A Night of Indulgence in Beijing and Hong Kong [Marriage Before Love]

·Scheming older man with a doting, fatherly streak x brilliant, cool, and independent

·Married from the start | Sweet married life | He falls first

*

Arranged marriages between prominent families are nothing new, but the union of the Nan family of Jing City and the Shang family of Harbor City sent shockwaves through high society on both sides of the strait.

One was Harbor City's wealthiest old-money family, presiding over a vast business empire;

the other was Jing City's hotel queen, whose businesses controlled half the mainland market.

They seemed made for each other, yet six months into their marriage, they had met only three times.

The first was a video call before the proposal.

The second was the formal proposal.

The third was the day they registered their marriage in Harbor City.

*

To Nan Zhi, money and work were both more practical and dependable than a man. She never expected this marriage of mutual benefit to involve feelings, and she didn't need Shang Junting to fall for her, either.

At first, Shang Junting thought the same way.

Marriage had never been a necessity in his life. He had simply gone along with his elders' arrangements.

They could act like a loving couple in public and be strangers in private. As long as they maintained a peaceful facade and shared goals, that was enough.

Even when he heard she was meeting up with another man from her past, he merely smiled without batting an eye. “He's just some irrelevant outsider.”

But later, seeing the tear tracks at the corners of her eyes, her swollen lips, and the vulnerable flush he'd forced into her gaze, Shang Junting finally realized that in this series of seemingly one-sided contests, he was the first to lose his head.

*

On a freezing winter night, the financial news was still reporting on London's hundred-billion-yuan acquisition deal when the doorbell pierced the howling wind.

Shang Junting stood in the warm glow of the entryway.

His tie was loose and his suit jacket was unbuttoned. He must have been worn down by the long journey. He looked less immaculate than usual, but his eyes were bright, reflecting the warm light and her stunned face.

“Weren't you in London?”

He stepped forward and drew her into his arms. “Last time, you said we'd never watched the snow together.”

Just because the forecast called for snow in Jing City, he had crossed seven time zones to reach her before the first snowflake fell, keeping a promise about the snow.

Reader's note:

SC | He is four years older | Their marriage catches fire after years of neglect

The hero is Harbor City's top magnate, a powerful man who holds the rules in his hands, not just the money. But more authoritative than his status is his love for his wife!

A model husband, his life's creed is to love and protect his wife!

Coming next: Stealing the Rain

Blurb:

Meng Zhiyu was traveling abroad when she rescued a man.

He was mixed-race, with red lips, pearly white teeth, and eyes that weren't quite black, but held a hint of deep blue.

They got along wonderfully over two days and one night.

To avoid trouble, Meng Zhiyu didn't tell him her real name.

During the first couple of days after returning home, Meng Zhiyu occasionally thought of that handsome man, and of the way he looked down at her on their last night, as well as his particularly sexy... voice. But soon, she forgot this insignificant interlude in her life.

A month later, Meng Zhiyu walked out of her dorm.

“Zhiyu.”

“Jinxia?”

Her gaze shifted from her current boyfriend's face to the man beside him, and Meng Zhiyu froze.

How had he tracked her down in Jing City? She'd clearly told him she lived in Tianhai!

Meng Zhiyu took her current boyfriend's hand and walked over, feigning calm.

“What a coincidence, running into you here.”

It wasn't a coincidence. To find her, his people had nearly turned all of China upside down.

Rico suppressed the urge to crush the man's hand in hers, then looked up and smiled.

“I forgot to tell you my Chinese name last time.”

The wind swept the hair from his forehead. He bent down, all six-foot-three of him, and met her eyes with a look so innocent and harmless it could fool anyone.

“My name is Xie Yu. It sounds like 'stealing rain.'”

*

Feide, also known as Rico, is the most cunning and ruthless heir the Vittorino family has had in a century.

And he's only twenty-four.

Everyone who meets him says he's handsome, but it doesn't take long for them to add the word “psycho.”

He's willing to believe that “Endless Summer” is her pet name, and that she made up a seaside city because she loves the ocean.

But that doesn't mean he can accept any other man at her side.

//

Heroine's traits: little ray of sunshine / brains to match / knows how to soothe people and how to deceive them

Hero's traits: gloomy and obsessive / size difference / stealing her away / a scheming green tea

The hero is mixed-race, six-foot-three, broad-shouldered with a lean back, eight-pack abs, long slender fingers, and pink nails.

Theme: Stay optimistic and keep moving forward