

The rain around her eased. Shu Lingyin looked up through the drizzle.

Countless memories came rushing back. Nothing could have shown the gulf between them more clearly.

Ye Jibai sat in the car in nothing but a simple white shirt and black trousers, yet he remained so distinguished and untouchable. He lifted his eyes to her, his gaze cool and sharp.

"I can give you everything you want. Think it over, then get in."

-

Each of them got what they wanted from this marriage, and Shu Lingyin enjoyed Ye Jibai's top-tier resources without a second thought.

People gradually noticed that although Shu Lingyin's acting was terrible, her resources were second to none, and she was even more spoiled and arrogant than before.

Rumors that Shu Lingyin had a sugar daddy grew rampant. Everyone said he was old enough to have a family, and that Shu Lingyin only looked glamorous on the surface, while privately she had to grovel and put up with everything.

At a financial summit in Beicheng, Ye Jibai took the stage to speak. A fellow CEO teased that Ye Jibai's standards were too high and offered to introduce him to someone, stirring up a commotion among all the women in the audience.

The usually distant, cool man slowly turned his gaze to a spot below. "Honey, someone's trying to steal you away from me."

Shu Lingyin, sitting inconspicuously in the audience: ???

Weren't we supposed to keep our marriage secret, you jerk? How am I supposed to leave you now?

Flawless

Ye Jibai had been disciplined and self-controlled since childhood, a flawless white jade.

From the first moment he saw Shu Lingyin, the jade began to change. Given time, the bold, spoiled Shu Lingyin would paint it in the richest colors, making her the one thing he desired for the rest of his life.

Blurb written 2023.7.12, revised 2023.8.25 and 2023.10.4

Theme: Love turns a precipice into level ground