[Working hard to start writing in October!]
Min Fenghe initially decided to marry Xie Weiheng because of his illustrious power and status.
With this marriage tie in place, his wicked stepmother at home would no longer be able to keep him from taking the imperial examinations. The servants who treated people according to their station would no longer dare bully or humiliate him, and he would also be better able to care for his frail younger sister, with whom he had depended on each other since childhood.
Later, through their repeated encounters and time spent together, whenever others maliciously belittled him, Xie Weiheng protected him and took care of every detail for him. He also overruled all objections and patiently guided him, step by step, onto the path to success.
Min Fenghe couldn't help genuinely falling for him, and began looking forward wholeheartedly to their wedding.
He imagined that perhaps they really could break free of worldly constraints and become a devoted couple.
Yet all those fantasies turned into bubbles as Xie Weiheng grew increasingly cold and calculating after they married.
When Min Fenghe learned that Xie Weiheng had married a lowborn man like him only to dispel the suspicions of those in power and buy himself enough time to eliminate his rivals, using him as a cover, Min Fenghe's heart shattered.
After spending a month trying to win him back and breaking down in heartbreak time and again to no avail, Min Fenghe resolutely chose to divorce him.
Xie Weiheng, however, refused to agree. He declared that they would each get what they wanted until their goals were achieved, and even resorted to threatening Min Fenghe with the younger sister he cared about most.
Min Fenghe closed his eyes in pain, utterly disheartened and forced to give in.
But from that moment on, he would never love Xie Weiheng again or give him even the slightest bit of genuine affection.
*
Xie Weiheng breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally persuaded his wife to cooperate with him. He had thought he would feel at ease, but his heart felt strangely empty, as though he had lost a precious treasure, and the ache was unbearable.
He thought it would be enough for him and his wife to get along harmoniously as they always had. He had not expected the familiar sight of his wife attending to him by lamplight and the comfort of his gentle confidant to disappear, nor the traces of their married life, once everywhere he looked, to fade away one by one.
His mind was filled with images of his wife chatting and laughing happily with someone else. The usually calm, meticulous man lost his composure and could no longer sit still.
Late one night, he burst without restraint into the room that was his wife's in name and in truth, swept him up in his arms, and tossed him onto the bed. He stared down at those eyes that had always been calm and emotionless, demanding,
"What will it take for you to go back to the way you were before?!"
Older, guiding lover / marriage first, love later / the powerful one falls / pawn becomes wife / the chase to win back a spouse turns into a road to ruin / the old flame catches fire, the aloof beauty finally falls for him and eats his words
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Theme: You have to take the initiative to create and seize opportunities.
