Sweet Kisses [Marriage Before Love]

- Shoujo manga artist x business tycoon

- Socially anxious, naturally airheaded girl x fake gentleman, secretly possessive and jealous man

[Blurb]

1.

Shen Jiawu was gentle by nature. From childhood onward, she always followed the rules, and every step of her life had been arranged down to the last detail. Nothing had ever gone wrong, including her marriage.

Following her parents' advice, Shen Jiawu entered into a marriage of convenience with Xie Yanlin, the current head of the Xie family.

Everyone in the capital knew that Xie Yanlin was cold and ruthless by nature. To secure his position as head of the Xie family, he used extremely cruel tactics.

Naturally, Shen Jiawu was a thousand times unwilling to marry him. But things had come to this, and there was nothing she could do. She would just have to make the best of it.

2.

Before the wedding, Shen Jiawu heard that Xie Yanlin was hardly ever home, and happily looked forward to the life of a wealthy wife who could lie around counting money.

After the wedding, things didn't seem to be going the way she'd imagined... Why did her fake husband come home every night?

Fortunately, the two of them didn't interact much. Aside from putting on a show for their families, they slept in separate rooms at home.

After a month of peaceful coexistence, Shen Jiawu gradually began to notice something was off.

There were suspicious red marks appearing one after another behind her ears, on her neck, and at her waist...

At first, Shen Jiawu thought they were mosquito bites and didn't pay them much mind.

3.

It wasn't until that night, when a muffled rumble of thunder sounded outside, that things changed.

Shen Jiawu jolted awake. As her senses returned, she immediately felt a warm palm pressed against her waist.

Suddenly, the man leaned closer. The scent of a mature man wafted across her ear, and the deep fragrance of agarwood carried an intimate, lingering sweetness.

The familiar scent made Shen Jiawu think of her fake husband at once. Her teeth chattered slightly. "Y-you... what are you doing in my bed!"

The bedside lamp came on. Xie Yanlin gave a quiet scoff. "Take a look. Whose bed is this?"

The room before her clearly wasn't decorated like hers. Shen Jiawu stared in shock, still unwilling to give up. "Did I come looking for you?"

Xie Yanlin answered without a word. He glanced pointedly at the slender arm looped around the back of his neck, then slowly lowered his gaze to Shen Jiawu's legs, which were pinning him down as she sat on top of him.

Shen Jiawu: "..."

#Is it still in time to get a divorce?

[Bonus Scene]

Shen Jiawu's skill at drawing men had improved by leaps and bounds lately, but few people knew that she actually had a model. She thought she could keep the secret for the rest of her life, until her model accidentally saw her "masterpiece."

Xie Yanlin raised an eyebrow with interest. Shen Jiawu was very skilled at drawing, and the visual impact of her work was... very powerful too.

"Before you started using me as your model, who was it? That person who clung to you at your house last time, calling you big sister?"

Shen Jiawu, dying of embarrassment and barely clinging to life: (blank stare)

In Xie Yanlin's eyes, Shen Jiawu's silence was an admission. The last trace of a smile on his face vanished in an instant.

Meeting Xie Yanlin's displeased expression, Shen Jiawu belatedly wondered: ? What ridiculous thing is he jealous about now?

# Sweet romance / both leads' first love / one-on-one

# 158 cm x 187 cm height difference! A lighthearted, sweet story of love after marriage, all sugar, no angst!

# Blurb written on 2024/12/24, revised on 2025/1/13.

Theme: Love yourself