Liu Zhihe x Xie Yuxiu
A scheming, sweet-on-the-outside, dark-on-the-inside heiress by adoption x a refined, jade-like gentleman of traditional elegance
[Blurb]
From an orphan everyone at the orphanage could bully to the most accomplished young lady of the prominent Liu family in Sucheng, Liu Zhihe spent twelve years painstakingly honing herself.
She never expected to stumble over a marriage alliance.
Her well-matched fiance, a certain Mr. Xie, had fallen for a poor, resilient, innocent girl and wanted to break off their engagement.
Zhihe smiled gently. "If you like innocent girls, you should've said so sooner."
So one day at a banquet, she pretended to be too drunk to stand and collapsed, frail and delicate, in front of her target's car.
Among the young men of the Xie family in the capital, only Xie Yuxiu possessed the old-world bearing of the Xie clan of Shengjing: elegant as jade, noble in character, a celestial gentleman as clear and bright as the moon.
That night, all he did was act with courtesy and good manners by giving his cousin's fiancee, who'd collapsed in front of him, a ride. She was pale and sickly-looking.
He never expected that one wrong step would lead to another.
Even a lofty, otherworldly gentleman could fall into the mortal world.
Young Master Xie admits that he couldn't resist temptation. He coveted his cousin's fiancee and willingly let himself be swept away by desire.
Fortunately... they feel the same way about each other.
Xie Yuxiu managed to convince himself of that.
Compared with Xie Baiting, who's fickle and in love with someone else, he's clearly the better choice for a marriage alliance with the Liu family.
On the day he planned to propose, an anonymous email landed in Xie Yuxiu's inbox.
He listened in silence to the recording attached. Liu Zhihe's innermost thoughts and schemes were laid bare before him.
"Xie Yuxiu? You think I've fallen for him?" Her voice was languid and cold. "What a joke. If he weren't my fiance, do you think I'd give him a second glance?"
It was a midsummer night beneath a sky full of stars. Through the glass window, he could see Zhihe in the garden, feeding a stray cat. She crouched with her knees hugged to her chest, her slender, fair fingers scratching the cat beneath its chin. The night breeze ruffled her hair, revealing a gentle smile on one side of her face.
Xie Yuxiu's gaze returned to the anonymous email on his computer. After a long moment, he laughed at himself.
Illusions and deception are precisely what's needed to create true love.
Liu Zhihe
[Reading Guide]
1. The heroine grew up in an orphanage and was adopted at age eight.
She's clever, exceptionally perceptive, and a self-interested schemer.
2. The scummy fiance has little presence in the story. The heroine knows she has a fiance surnamed Xie, but doesn't know his full name, which is why she mistakes him for someone else.
Theme: For some women, playing with people's feelings is as easy as drinking water.
