Falling Into the Night

[Sweet on the outside, dark on the inside, brooding doctor × spoiled, free-spirited, glamorous heiress]

1.

Under hazy colored lights, amid clinking glasses and lively conversation, Qin Xi was fretting over an arranged marriage.

Not far away, she saw a boy's white shirt soaked with brown liquor. His meek, broken demeanor inexplicably stirred her protective instincts.

"He's mine." Qin Xi declared ownership that didn't exist, pulled him into her arms, and drove the troublemakers away.

Playing the hero was all well and good, but when she tried to leave, he caught her by the wrist.

"What? Are you going to repay me by offering yourself?"

She pinched the boy's chin and wiped the liquor at the corner of his mouth with her thumb. Her protective instincts subtly shifted, and she seemed to have become the second person to "bully" him.

"Sorry, I have no plans to adopt a stray dog."

^

2.

They met again in the hospital's physical therapy room. As his fingers worked along each vertebra, Qin Xi found her thoughts wandering.

Her would-be fiance, Young Master Xu, came to take her away. Though someone held her hand, Qin Xi's gaze was fixed on him. She "forgot" her wallet, which held a wad of cash and a business card with a phone number on it.

That night, in a private room, Qin Xi kissed him first, hooking a finger into his belt. "Wouldn't it be more fun to wear it around your neck?"

From then on, they met under cover of darkness. They both knew perfectly well that she was only indulging a passing whim, and that sooner or later she would cast him aside.

On the eve of her engagement, Qin Xi meant to give him an invitation, but he had vanished without a trace.

^

3.

At the engagement banquet, amid the festive atmosphere, the Xu family's illegitimate son arrived uninvited.

The man who had disappeared without a word was now dressed in a refined, expensive suit, more formally attired than the groom. Ignoring the wary and curious stares, he walked straight toward Qin Xi.

He announced to everyone, "From this moment on, I am Qin Xi's fiance."

Xu Chen'an passed the banquet's male lead and took Qin Xi's hand. His gaze was like a hungry wolf eyeing prey he had coveted for a long time. He leaned close and whispered like a demon, "Big sister, you can't get rid of me anymore."

.

[Single couple, happy ending, older woman-younger man romance, one-year age gap]

[The same-series story next door, Falling Into the Abyss, started as a roleplay and is now a full novel]

Theme: Love well