[Powerful Couple, Marriage Before Love | Substitute Scheme | Gentle Cage]
[Gentle, Chaotic, Unhinged Man × Bright, Alluring Heiress]
The commotion of their lavish wedding had barely died down when, beneath the drooping cherry blossoms in Kyoto, Duan Mingxue swung her hand, clasped with her husband's, and asked:
"Mr. Xiao, I hear you have a wife who's quite the heartbreaker?"
Xiao Yanru leaned close, his breath brushing her ear. "It doesn't matter. Every garden you've flown through will become my territory."
Everyone in their circle knew Duan Mingxue changed boyfriends faster than handbags, and not one relationship had lasted three months. They all wondered who she would marry in the end. As it turned out, it was Xiao Yanru, the smiling tiger of Beijing's elite, a man everyone said hid a blade behind his smile.
Before the wedding, they had exchanged fewer than twenty words in total. Everyone said theirs was a cold marriage of convenience.
Yet after the wedding, he canceled an international meeting to watch the night-blooming cherry blossoms with her. When she casually remarked that her coffee was bitter, three kinds of coffee beans appeared at home the next day.
One night, she curled up in the corner of the sofa, her eyes faintly red. "That new boss they parachuted in does nothing but spout PUA nonsense..."
He paused while undoing his cuff links, then brushed his fingertip over the corner of her eye. "Tell me his name."
She said nothing.
After a moment, his voice dropped. "Or we can go to the airport right now. Iceland or Venice?"
Six hours later, she emerged from the hot spring wrapped in a silk robe, deliberately splashing water onto his shirt cuff.
He caught her ankle. "You got my shirt wet. Are you planning to make it up to me with yourself?"
"Mr. Xiao, you're so good to me... I'll start to believe you mean it."
He kissed the crown of her head. "Then believe it."
She began to feel that something was wrong. He knew her far too well, better than she knew herself.
Until, deep in the study, she found a yellowed agreement.
Second party: Duan Mingshuang, her older sister.
First party: Xiao Yanru.
She understood everything. Every relationship she'd had over the years had inexplicably fizzled out. It hadn't been a coincidence after all.
She slapped him. He didn't dodge. Instead, he smiled. "I was the one who stopped every one of your relationships. And I was determined to have you in this marriage."
She put the agreement back in the drawer. At the door, she paused.
He didn't stop her. Leaning against the desk, he asked lazily, "Why were you at that bar that night?"
Her back stiffened.
He stood and walked up behind her. "You heard me, didn't you? You heard everything I said to your sister that night."
The next day, she flew abroad, changed cities, changed jobs, and changed her phone number.
Three years later, at an overseas business meeting, Xiao Yanru sat across the conference table. His gaze passed over her without lingering for even a second.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
When she woke, she was lying in the bed of an unfamiliar bedroom, a thin silver chain circling her wrist, its other end fastened to the bedpost.
In the dim light, someone sat beside the bed. His shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, and he watched her with a smiling face.
"Xuexue, you ran for three years, and I chased you for three years. As it turns out, you can't get away."
He tugged gently on the silver chain, drawing her an inch closer with his fingertip.
She lifted her face, her voice suddenly very soft. "Xiao Yanru, do you know why I was at that bar?"
His fingers stopped.
"Because I knew you'd be there."
"You ruined every relationship I had, so I made you chase me for three years."
"Xiao Yanru, we're even."
The dim room fell silent for a long time.
He lowered his head and gave a quiet laugh, then unfastened the silver chain from the bedpost and slowly wrapped it around his own wrist. He offered her the other end.
"I went to every place you ran to over those three years. I was always behind you. You never noticed."
"This time, I won't chase you. You can keep me on a leash instead." He unfastened the chain from his wrist and wrapped it around hers again.
"If you keep me on a leash, I won't go crazy." He clasped her chained hand and pressed it to his heart.
"I'll give you my life. If you leave, I'll die."
"If you stay, I'll spend my life with you."
"Xuexue, you choose."
[Reading Guide]
1. Happy ending, four-year age gap, both leads have only ever been with each other.
2. The male lead is gentle and doting at first, then shows his true chaotic self. All his kindness was part of the plan.
3. The heroine thinks she's seen it all when it comes to people, but the only person she's ever truly known is him.
Theme: Love life
