They should have been a palace couple envied by heaven and earth, a talented scholar and a beautiful woman dazzling in the eyes of the world, companions who would stand hand in hand and weather every storm together for a lifetime. But every smile and frown of hers, all her efforts to please him, and every flirtatious advance were a mask hiding what lay beneath.
He said, "So your casual love and affection for me were all deliberately concealed."
She said to him, "I'm sorry. I didn't play my part well. I really did get caught up in the act."
When this little drama was over, he finally understood: all the kingdoms and vast lands of the world could not compare to their fingers entwined, to her calm smile in white beneath the moonlight, or to the hangover remedy she gave him when he was drunk. He had already lost everything in this tribulation of love.
This article is written in one go, making it a very long read. The author is new, but his writing is fluent and has great potential.