Breaking Out

[Urban workplace drama | Down-on-her-luck, well-behaved elite x playboy nepo baby | Reborn after breaking free | A portrait of women in finance]

Cheng Anning's life had once been like a carefully bound hardcover book, every chapter marked with glamorous accolades: the youngest vice president at an investment bank at twenty-five, the best education, a home in the finest apartment district, and a handsome, thoughtful fiance who was a rising star in the investment world, just like a prince in a fairy tale.

Everyone envied her perfect life, and even she believed in it.

She never imagined it was all an illusion at the edge of a cliff, a beautiful lie she had told herself.

Her fiance's gentleness was a carefully crafted disguise; his success was a fraud built on deception. When the truth came out, he didn't hesitate to pin all the blame on her and shove her into the abyss.

Overnight, she went from investment banking star to public enemy number one. Forced to resign, she watched her career hit rock bottom.

Cheng Anning soaked in the luxurious bathtub of her apartment until her fingertips turned white. Gazing at her blurred reflection on the wall, she finally understood that this so-called perfect life was nothing but the most exquisite counterfeit in the game of capital, ready to be ruthlessly devalued and discarded at any moment.

To escape her shattered past, she went to France to study, hoping to piece her broken soul back together beneath the sunlight and rain of a foreign land.

She would start her life over, enjoy the sunshine, and allow herself the occasional indulgence and moments of weakness.

But she never expected that the passionate encounter she thought would be nothing more than a brief fling would change the course of her life with startling force.

Just as she would never know that, at the bottom of the abyss she thought she had fallen into, someone had already spread a net strewn with roses.

[Little Scene]

Their first meeting was a fall carefully arranged by fate.

Paris.

The night was as dark as ink. After the rain, neon lights shimmered on the cobblestone street.

Cheng Anning sat alone on a tall stool in the corner, on her sixth glass of amber liquor. The bar's lighting was alluring and suggestive, like a carefully woven web. She was the butterfly that had strayed into it, her wings already drenched in tears and alcohol.

Her fiance's betrayal and the collapse of her career had ground the halo she once took pride in into dust.

At that moment, she wanted only to numb every aching nerve with alcohol, to sink into oblivion and disappear in this foreign land.

"Another drink."

She was very drunk, tears still clinging to her lashes. To the creatures of the night, such misery and vulnerability made her the perfect prey.

Several ill-intentioned pairs of eyes had already been watching her from the shadows, trading knowing glances as if discussing how to share the "delicious meal" soon to be theirs.

"Hey, beautiful, all alone?" A greasy voice in French came at her, its intent unmistakably dangerous.

At that moment, a deep, rich male voice cut through the dangerous atmosphere like an antidote.

"My girlfriend's in a bad mood."

His voice carried a carefree smile, but there was a hint of possession and a hint of threat in it.

Cheng Anning turned around, eyes bleary with drink, and found herself facing a chest clad in a black velvet vest. She looked up dizzily and saw only a sharply defined jawline.

The Chinese waiter leaned against the bar with one hand, forming an impassable barrier.

He quietly placed himself between her and the darkness. His shadow fell over her, enclosing her in a scent of tobacco and sandalwood, dangerous yet strangely reassuring.

"Would you gentlemen like to buy her a drink?" His French was flawless, but his words carried a chilling edge that brooked no refusal, like a steel blade wrapped in velvet.

When the grinning figures had slunk out the bar door, the man looked down as she struggled to fish out her credit card to thank him.

He suddenly gave a scoff, his laughter tinged with helplessness and mockery.

"What if I'm a bad guy?"

He bent down, his warm breath brushing her earlobe. His voice was so low that it seemed only she could hear him. "Then, darling, what will you use to repay me?"

Their second meeting was inevitable, though it seemed like chance.

Shencheng.

The financial district blazed with light. Cheng Anning attended a business dinner as an M&A consultant.

She handled the toasts and chatter of the big shots with ease, her glass rarely empty, but she remained perfectly clear-headed.

Then a greasy finger "accidentally" brushed the back of her hand. The sensation was like a slug crawling over her skin, and she tensed instantly.

She frowned and endured it, leaning back slightly, when a lazy yet familiar voice sounded beside her ear.

"Allow me to introduce my girlfriend."

The room fell silent.

Cheng Anning turned and saw a tall, slender figure emerge from the shadows. His face matched the blurred silhouette she had seen under the lights of a Paris night, but now it was clear enough to make her heart race.

"You're a waiter. Are you addicted to pretending to be a big shot?" she whispered, her voice tinged with worry and nervousness. "Any one of these people could have you packed up and kicked out of Shanghai in an instant."

"Is that so?"

Mr. Liu, who had been leering at her just moments ago, suddenly went pale. "M-Mr. Huo?"

Theme: Good love helps both people become their best selves.