Thornfield

[Complete! Next up: Choking, a mildly coercive romance where their relationship becomes official]

Black-hearted wild rose x carefree young master

A tantalizing game of push and pull

"The best hunters often appear as prey."

Everyone in Fu Chao Ye's circle knew he and Zhou Mu were involved.

He took her everywhere and stood up for her whenever anything happened. No one dared gossip about Zhou Mu. But nobody in her good-student circle knew. She'd never planned to tell them, until a boy who had a crush on her caught them together.

At the mouth of an alley, Zhou Mu wore a short skirt and fishnet stockings, while Fu Chao Ye gripped her wrist.

He grinned wickedly and spoke flippantly. "Want to watch a movie?"

Zhou Mu couldn't remember how she'd dealt with the situation that day. The only thing she remembered was that Fu Chao Ye seemed to have found a new source of amusement. In front of the boy, he draped an arm over her shoulders and asked, "Who is he?"

And before they left, he leaned close to her ear and said, "Mine, good girl."

The boy wanted to help Zhou Mu keep the affair a secret. He only asked her to stop seeing that thug, but Zhou Mu refused to appreciate his concern.

At school, Zhou Mu still wore her hair in a high ponytail and a neat uniform, the model student everyone admired. Outside school, once she entered Fu Chao Ye's circle, she'd take off her uniform, put on a short skirt and heavy makeup, and never lose at the games they played.

Sometimes she'd spend the night at his villa. The next day, she'd leave and return to school bare-faced, ready to be a good student again.

Until a surreptitious photo surfaced.

I'll never forget that rainy night before we parted. Fu Chao Ye's eyes were red, his voice low and hoarse. "I'm asking you one last time. Are you sure, absolutely sure, you want to miss out on me?"

When they met again, he was the boss and she was the actress his company was promoting.

No one in their circle knew they'd once been together, or that he'd arranged to sign her to his company so he could pull her back to his side.

Zhou Mu had thought Fu Chao Ye would hate her, but she'd never imagined that through all the years apart, he thought of her day and night. To be with her, he was even willing to cut ties with his family.

Later, rumors started spreading through the industry that Zhou Mu had someone powerful backing her. People said she'd gotten where she was by relying on a man, and that without the big shot behind her, she never would have landed so many roles. She was nothing but a pretty face.

Zhou Mu didn't care what other people said, and she'd never thought there could be anything between her and Fu Chao Ye again.

Until one night at a drinking party.

Zhou Mu was made to drink, and the man in the seat of honor slid a room key card toward her. She glanced at it just as the private room door swung open.

Fu Chao Ye grabbed the man by the collar. "You dare touch what's mine? Are you looking to die?"

After returning to Fu Chao Ye's side, Zhou Mu fought back, cried, made a scene, and threatened him, but every time he pinned her hands and bit her lips until they bled.

She had never believed in love, and she'd never planned to spend her whole life with Fu Chao Ye.

He was a born winner, while she was just a wild rose with thorns. But because she'd once said, "Fu Chao Ye, I want to be with you,"

he cherished her in the palm of his hand and married her in a grand, formal wedding.

Note: The line "Are you sure you want to miss out on me?" in the blurb comes from the internet.

!! Important: This story contains many potentially triggering elements. If anything bothers you, please stop reading. Both leads are each other's only partners.

Theme: Live well.