Scheming for Love

[Complete] | vb@That Pigeon Du

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Marriage Before Love | Secret Crush Becomes Mutual | Second Male Lead Takes the Lead | Two Powerhouses in the Workplace

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Chen Jingyi, the head of Retweet, a giant fashion brand, was striking in both looks and bearing, and moved with ease in the business world. Outsiders called him an untouchable beauty on a high peak, someone no ordinary person could hope to approach.

Yet he had turned down countless admirers. People said he was wasting his good fortune and had no idea how to enjoy having beautiful women all around him.

Then, at a dinner party on a cruise ship, Chen Jingyi was once again surrounded by a group of women, making small talk about this and that, just as everyone expected.

A short distance away, a woman in an apricot-colored gauze dress held a glass of red wine and walked right up to him without hesitation. Tilting her head slightly, she parted her vivid lips. "Mr. Chen, are you done talking to the other women? Can it be my turn now?"

The women were instantly indignant, thinking she had no idea of her place.

But the dignified, aloof Mr. Chen merely raised his brows and apologized to those around him. "I'm sorry, everyone. My wife doesn't like me getting too close to other women."

Everyone: ???

*

Yan Qiao had been in the fashion industry for over a decade and was renowned. Everyone in the circle addressed her respectfully as Teacher Yan. But she had always done as she pleased and had never taken a custom order for anyone. Even wealthy businessmen and their wives, ready to spend a fortune, had failed to win her favor.

Everyone knew that the one and only exception was the wedding suit she made for Chen Jingyi.

What no one knew was that the second exception was a black gauze dress she designed for Chen Jingyi.

But unfortunately, it was torn to shreds after being worn just once.

For a long time afterward, Chen Jingyi remembered that night: she had put on the gauze dress and presented herself to him as the most special gift.

"Do you know why I designed this dress?" she whispered into his ear, her voice tender. "It's easy to take off."

*

During an interview, Yan Qiao was asked about her relationship with her husband and whether they might get divorced in the future.

Yan Qiao thought for a moment, then caught sight of the man staring intently at her from nearby. Feeling mischievous, she said, "Maybe. You never know with these things."

Afterward, he dragged her into an empty dressing room. He pulled off his black tie and bound her hands with it, pinning her helplessly in a corner.

"There was too much noise just now. I couldn't hear you clearly." His breath brushed against her neck and shoulder as he murmured, "Mrs. Chen, would you consider saying that again?"

*

Later, while tidying his clothes for him, Yan Qiao accidentally found an old photograph tucked inside his wallet.

In the candid shot, seventeen-year-old Yan Qiao was jogging across the sports field against the wind, confident and radiant. She was the unattainable dream girl of every boy her age.

On the back of the photograph, a line of writing, faded by time, remained:

On my barren land, you are the last rose.

--Pablo Neruda, The Last Rose

Fashion designer x CEO

Refined egoist x ambitious schemer

*The heroine has an ex, but never had feelings for him. Both are sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

Theme: A secret crush is a grand adventure.