Tower of Despair

When Guan Tanyue was ten, the family's hired laborer brought along his young son, who had no one to look after him. The boy was named Wei Fuzhou.

Guan Tanyue's mother disliked him intensely and warned her daughter more than once not to play with a poor wretch like Wei Fuzhou.

Guan Tanyue listened.

Over the years, she learned from her mother and did many cruel things.

She dumped her leftovers into his bowl; folded his study materials into paper airplanes; and, when she saw him being beaten downstairs, shut the doors and windows in annoyance, even as the sound of his ribs breaking rang in her ears.

"I'll come back," eighteen-year-old Wei Fuzhou told her, his eyes deep and dark, before leaving the Guan household.

Guan Tanyue didn't take him seriously.

Later, the Guan family faced bankruptcy, and Wei Fuzhou was the only person they could turn to.

He rose to become the leading figure in Shencheng and forcibly married Guan Tanyue under the pretext of saving her family, as if he meant to repay her for every humiliation he'd suffered back then.

-

After the wedding, they each got what they wanted. Wei Fuzhou rescued the Guan family from ruin, while Guan Tanyue became a caged bird, entirely at his mercy.

He kept her locked up, wouldn't let her go out, forced her to share his bed, and installed dozens of surveillance cameras around the house to monitor her every move.

Every night, while the girl slept, he would open his greedy, snake-like eyes and gaze at her snow-white body from head to toe.

His boundless desire seemed ready to seep from his very bones.

Until Guan Tanyue discovered his twisted love for her.

Unable to endure the torment, she ran away with another man.

She thought she could return to a life of freedom, but when she opened her eyes, she was back here again.

That night, Wei Fuzhou completely lost control. Amid repeated, hazy moments of intimacy, he bit her shoulder. "Guan Tanyue, run away one more time and see what happens."

"Do you love him or me?"

"Say you love me."

Guan Tanyue trembled with fear, but still refused to give in, her eyes red. "Wei Fuzhou, you're a lunatic. I'll die before I love you."

-

The person Wei Fuzhou hated most in this life was the Guan family, and the person he hated most was Guan Tanyue.

He couldn't forget how the girl had looked down at him, like a cold-blooded princess. When she was in a good mood, she'd toss him a bone. When she wasn't, she wouldn't even spare him a glance.

He used every means at his disposal to bankrupt the Guan family. Once he finally married her, he was still like a pathetic dog, desperate for her love.

The girl only looked at him with coquettish eyes full of disgust and contempt.

Wei Fuzhou remembered that sweltering summer when a group of people beat him until he was covered in mud and blood.

The girl stood above him in a flowing white dress, glancing down at him as lightly as a feather.

In his devastated world, he had once thought she was an angel.

He had longed for the angel to save him.

He never imagined that the angel wanted him to go to hell.

"I want you to rot here with me, and never escape."

Spoiled heiress and pianist × family servant turned business tycoon

Arrogant and vain vs. gloomy and obsessive

*The heroine has had previous partners; the hero is sexually inexperienced. Imperfect characters, happy ending.

*An unconventional marriage-first, love-later story / coercive romance.

*The main story begins at their reunion, interspersed with flashbacks to the hero's time as a family servant.

*Content note: The heroine's family goes bankrupt at the start, but this is absolutely not just to make the hero look good. After her parents sell her to him, the heroine finally realizes that she's been living in a false bubble of affection and a warped value system. After marriage, she works constantly to better herself and escape the hero's control, growing from a spoiled heiress into an excellent pianist. She's a resilient, strong heroine.

The hero is unhealthy in both mind and body. He both hates and loves the heroine, and his love goes unreturned. He's a deranged, twisted pervert with an extreme need for control. Don't read if that's not for you.

Upcoming novel: Jade in the Fold. Blurb:

Fang Li was sent to live with another family when she was eight, where she gained a nominal older brother.

He was aloof, quiet, and mature beyond his years. Fang Li was a little afraid of him at first, but later realized he was more reliable than anyone.

Again and again, he pulled her back from the brink. He was beaten deaf in his left ear for her, paid for her education, and protected her as she grew up.

Everyone thought they were siblings by blood.

Only Fang Li knew her feelings for her brother had long since changed.

The year she finished the college entrance exams, she got into the city where her brother worked, just as she'd hoped, and naturally moved into his home.

The usually obedient younger sister dropped her disguise and bared her seductive claws.

She would forge medical records to get permission to live at home when the school required students to stay in the dorms. After showering, she'd sneak into her brother's shirt and leave two buttons undone on purpose. While watching horror movies, she'd pretend to be scared and hide in his arms, breathing against his neck.

On a stormy night, she trembled with fear and looked at him with tearful eyes, clinging to him. "Fang Jue..."

The man's expression changed. He pushed her hands away, his voice colder than she'd ever heard it. "You should call me Brother."

From then on, Fang Jue stayed out from early morning until late at night, and the two barely saw each other.

-

Fang Li gradually gave up and stopped hoping for anything. From then on, people began knocking on the door all the time, and countless boys came by with flowers.

Fang Jue's expression grew darker by the day.

He began asking about her new male friends, and if she wasn't home by ten at night, he'd call to check on her.

Outsiders joked that he acted less like her brother and more like a jealous boyfriend.

Until he caught his younger sister kissing another man in the stairwell.

That night, Fang Jue lost his composure for the first time. He locked her in the room, ignoring the knocking outside.

Like a wolf gone wild, he forced her into a corner and pinned both her wrists with one hand. With the other, he gripped her chin and kissed her fiercely.

The word "Brother" died in her throat. As the girl stared at him in terror, he leaned close to her ear, his hot breath brushing it. "I'm not going to be your brother anymore."

His voice was hoarse, his gaze icy, his ferocity beyond words. "Tell him to get lost. Don't make me say it twice."

Theme: Learn to love.