To the Bitter End

Fake Innocent, Real Tease Heiress X Fake Hunter, Real Prey Aristocrat

Enemies to lovers / Competitive banter / Love and hate / Push and pull

When Jiang Qingyao woke, her whole body ached dully and her vision was blurred.

Dark red curtains hung beneath a Gothic dome. A man sat with his back to the light at the edge of the bed, looking down at her. His voice was low. “Awake?”

Jiang Qingyao blinked in confusion. Her head throbbed, and she couldn't remember a thing.

When the man learned that Jiang Qingyao had lost her memory, he leaned close. His long fingers pinched her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Your name is Jiang Qingyao. Three months ago, you hit your head in a skiing accident in Switzerland.”

He paused, the corner of his lips curling into a wicked smile. “My name is Lin Huaijing. I'm your fiance.”

Jiang Qingyao stared blankly into his unfathomable eyes. Her heart pounded uncontrollably, and, as if bewitched, she nodded.

A glint flashed in Lin Huaijing's eyes. He let go of her, and as he turned away, his smile faded.

His nemesis had lost her memory and fallen into his hands. Things were about to get interesting.

*

Jiang Qingyao settled into the castle.

Lin Huaijing was more than happy to have her there. He looked forward to seeing her expression when her memories came back.

But Jiang Qingyao was always clinging to him. She leaned on his shoulder to read and sneaked into his bed in the middle of the night.

Until one day, as he was on the phone, she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and rubbed her cheek against his back.

Lin Huaijing couldn't take it anymore. He ended the call, lifted her onto the windowsill, and pressed his forehead to hers, breathing heavily. “Jiang Qingyao, are you doing this on purpose?”

In that moment, he actually hoped she would never regain her memories.

*

On a rainy night six months later, lightning split the darkness. Jiang Qingyao woke from a nightmare, and a blinding headache brought everything back to her.

Their families had been enemies for generations. Lin Huaijing had insisted on bringing her back and keeping her as his fiance for no reason other than to watch her make a fool of herself.

Jiang Qingyao slowly turned her face. Beneath the dim bedside lamp, Lin Huaijing was lying beside her.

She took a deep breath, then suddenly rolled over and wrapped an arm around his neck, her lips against his Adam's apple. “Huaijing... I dreamed you didn't want me anymore.”

Lin Huaijing's eyes flew open. Sleep still clouded his gaze, but her words made his whole body tense.

He grabbed her waist, rolled over, and pinned her beneath him. Bending down to bite her lower lip, he murmured between kisses, “...I won't.”

That night, Lin Huaijing kissed every inch of her body, unaware that Jiang Qingyao's eyes were cold with calculation.

*

Jiang Qingyao faked her death and escaped back to China.

She stayed in China for two years.

Until the day she returned home and had barely opened the door when someone yanked her inside. A familiar voice sounded beside her ear. “Run. Why'd you stop?”

Jiang Qingyao turned her face away and said coolly, “You've got the wrong person, sir.”

Lin Huaijing suddenly laughed. He grabbed her waist and pulled her against him, his voice teasing. “Miss me, honey?”

Jiang Qingyao's lashes trembled. She was just about to push him away when he lowered his head into the crook of her neck and bit her collarbone. “You'd better say you did.”

[Cover credit: Yaojing Sanshu]

Reader's Guide:

1. Both leads are each other's first and end up together happily.

2. The heroine sees her nemesis and gets so mad she thinks she's having a heart attack, but mistakes it for a racing heart.

3. The hero falls first! Even after losing her memory, the heroine is only teasing him for physical pleasure, not emotional attachment.

Theme: Love is a thorn in the bone, hate is a nail in the flesh.