No More Updates

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I didn't establish the characters well, and the book went downhill fast. I couldn't capture the feeling I wanted, so continuing would just be a waste of time. I'm stopping here. I'll keep the basic premise and start over with new characters, backgrounds, and a story.

My next book is Kiss Your Brooding Older Brother. Add it to your favorites if you're interested. Here's the blurb:

After her father died in service, Bao Jia was sent to the Xie residence. There she met Xie Anfeng for the first time: a pale young man with hair bound by a wooden hairpin, as ghastly as a vengeful spirit.

Over the next few years, Bao Jia watched Xie Anfeng carry his terrible vendetta on his shoulders, climb a ladder paved with the bones of nobles, and become a regent with power over the court.

In the capital, everyone feared him. Bao Jia alone dared to stand on tiptoe and kiss his bloodstained jaw.

Only then would the murderous intent churning inside Xie Anfeng subside. A hint of a smile would slowly appear in his lifeless eyes.

*

Ever since childhood, Xie Anfeng had been unable to sense other people's emotions, and he himself felt almost nothing. To him, killing a person was no different from killing a chicken.

Those around him loathed and feared him. They whispered behind his back that he wasn't normal, yet they were afraid to meet his eyes and hurried away with their heads bowed.

Xie Anfeng never cared what ordinary people thought of him.

Until one year, a small, soft hand timidly took his. A sweet, rosy-cheeked girl smiled at him like camellias touched by the spring breeze.

In that moment, Xie Anfeng's dark world lit up.

*

[Only when Bao Jia is with him does his world shine.]

But Bao Jia was too timid and needed to be protected.

Xie Anfeng began visiting the theaters, studying the actors' every expression, then disguised himself as a refined gentleman and personally taught Bao Jia to write.

After interrogating prisoners, Xie Anfeng took care to wipe every drop of blood from his hands. On his way home, he would stop at a street stall to buy Bao Jia a bag of her favorite roasted chestnuts.

The hands that had crushed his political enemies' jaws were soft and warm when they cupped Bao Jia's face to kiss her. The long legs that had stomped in skulls were her favorite warm place to curl up and read.

Even in bed, he was always restrained and proper, putting her needs before his own.

After each tender moment, Bao Jia would snuggle against him and hear him ask in a hoarse voice, "Bao Jia, will you stay with me and love me for the rest of your life?"

Bao Jia would cheerfully reply, "Of course! I love you most, Brother."

She didn't notice that as she answered, Xie Anfeng's cold gaze rested on her snow-white neck, as if one word from her would be enough for him to snap it.

Then he could hold her cold body for all eternity.

P.S. 1. From the very first line of Chapter One, everyone who appears in this book knows that the male and female leads are not blood relatives.

2. The male lead will never hurt the heroine. When he goes mad, he only hurts himself.

Theme: Love can cross mountains and seas