The Vulnerability Trap

[The groveling-for-forgiveness arc begins in Chapter 27]

Late at night, a post appeared on a niche forum:

[Title: My ex-girlfriend is crazy]

[Original post: She clings to me every day and cries whenever I touch her. I can't get away from her at all.]

[She wants me to do that BDSM stuff with her, dominate her, all those toys. She can drag me into a corner in a wheelchair.]

[If I don't hold her for a minute, she gets upset, let alone if I interact with someone else. I say one word to anyone and she gets so jealous she could throw up blood.]

[She's clearly mentally ill, but she says her hallucinations are all me. Her health is terrible, but she'll work herself into the hospital just to get me to pity her.]

The comments all said the same thing: [Ex-girlfriend? Ex?]

One knowledgeable commenter even asked: [Stockholm syndrome or separation anxiety?]

The original poster, Yu Qingluan, was at her wits' end. Why wouldn't anyone believe her? She really was an ex-girlfriend.

Three years ago, Yu Lingxue had resolutely abandoned Yu Qingluan for her family and married someone else. The two of them broke up.

Three years later, Yu Qingluan faked her death and returned, only to discover that her ex had gone crazy.

She was madly in love with her, doing all sorts of things for her, including secretly taking care of her archrivals, stalking and threatening her suitors, and using her body to seduce her.

Yu Qingluan returned home, opened her bedroom door, and saw her ex-girlfriend, Yu Lingxue, who had locked herself inside.

"When are you planning to come out? I never locked the door."

Yu Lingxue put on her restraints herself. "When you say you love me."

Later, someone added another post to the forum, writing an erotic story that wasn't suitable for minors.

A wealthy user with a gold username ended the thread with one line: "[Marriage certificate.jpg] She's not my ex anymore. I'll give a house to one person who wrote an erotic story."

*

Yu Lingxue had once been proud and haughty, keeping Yu Qingluan in a state of anguished uncertainty with her hot-and-cold treatment from a position of power.

And that was before she had resolutely abandoned Yu Qingluan to marry someone else.

That night, Yu Qingluan tore up her love letters and burned the shop Yu Lingxue had given her, then disappeared from Yu Lingxue's world forever.

But three years later, when they met again on a snowy night, Yu Lingxue placed a leash in Yu Qingluan's hand herself.

She begged to be kept, willingly taking the submissive role.

"Imprison me or hurt me. I only want to be by your side again."

*

Reader's Guide:

[Groveling-for-forgiveness arc: after the breakup, the once-powerful one begs in vain, then turns to hate sex and submission.

After faking her death, the canary turns the tables and keeps her former sugar mama.

Early: bashful mimosa x elegant moonlight. Later: crane in the clouds x broken and humble.]

Lonely, unassuming embroiderer x compassionate, gentle, and warm doctor of Chinese medicine

Same-sex marriage is legal. Two-year age gap. Early story set on a university campus in mainland China, middle section features daily life in Hong Kong and overseas, later section moves into a luxurious, wealthy family. Slow pace.

Melodramatic. A little fashion-industry content. 1v1, happy ending (a big, capital-letter happy ending! No matter how melodramatic it gets, this has to end happily.)

The city is fictional, and all the heroines' careers are based on information gathered online.

*

A similar upcoming urban romance, sweet and sour: "Keep Her as a Caged Bird, Then Break Up," also known as "Love at First Sight." It's the story of Jiang Yunong and Qu Mingyuan's daughter: radiant, worldly charm x aloof, otherworldly beauty. A seductress draws an immortal into the mortal world. A slightly tipsy, wine-scented older woman teases and corrupts a rigid, frosty doctor.

Theme: Be independent, stand on your own, and rise to the top of life.