After He Fell for His Subordinate's Ex-Girlfriend

🧊 From casual hookup to official relationship | Long-planned seduction | Taking advantage of a vulnerable moment | Intense push and pull | Love rivals everywhere

🧊 Decisive when it counts, prone to overthinking, and very much in love illustrator × abstinent, possessive, muscular CEO

Tang Xi doesn't like her boyfriend's boss.

His eyes are deep, like a venomous snake or tiger stalking its prey in the dark, full of menace.

But somehow, those eyes began appearing again and again in her life, at work, and in her dreams...

Tang Xi doesn't understand why, but this warped emotion gives her endless inspiration.

Until one day.

On a stormy night, Tang Xi bumps into him outside a hotel and falls into his arms.

Full blurb:

After catching her boyfriend getting intimate with a female coworker, Tang Xi decides to break up with him.

On a stormy night, at her most miserable, a pair of broad, strong hands catches her as she teeters on the verge of collapse.

It's her boyfriend's boss.

In the few times Tang Xi and Lu Yu have met, there has always been an indescribable tension between them.

The wild, striking image from their first encounter gave her plenty of inspiration for her work, but also left her consumed by shame.

Until one day, he comes through the rain and drapes a white shirt over her shoulders.

Meeting Tang Xi was an accident.

Lu Yu never expected that the woman who briefly stirred his emotions and aroused his intense interest would turn out to be someone else's girlfriend.

The second time they meet, she sits to the right of his subordinate, demure and mild-mannered, looking every bit the perfect match for him.

Lu Yu feels a twinge of regret. He raises his glass and coldly echoes the others' teasing. Looking at the woman who doesn't dare raise her head, he says, word by word, "In that case, I'll be waiting for your wedding banquet."

A year later.

Lu Yu writes in his memo:

I have to admit, the moment I first saw her, the desire to claim her had already taken root inside me.

And now, I have the chance to take someone else's place.

Tang Xi once vowed to create her own signature work before turning twenty-five.

On the day her wish comes true, her ex sends his congratulations. Lu Yu blocks the bedroom doorway, stopping the woman trying to escape.

He takes off his ring and wraps his arms around her waist, unable to hide his jealousy.

Sketches are scattered all over the floor. Lu Yu guides Tang Xi's hand onto his sculpted abs, then buries his face in the crook of her neck and lightly bites her collarbone in warning. "You were the one who first hinted that you liked me. Don't mention him again, got it?"

That night, just after waking from a dream, Tang Xi receives a precious greeting card. It reads:

For the world's most inspired illustrator:

Go ahead and be the one green rose among the lilies.

I'll wrap around you with my supple stem.

I'll shelter you with my fragile petals.

I'll love you with everything I have, without holding anything back.

Tips:

★ Both leads are each other's first and only, sweet romance, no angst

★ No morally questionable behavior. The romance begins after the heroine breaks up

Theme: Love is the exception that makes a mockery of careful calculation.