[Forceful possession | Raised under his care]
[Self-controlled, proper mad dog × sweet, thorny white flower]
Shen Qingli was brought to the Shen family when she was eighteen.
Her father had once saved the life of Shen Shiyan’s father. After looking for her for eight years, they found her in an internet cafe in a small southern city.
Shen Shiyan waited for her in the living room. He was twenty-three, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms. She came through the door, and he looked up. “You’ve gotten thinner.”
They had never met before.
Everyone said Shen Shiyan was a good older brother.
The year she first arrived in Hong Kong, he found her a language school, arranged a place for her to live, and chose the color of every coat in her wardrobe.
The clothes he picked all had necklines that stopped just an inch above her collarbones. They revealed no more, yet concealed nothing completely.
It rained heavily on the day of her graduation ceremony, and her hair was slightly damp. He straightened her shirt for her, his fingertips brushing the red mole at the side of her neck. He paused, then let go.
Shen Shiyan raised her for five years. He knew every inch of her body better than she did.
The day the Shen family patriarch was laid to rest, the mourning hall was packed with people.
Shen Qingli stood in the last row, dressed in black. When the ceremony ended, she headed toward a side room. At the corner of the corridor, someone grabbed her wrist and dragged her into an unlit storage room. The door closed.
Shen Shiyan stood in front of her. He wore a black suit, his tie loosened. The corners of his eyes were red.
He suddenly gave a laugh, his voice hoarse. “I was going to leave after burning the offerings today. But you were standing too far away, Lili.”
Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside. Someone passed by, step by step, then walked away.
He looked down at her, barely moving his lips.
“Guess what they’d think if they knew what the Shen family patriarch’s son was thinking on the day of his funeral?”
Her throat tightened. “What was he thinking?”
He pressed his forehead against hers, his eyelashes brushing her skin with a ticklish touch.
“About pinning you to this table and tearing away every restraint you’re wearing.”
He paused, then looked down at you, his voice dropping even lower.
“Then making you understand, right here on this table, once and for all...”
“From today on, I’m no longer your brother.”
Later, she ran away. She changed cities, changed jobs, and changed her name.
Three years later, on the winter solstice, on a rainy night in Shanghai.
Financial news scrolled across the electronic screen at the mall opposite her. The Liang Group had completed an acquisition, and Shen Shiyan had appeared at the signing. He had taken off his glasses and slicked his black hair back. He wore a dark gray three-piece suit. He nodded at the camera, wearing a polished, impeccable smile.
Her phone rang. No caller ID. She answered.
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a faint, lazy laugh.
“Lili.”
A video appeared in the chat. The footage was dim, showing her current bedroom. The camera was fixed up high, watching her as she slept. Date: three days ago.
A warm palm covered her eyes from behind.
“Guess who I am.”
The shirt he had buttoned for her years ago was slowly undone.
His long fingers traced her cheek, jaw, and collarbone, stopping at the red mole on the side of her neck. He rubbed it until it burned.
“You hid for three years, but I still caught you...”
“Have you figured out how you’re going to beg me?”
[Reader's Guide]
1. Step-siblings, no blood relation, and they are registered in separate household records. Five-year age gap.
2. The male lead is not a good person. He forcibly takes what he wants, and he means it.
3. Both leads are each other’s only partners. Happy ending. There’s more to the reunion than meets the eye.
4. The characters’ values do not represent the author’s values.
Theme: Always love yourself.
