Office romance | High-stakes testing | Hong Kong tycoon family | A touch of coercive love
*A story about a gorgeous fox spirit who thinks she's gotten away with it, though her fox tail has been showing all along.
Gorgeous heart-stealer vs. ultra-controlling dom
The moment the thought of running away from her wedding crossed her mind, Yi Na wondered if she had gone insane.
After all, the man who proposed to her was Shen Yuanxing. As the 22nd-generation heir to a top-tier tycoon family, he had everything going for him, both in his background and career. He controlled a financial empire worth hundreds of billions, and was elegant, distinguished, and utterly composed.
When he was stern, he could make everyone afraid to even breathe.
When she first met Shen Yuanxing, she twirled a lock of hair by her ear and greeted him with poise. "Mr. Shen, I know where your name comes from. In the Qian trigram, line nine, fourth: 'Leaping into the abyss, no blame.'*"
Outside the window, Victoria Harbour shimmered with blue waves and glittering light. A hint of interest appeared in the man's otherwise unruffled eyes.
Their conversation went swimmingly, and she handed him her business card at just the right moment.
The address on the card said she lived in Wan Chai, and that both her parents were highly educated. She was a daughter of fortune, from a good family, the perfect bride for any wealthy family.
In truth, she grew up on Sham Shui Street*, living in a tiny subdivided flat where there was barely room to turn around. She would never forget the stench from the sewer grates, baked under the blazing sun.
Their relationship developed at breakneck speed, like a force of nature.
How could it not? No one in the world had studied Shen Yuanxing more devotedly than she had. Making him fall in love with her was a carefully planned scam.
-
Rumor had it that the young heir of the Shen family had been played by a woman. The lofty young master had let a brief affair break through his defenses.
After Yi Na's true identity was exposed, the people who used to cling to her all cut ties, afraid of being dragged down with her.
And yet, no one knew.
In a foreign country, in the dim, cramped stairwell of a rented apartment, he pinned her against the wall. The rusty, fading light cast dangerous shadows.
"Mr. Shen, I'm sorry. I lied to you." Yi Na forced herself to stay calm.
A hint of madness stirred in Shen Yuanxing's eyes. His rough palm pressed against her chest, hard enough to hurt.
"I knew you were a liar from the start."
"So why didn't you keep lying?"
"Yi Na, my little Miss Liar, I know the crumbs of broken biscuits outnumber the sincere words you say. And yet, and yet."
Inspired by Somerset Maugham's The Painted Veil
"I know your aims, your ideals. I know you're a snob, a vulgar woman. And yet I love you.
I know you're second-rate, and yet I love you."
Reading guide:
1. Happy ending, single-couple romance.
2. The heroine is very imperfect. If you need a perfect heroine, please read with caution. If you do read it, please don't criticize her. Thank you.
3. "The first asterisk refers to the I Ching and the origin of the hero's name. Sham Shui Street" is based on a real place in Hong Kong, but the district in this story is fictional, hence the note. *The second asterisk refers to a haiku by Kobayashi Issa: 'I know this world is like dew, fleeting, and yet, and yet.' The line here is an adaptation.
Theme: True love offers the chance to start over
