Possessive Tenderness

My next novel will be a marriage-first, love-after story, Springtime Haze. Please add it to your collections!

Gentle cafe owner X business tycoon

Marriage first, love after / foster-care trope / his unrequited love comes true / five-year age gap

Gentle heiress X possessive, calculating head of the family

Eight-year age gap / size difference / he has a secret crush on her

In the midst of a summer downpour, Cen Mengqi was forced into an arranged marriage with the Jiang family's second young master, so she had no choice but to run away from home.

In the hotel lobby, she met Jiang Muchen, the Jiang family's eldest son, and paused in her tracks.

Late that night, in a villa halfway up the hills in Beicheng.

Cen Mengqi looked at Jiang Muchen, her gaze gentle yet resolute. "Brother Muchen, can the engagement between our families be changed to someone else?"

The man's eyes were as deep and unfathomable as the sea. "Who do you want to change it to?"

Cen Mengqi's eyes trembled slightly. "Would you... be willing?"

Cen Mengqi and Jiang Muchen's grand wedding became the talk of Beicheng.

For years, Jiang Muchen had rejected every candidate for an arranged marriage, until he personally told his parents that he wanted to get married.

After the wedding, Jiang Muchen transformed into the perfect husband.

He not only played along with her in public, but also fulfilled his duties as a husband in private, always staying by her side and taking care of her.

Cen Mengqi was especially curious. Jiang Muchen didn't seem like the kind of man who would spend time on romance.

In the home gym, she would always catch sight of his eight-pack abs, both when she got up and before she went to bed.

One day after their wedding, at a fashion show watched by the entire city, Jiang Muchen and Cen Mengqi made their entrance as the grand finale.

In front of all those watching, they walked the red carpet hand in hand.

Someone recognized the Hope's Heart necklace around Cen Mengqi's neck, designed and crafted by the Queen of Diamonds over the course of three years.

The whole internet erupted. Jiang Muchen was actually so deeply in love with her.

During a media interview, Jiang Muchen earnestly answered the reporter's question: "My first love is my wife."

"From beginning to end, she's the only one I've ever seen."

Bonus Scene

After the event, the man raised both of Cen Mengqi's wrists above her head.

He leaned over to look at her, his eyes filled with undisguised desire.

Trapped between him and the full-length mirror, she felt his scorching breath against her ear. "Mengmeng, I've liked you for a very long time."

"I liked her years ago, and I wanted her all to myself."

One-on-one / both physically pure / both each other's first love / eight-year age gap / happy ending

My next novel will be Springtime Haze. Please add it to your collections!

Gentle cafe owner X business tycoon

Marriage first, love after / foster-care trope / his unrequited love comes true / five-year age gap

At fifteen, Guan Zhixi was sent to live with the Shen family. Old Master Shen took a great liking to her and arranged a marriage for her.

Her intended was the Shen family's eldest grandson, the person in charge of their conglomerate, said to be aloof and coldhearted.

After she came of age, Guan Zhixi was sent back to Niancheng to continue her studies, leaving her in a different city from Shen Xichen.

The old master wanted to arrange for them to attend school in the same city so they could grow closer.

But the young man replied coolly, "My future comes first. There'll be plenty of time later."

At twenty-four, Guan Zhixi officially became part of the Shen family.

As she'd expected, after the wedding they acted like a loving couple in public and kept to the same distant relationship they'd had for years in private.

The busy head of the family was exactly what she wanted from this arranged marriage.

Later, when she went overseas to secure an agency deal and a competitor deliberately made things difficult for her, the man suddenly appeared before her. In a moment of confusion, she asked him what he was doing there.

The man said nothing, furrowed his brows, and swept her up in his arms.

"When your wife is being bullied, it's your husband's job to stand up for her. You're my Mrs. Shen."

Guan Zhixi thought they felt the same way about their marriage. As long as they fulfilled their obligations to their elders and kept their distance in private, they could continue working together in peace.

She never expected the man to fulfill his duties as a husband and be so considerate and attentive to her in private.

One night, tipsy, Guan Zhixi coyly asked Shen Xichen, "Do you like me?"

Shen Xichen leaned close to Guan Zhixi's ear, his voice low and husky.

"Xiaoxi, I've only ever liked you."

At an alumni reunion, a male classmate confessed his feelings to Guan Zhixi.

Before she could turn him down, a low, magnetic voice sounded above her head.

"She's taken."

A classmate asked curiously, "How do you know?"

Shen Xichen rested a large hand on Guan Zhixi's shoulder, his gaze growing ever more intense as he looked at her.

"She's my wife."

The man was good at keeping his feelings in check, but in front of everyone, he pulled her into his arms and bent down to kiss her.

When the kiss ended, his low voice sounded by her ear. "Wife, let me be your lover openly and proudly."

"You're an indispensable splash of color in spring. Because of you, the hazy mist is dyed with brilliant hues."

One-on-one / both physically pure / both each other's first love / five-year age gap / happy ending

Theme: Women are the best