A Preview of Passion [Marriage Before Love]

[Marriage first, love later | Secret love becomes mutual | Age gap]

[Self-disciplined, proper powerbroker × dazzling, flirtatious beauty]

1.

Ji Zhiyuan, the heiress of the capital's Ji family, is famous in social circles for her beauty.

Bright eyes, pearly teeth, skin like jade: countless people fall for her, but she's also spoiled and willful by nature.

Just as everyone is wondering who could tame this gorgeous, thorny rose, news breaks that the Qi and Ji families are arranging a marriage.

Among the younger generation of the Ji family, Ji Zhiyuan is the only girl.

The Qi family, however, has several eligible candidates of similar age, all talented and good-looking.

But it isn't until the engagement banquet that Ji Zhiyuan learns her intended is Qi Yanli, the Qi family's youngest head.

2.

Before marriage, Ji Zhiyuan thinks he's a proper, restrained gentleman, elegant and spotless.

She later discovers that this idea of hers couldn't be more wrong.

Once, she goes abroad on a whim without telling him beforehand.

Unexpectedly, the moment she steps into the house, Ji Zhiyuan sees Qi Yanli sitting on the sofa with a stern expression.

He looks as if he's been waiting for her on purpose.

Knowing she's in the wrong, Ji Zhiyuan throws herself straight into his arms.

"Honey, I missed you so much."

Qi Yanli stays seated and asks, "What did you miss about me?"

She hooks her little finger around the bump of his Adam's apple and beams. "Everything."

That night, the temperature in the room soars.

Amid the haze, she hears him ask, "How many days were you gone?"

His voice is low and husky, rich with a magnetic charm that clouds her mind.

"S-Seven days."

It takes Ji Zhiyuan all her effort to piece together a complete sentence.

"Then you'll stay home with me for the next seven days." At the end, Qi Yanli adds, "All right?"

But he doesn't actually need her answer.

Sure enough, she doesn't leave the house for a whole week.

*The romance develops after marriage from the heroine's POV; from the hero's POV, his secret love comes true.

*Both leads are virgins. The age gap is six years.

2024.6.15

Theme: Learn to love others, but learn to love yourself even more.