Newlywed, Old Love

The main story is complete. Please add my upcoming novel, Chen Chen Xiang Yin, to your reading list~

A month after accepting Xu Fan's confession, Xu Zhiwu caught him cheating with a wealthy heiress, along with a former high school classmate she'd once rejected.

Years later, that classmate had become a rising star in business, refined and aloof, with a fortune to match. There were probably enough wealthy young ladies and socialites hoping to marry him to fill a line from the south end of the city to the north. Having witnessed the whole thing, he slid his hands into his pockets and said with lazy nonchalance, "So, that's your boyfriend?"

He looked harmless, but his eyes mocked her taste in men.

Xu Zhiwu was silent for two seconds. "Ex-boyfriend, actually!"

Later, she was forced to leave her company. Heartbroken and disillusioned, she decided to leave, but he pushed through the crowd and called after her.

On a misty night in the rain, crowds surged outside the train station. The man's refined air made him stand out from everyone around him. A few seconds later, his dark eyes fixed on her, reflecting her dejection and disheveled state. "Want to come work for me?"

Later still, to make his rivals give up on marrying him for an alliance and taking over the company he'd founded, Chen Siyu decided to get married.

Xu Zhiwu was confused. "Why me?"

He toyed with an unlit cigarette, flicking his lighter open and shut. Turning his head, he answered in a casual tone, "Let's just say I'm repaying you by taking advantage of what I once did for you."

*

At their class reunion, the man who had once gone unnoticed chose a seat in the corner, yet became the center of attention. He watched the fawning, both open and covert, with cold eyes and said nothing.

A troublemaker spotted Xu Zhiwu quietly eating nearby and deliberately jeered, "If School Beauty Xu had taken that love letter seriously back then, she wouldn't be struggling to make ends meet now, would she?"

Xu Zhiwu froze. She'd thought that love letter was a secret between her and Chen Siyu.

Only when the long-buried past was brought up did Xu Zhiwu learn that the love letter signed by Chen Siyu had been nothing but a prank.

Suddenly, the silent man beside her gave a derisive laugh and spoke for the first time. "That kind of tacky love letter wasn't good enough for her."

Everyone gave an awkward laugh.

Just as they were about to move on from the uncomfortable topic, he turned to Xu Zhiwu. "What kind of love letter do you like, Mrs. Chen?"

Huh? When did you two get married?

Later, Xu Zhiwu learned that for all those years she hadn't known about, he had written many love letters he'd never sent.

They began with Xu Zhiwu and ended with Chen Siyu.

On the latest letter, he had carefully written: Happy wedding, Mrs. Chen.

#The thing I'm proudest of in my life is meeting you and falling in love with you. Marrying you will probably be something I'll be proud of in my next life, too.#

Upcoming novel Chen Chen Xiang Yin. Blurb below:

At an auction, Chen Yinghuai, head of one of the most powerful families in the capital, and Chen Xianhao, daughter of a respected scholarly family in Shanghai, bid on the same painting.

Neither would back down, and in the end Chen Xianhao had to give up when the price reached eighty million.

During the intermission, Chen Xianhao stepped out for some air, feeling annoyed. She happened to see Chen Yinghuai chatting with a friend. She was about to leave when she heard her own name.

"You could've let Miss Chen have the painting and made a beauty smile, couldn't you?"

Paintings were common, but a beauty as dazzling and unforgettable as Chen Xianhao was a rare sight.

After a moment, she heard the man give a cold laugh. "Her smile isn't worth two hundred million."

Everyone said Chen Yinghuai had an exceptional eye, and that anything he set his sights on would rise in value several times over. Chen Xianhao had seen it for herself this time, and now they were enemies.

*

The next time they met was at a matchmaking event. The Chen family was on the verge of bankruptcy, and Chen Xianhao was determined to find a sucker to take over their mess. She looked at the refined-looking man in the cafe. The woman across from him was heavily made up and making eyes at him, while he looked thoroughly impatient.

She sat beside him, took his arm, and gazed at him with teary eyes. "Are you going to leave me?"

Chen Yinghuai looked at her arrogantly, his eyes as cold as ice. She suddenly wanted to back down and had just started to pull her hand away when he took hold of it and murmured affectionately, "How could I ever leave you?"

Feeling his grip tighten around her wrist as if he might crush it, Chen Xianhao put on a sweet smile and pinched the soft flesh at his waist.

They couldn't stand each other. She despised his greed, and he looked down on her self-righteous pride. Their marriage shocked everyone.

Everyone was certain they would split up sooner or later. But months passed, and Young Master Chen began visiting auction houses even more often, spending lavishly on paintings.

People wondered, "Are all those paintings going to rise in value?"

Young Master Chen slowly turned the wedding ring on his left ring finger, his voice indulgent and affectionate. "My wife simply likes them."

A profit-obsessed capitalist * a cool, dazzling heiress

Theme: Chase the light, hold on to the light, embrace the light