Crimson Undercurrents

A work in which the author was possessed by someone else. Not recommended.

Obsessive powerful man x clever fake innocent

That night, Ji Qiudong fell in love with Wen Ling at first sight.

Though, to be precise, it was lust at first sight.

Beneath the dim, hazy lights, glasses clinked and the room buzzed with conversation. She sat some distance away, her cool, pristine air standing out against the crowd.

Ji Qiudong watched her from afar. Her beautiful eyes passed over him without a trace of interest as she chatted and lifted her glass, gently taking another man's arm.

The smile faded from Ji Qiudong's eyes. His fingers absently stroked the glass in his hand.

It was their first meeting, yet somehow she stirred his possessiveness. What expression would that face make if it were right in front of him?

Once desire caught fire, it only burned stronger, until one day it would finally get out of control.

--

Everyone in the industry knew that Ji, the powerful CEO of the Ji Group in Longcheng, had become the patron of rising star Wen Ling. Wen Ling was beautiful and sophisticated, and many wealthy patrons had tried and failed to win her over.

But the rumors were wrong. Wen Ling treated Ji Qiudong as nothing more than her boss. Her boss was clingy and insisted on taking her everywhere. The man surnamed Ji looked refined and aloof, but he had an overwhelming need to control everything. Meeting him was the greatest trial of her life.

Wen Ling's rule for dealing with people was simple: as long as they didn't cross her bottom line, avoid conflict whenever possible.

They were only keeping each other company over meals. There was no need to put up a fight to the death.

Wen Ling had always thought she was discreet enough to handle her beast in gentleman's clothing of a patron. She never expected his appetite to grow day by day.

Then one night, her drunk patron suddenly grabbed her wrist, pinned both her hands above her head against the wall, and loomed over her, blocking out her view. She couldn't break free.

It all happened without warning.

"Have you never, not even once, really liked me?" His breath beat hot and heavy against her ear. His dazed, restrained, frantic gaze locked onto hers as he waited, with little patience, for an answer.

"..."

Wen Ling faced his loss of control without flinching. She met his eyes, calm as still water. "Did I do something to upset you?"

Her patron stared at her with deep, shadowed eyes for a long time. Then he gave a hoarse, bitter laugh.

She had always been this way: composed and clever. Her calm, gentle face had never shown a hint of panic or loss of control. To be precise, she'd never lost control for him.

She was like a beautiful, cold porcelain vase.

And yet, without even realizing it, he had fallen deeper and deeper for her.

Like him? Wen Ling turned those words over in her mind, and sometimes she would look up and secretly study his stern face.

He didn't know that once, one summer long ago, she had been flustered and lost control, but at the time he hadn't cared at all.

"Roses don't smell that good, and even the most expensive wine tastes dry going down. I don't actually like great swathes of red. They look like a bloody mess. Everyone feels things differently. Sometimes what is honey to one person is poison to another. The things you think are romantic don't make me happy, either."

The leads aren't perfect. Don't read if you dislike melodrama. Happy ending.

There is a long road to win her back.

Cover background image gratefully credited to Rednote user Feng Wan.

Next novel preview: The King's Game

Theme: You fill my heart and my eyes