Sleepless Harbor [Marriage Before Love]

#A story about not recognizing your wife but falling for her anyway#

Married first, love later | Hong Kong vibes | Older woman-younger man romance | Mutual salvation | A powerful family

[Cool firefighter heroine vs. golden-retriever CEO]

The heroine is Chen Yan, and the hero is Lin Mo.

Plot-focused blurb:

At first, Chen Yan approached Lin Mo solely for the sake of her family's interests and the company's stock price.

So when the man coldly said, "We'll each get what we need. Don't entertain any thoughts you shouldn't," she agreed wholeheartedly. As long as she made it through these two years safely, she could happily say goodbye~

What she didn't expect, however, was that the prestigious Lin family had a hidden past...

At the scene of a fire whose cause couldn't be determined, her idle rich husband sauntered past.

Her seemingly kind and gentle parents-in-law were closely connected to the great fire that had struck Hong Kong City twenty-five years ago.

In a smoke-filled room in the old mansion, someone chanted the Rebirth Mantra day and night.

Pale bones slept beneath a nameless stele. Hatred blossomed into a vivid, bloodthirsty flower, spreading across a desolate land of freedom.

Countless interwoven webs turned what had been a simple marriage alliance into a tangled affair.

One quiet night, Chen Yan looked at the man beneath the moonlight, the beauty mark at the corner of his eye enchanting, and finally asked, "Who are you, really?"

Romance-focused blurb:

Lin Mo returned to the country carrying a secret he couldn't reveal, only to step into the trap he himself had laid and become a player in his own drama.

He knew they were only married by contract.

He knew Chen Yan wasn't his type.

Yet he couldn't stop himself from falling for her as they spent day after day together.

Finally, on that rainy night, he cast off every disguise and set aside his pride and restraint, bowing his head. "Yanyan, please tell me you like me, okay? Hmm?"

Bonus Scene 1

When Chen Yan left the psychology clinic, her conversation with the doctor kept echoing in her mind.

"You need a therapy dog."

"But I'm busy with work. I don't have time to keep one."

"Then you could try keeping a human-shaped therapy dog, one that can eat, use the toilet, and bathe by itself."

"...?"

Bonus Scene 2

Other CEOs have offices on the top floors of skyscrapers, grand and imposing.

Lin Mo's CEO office, on the other hand, is... on the second floor. If he raises the blinds, he can clearly see the woman across the street washing her car with a water gun.

As lunchtime approached, the CEO rose with a cool expression and tightened his tie. "It's time."

His secretary pretended not to see the invisible tail wagging furiously behind the CEO, nodded, and thought helplessly: Yes, it's time to deliver lunch to the CEO's wife.

#I didn't recognize my wife, but that doesn't stop me from falling for her#

#You're pretending to be weak? What a coincidence, so am I#

#A golden retriever who wants to cuddle with his wife every day#

#What should I do about mild separation anxiety? Move in next to my wife~#

Reader notes:

1. Two strong leads, both sexually inexperienced, one-on-one romance, a touch of ensemble cast, happy ending.

2. The hero is a master at convincing himself to fall in love, with a slight chasing-his-wife-to-the-crematorium phase [maybe].

2. Hong Kong vibes, but very TVB.

3. The heroine's profession was inspired by the Korean variety show Siren: Survive the Island.

4. Hong Kong and mainland China have different firefighting systems, so please don't make too many assumptions.

Theme: May our lives burn like flames, enduring and ever-renewing.