Entwined by a Heartbeat

Coming soon: Tonight, the Moon Is Full. A faux uncle-and-niece romance

[Married first, love later | Intense push and pull | Eight-year age gap]

[A clever, fake little white rabbit who’s good at putting on an act × a cold-faced, cold-hearted, abstinent, arrogant business mogul]

Meng Yunshu grew up in the Meng family. To outsiders, she was the family’s respected second daughter, but within the household, she was an adopted girl of lowly status. After years of living under someone else’s roof, Meng Yunshu had learned to watch her words and actions, hiding herself in the dust.

Just when she thought she could live out her life like that, the Meng family’s real daughter was found, and overnight Meng Yunshu became someone everyone despised.

The biological daughter could never stand Meng Yunshu. Convinced that she had stolen the wealth and status that should have been hers, she brainwashed their parents into arranging Meng Yunshu’s marriage to a worthless playboy. Meng Yunshu begged them desperately, but all she got was the Meng couple’s silent consent.

The next day, a news story appeared in the papers: the prestigious Pei family, renowned in business circles, had specifically asked to marry a daughter of the Meng family. Meng Yunshu refused to accept her fate, and secretly decided she had to seize this lifeline.

-

Pei Qiqiao was known for his ruthless methods and cold-hearted nature in business circles. He had returned to China to take revenge, but from that day on, a little shadow followed him wherever he went. Pei Qiqiao saw through her disguise and acting. Her relentless attempts to “run into” him each day gradually piqued his interest.

He pretended not to notice, calmly watching the anxiety and fear beneath her mask and observing her deliberate attempts to get close. Finally, at midnight on the eve of the deadline for the arranged marriage, a violent storm had just passed. The midnight streets were muddy and damp, and cold rain beat down on the frail Meng Yunshu. She stood at his door, tears in her eyes, her lashes tinged red, and asked almost pleadingly, “Mr. Pei, would you marry me?”

Raindrops swallowed his reply. A hand grasped her wrist and pulled her forcefully inside.

-

After that night, Pei Qiqiao and Meng Yunshu quickly registered their marriage. Overnight, Meng Yunshu became someone no one could hope to marry into. But public opinion of her was far from kind. Everyone agreed she was ungrateful, had stolen the real daughter’s husband, and was a snake that had been raised by the Meng family.

As the rumors spread and everyone assumed they were true, Pei Qiqiao was seen at every event and banquet afterward, tenderly holding Meng Yunshu’s hand. His cold, gloomy demeanor softened, and he indulged his little wife in every way. When faced with all the vicious rumors, he simply said, “From beginning to end, Meng Yunshu is the only woman I’ve ever wanted to marry.”

Content warnings:

Eight-year age gap

Both leads are each other’s first and only

Coming soon: Tonight, the Moon Is Full

Foster-family story / Age gap / Powerful man bows to love / Faux uncle-and-niece romance

Possessive, scheming, steady father figure × pure-hearted, kind, sweet young woman

Duan Yueman lost her last remaining relative overnight. As she knelt silently before the memorial, she looked up and saw a pair of black leather shoes standing before her.

Meeting those deep-set eyes, her vision blurred with tears. In a hoarse, trembling voice, she whispered, “Uncle?”

Years ago, her mother remarried, and her father was an adopted son of the Duan family who was never held in high regard. Even on the day he died in a car accident, no one else shed a tear before his memorial.

Those people arrived late, and instead of paying their respects, they discussed how to deal with Duan Yueman, the family’s burden.

The snowy winter was bitterly cold, but no bodily warmth could ever dispel the chill in her heart.

Then the uncle she had met only a few times appeared before her. His low voice sounded dispassionate, but his words were firm as he told everyone, “I’ll raise Duan Yueman.”

Everyone fell silent, and Duan Yueman went home with him.

-

She had rarely seen this uncle and had only heard a few things about him from her father. He was young and successful, highly capable, and cold-hearted. He was not someone you could afford to provoke.

She lived on tenterhooks, afraid of angering him and being thrown out. She became a little shadow who followed Duan Yao everywhere, and gradually grew deeply dependent on him.

Then, on her eighteenth birthday, he gave her the first pair of high heels she had ever owned. After that, her feelings for him changed.

With her innocent love tucked away in her heart, she confessed to her uncle one dark, snowy night.

But Duan Yao gave her a cold look, and his words struck her heart like melting snow: “Leave my house. Don’t let me see you again.”

-

Duan Yueman had been abandoned again. She was forced to bury her feelings deep inside and devote herself to her studies, hoping only to get through her four years of college in peace.

But she seemed to notice that she was seeing her uncle more and more often.

He traveled thousands of miles to her school just to have a meal with her. He suddenly appeared outside her dorm on stormy nights, and he always took her along on business trips...

Duan Yueman kept his words from that night in mind and maintained their relationship, treating him only as her respected uncle.

Until the day they went camping in the mountains. That morning, she received a confession from a male classmate on WeChat.

That night, someone suddenly opened her tent. Startled, she looked at the man before her, visibly drunk, and saw an expression in his eyes she had never seen before.

Holding her breath, she nervously clutched her blanket and shuffled several inches backward. Trembling, she looked at Duan Yao and called out softly, “Uncle?”

Duan Yao suddenly stepped forward and pinned her down. His fingers traced her cheek, making her breath catch. His warm breath made her earlobes flush red.

The wind roared through the mountains, sharp and unnerving. He lifted her chin and whispered gently in her ear, “My little niece, you can only ever love me.”

Theme: Face life with optimism