Shen Ai [Marriage Before Love]

[The Beijing-Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Series: Shanghai Edition]

[The heroine is Xie Ling, the younger sister and twin of the Xie family's eldest son, Xie Xianshen, and second son, Xie Che]

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Radiant, willful heiress x calculating, mixed-race, dominant, arrogant man in power

[Marriage first, love later / Height difference / Six-year age gap / The male lead's groveling redemption]

1.

A high-society networking event.

For the first time, Xie Ting found herself staring so intently at a man.

"You're really staring." Her friend noticed her unwavering gaze and teased her. "What, are you into him?"

"Since when are you interested in old men like that?"

Xie Ting's lips curved into a smile.

She wasn't interested in his age, but his face was decent enough.

"My fiance." The wine in her glass tilted slightly as she swirled it. Xie Ting raised an eyebrow, unconcerned. "My family arranged it. I'll make do."

That very night, she paid for her moment of careless bravado.

The man pinned her against the wall, gripping her shoulders as he kissed her. After nearly choking, Fu Jing'an looked down at her, his unreadable emotions hidden beneath a smile. "Miss Xie, your kissing is pretty average too."

2.

They both knew this was nothing more than a marriage alliance based on family interests.

After the wedding, they kept their distance, each taking what they needed.

But she crossed the line.

She had underestimated Fu Jing'an.

Fu Jing'an remembered all her preferences and prepared surprises for her. On her birthday, he lit up the deep, dark night sky over the capital with 9,999 drones. "Nannan, happy birthday."

Until one day, a friend came to see Fu Jing'an about something.

Outside the study, Xie Ting was about to open the door when she heard the voice that had lingered by her ear day and night, now cold as ice, as if he were toying with some insignificant trinket.

"I chose her because she has value to me, and not just as a marriage partner."

She suddenly thought of what he'd said on her birthday: "Nannan, happy birthday."

Right. He'd said happy birthday, not I love you.

When Fu Jing'an found her again, Xie Ting was a different person from before.

She shed her sweet, innocent facade and looked without warmth at the man standing in the cold rain, begging for her forgiveness. She tossed out a single, casual line: "Mr. Fu, we're divorced already."

-The mist is gray, yet I sank into it, lost within it.

Note:

1. Older male lead, the heroine grows, and the powerful man humbly begs for her love.

2. The male lead suffers (I want to write a story where he suffers a lot).

3. One-on-one romance / Both leads are sexually inexperienced / Happy ending.

Theme: Learn to love yourself