The Fake Gentleman

Not biologically related / Strangers in public / A powerful man who willingly bows his head At eighteen, Jiang Peiyu was brought by her mother to a palatial estate as magnificent as Versailles. Her mother told her to greet everyone. With a timid voice, she called the man in front of her, who was over fifty, “Daddy.” Then she glanced at the second-floor terrace, where a young man lounged with one arm on the railing, smoking. His cold, striking looks and refined, gentlemanly air made her jump. Her mother told her, “Call him your brother.” The ash from the cigarette in his hand fell onto her head. He smiled elegantly. “My mother’s been dead for twenty years. How come I didn’t know she gave me such a young sister?” - Later, a scandal broke out. Her mother took some of the family’s wealth and returned to China, but Jiang Peiyu was left behind. In the dead of night, the man murmured, “What do you call me?” She bit her lip. “Brother.” He coaxed her. “Say it a few more times.” - Looks run in the family. Jiang Peiyu looked about sixty percent like her mother. So did personality. Like her mother, Jiang Peiyu was good at “fooling” men by acting delicate and helpless. She told Qi Yan she would stay with him forever, then turned around and bought a ticket back to China. Just like her mother, she slipped away without a word. And started a new life. Those four years abroad became the past, and Qi Yan was forgotten along with them. One day, at a company retreat, she and a new coworker were sent to buy coffee. A black Maybach in the distance seemed to have been parked at the roadside for quite some time. A tall man in a crisp suit got out and walked toward them with a smile. His gaze was as condescending and superior as ever, but his smile was unusually warm. “Your spending has gone downhill since you left me. You’re drinking such lousy coffee and dating such a cheap man.” The coffee fell from her hand, scalding liquid spilling across the ground. But all Jiang Peiyu could think was: It’s over. She and her new coworker were both finished. Qi Yan hated lies and betrayal more than anything. She thought he would take revenge on her. But he said nothing. He simply hugged her, delighted. “You damn little liar.” “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?” Jiang Peiyu could feel his arms trembling around her. It was an extreme, pathological kind of excitement at getting back what he’d lost. -A story about a powerful man who willingly bows his head P.S. The male lead’s father and the female lead’s mother were never married. An intensely possessive bad man × a kind, easygoing, gentle girl Abroad / Six-year age gap / Size difference / Chinese-French mixed heritage The male lead develops severe separation anxiety later in the story. The male lead is a genuinely dark, low-morality character. Content warnings: Fictional setting, implausible premise, very strong male lead and weak female lead! The male and female leads’ romance begins only after their parents’ relationship has completely ended. They are not related by blood. Other stories in the same series featuring mixed-heritage male leads abroad: Skin: Rebellious girl who pretends to be good × domineering father figure Glass Lamp: A story about a dragon raised by a girl~ My next book, Twins, is coming soon. Villainous couple / Villains get what they deserve / Marriage first, love later Jiang Songyue was sick of her Freudian marriage. She wanted a divorce from her husband and to pursue the life of an independent woman she deserved. He agreed without the slightest hesitation. In the middle of his busy schedule, he coldly tossed the prenuptial property agreement in front of her. She stared at its contents in shock. She hadn’t expected him to be so guarded that he’d even take precautions against his wife. Over the years, she had built neither a career nor any savings of her own. Her independent life had never existed in the first place. And the prenuptial agreement meant that if she left, she would lose everything: The estate, the unlimited supplementary credit card, the servants who waited on her, the thousand-square-meter walk-in closet, and a capable husband... She couldn’t accept being poor, being laughed at, or returning to that home with nothing. She gritted her teeth. Fine. I’ll put up with him for one more year. Once she figured out how to take half his fortune, she’d stomp on his face in her high heels and walk away without looking back. A year later, she did indeed get her wish and stomped on his face in her high heels. But she didn’t leave. Instead, the man’s broad hand closed around her ankle as he asked, “Good girl. Do it again.” I know you’re foolish, frivolous, and thoughtless, but I love you. I know your goals and ideals are vulgar and ordinary, but I love you. I know you’re second-rate, but I love you. The Painted Veil, W. Somerset Maugham - The first time Jiang Songyue saw that powerful, influential man, one thought came to mind: I have to make him mine. Vain, fake heiress × selfish, self-serving go-getter Both leads have flaws of their own. A story about a beautiful, vain, bad woman who thinks she can rise by stepping on a man, and ends up “stepping” her way to the top. Twins: one cannot survive without the other. One can’t live without the other’s money, and the other can’t live without the other’s presence. Theme: Study hard