Hard to Tempt [GL]

When Qin Ning learned that the Qin family was on the verge of bankruptcy, she was in a bar, splashing money around to build a champagne tower. She had just taken a sip. The scarlet wine rippled in her glass, and the dim bar lighting softened her delicate features.

Countless people had tried to get close to the eldest daughter of the fabulously wealthy Qin family.

Watching the fervent gazes fixed on her, Qin Ning covered her phone, her expression unruffled.

She didn't want to go bankrupt.

So what could she do to save the Qin family?

Luo Dieying was the dazzling pearl of an elite family. She had a pair of tender eyes, but a heart devoid of feeling. Having seen the hypocrisy and discord of the wealthy, she naturally had little hope for love.

She never went out to social events, and few people knew her. She had thought she would spend the rest of her life painting.

She never expected to meet the irreverent Qin Ning outside a therapist's office.

Rain poured down beneath a sky thick with dark clouds, yet in weather like this, Qin Ning's face was frighteningly beautiful.

Luo Dieying looked at Qin Ning's damp hair and delicate features, and felt her heart begin to tremble despite herself.

Their eyes met. Qin Ning glanced at her shabby clothes and, without the slightest hesitation, held out her umbrella.

"It's pouring outside."

"Here, little one. Hold on to the umbrella."

Later, she shielded Qin Ning from the wind and rain and cleared the obstacles from her path, all so she could watch Qin Ning laugh freely even after the storm had passed.

Meanwhile, another quiet figure was watching Qin Ning.

That was Gu Shi, the discarded daughter of the Gu family. She had planned to use Qin Ning to achieve her goal of reclaiming the Gu family, but before she knew it, Qin Ning's audacious, unrestrained nature had stirred her heart.

One was an elegant, romantic "poor painter," aloof and proud, yet full of vulnerabilities that always made people want to tease her.

The other was a cold, shrewd, and gloomy heiress. She smiled and said she wanted to work together, then turned around and slapped more than a dozen contracts down in front of Qin Ning.

One said, "You want to revive the Qin family? Sure, I'll help you."

The other said, "The Qin family? If you help me put those people in my clan in their place, I can buy it for you."

They were each more formidable than the last, while Qin Ning kept "pretending not to understand."

She still had a few things going for her: she knew how to put on an act, could convincingly play the CEO, and knew how to work the socialite circles.

She scraped by on the winning streak she'd faked at the gambling table, the deals she'd struck over dinner, and the glamorous image she'd projected at parties, trying to save the Qin family's last shred of hope.

But I never expected that, after I kept up the act for so long, they'd see through my disguise and make me face the most wretched version of myself.

In the end, I wanted to preserve the Qin family's dignity, but all they wanted was to protect me.

Theme: Someone will come to love you, even in the darkness.