Famous (Liu Chaoyin X Xie Kaiyun, the Parents' Story from The Star That Fell for Her)

(The bonus chapters for For Her featured a lot of Liu Xie, and after much deliberation, I still love them. I'll start posting once I've built up more of a collection.)

"You said I was famous, so I'll become one of the most famous women in the world."

A woman with successful parents might be famous for being a rich young lady. A woman with a successful husband might be famous for being a wealthy man's wife.

Liu Chaoyin had both, but she only wanted to be herself, famous for her own success.

She would not be a famous jewel adorning the world. She would become a world of her own.

1.

When she was eighteen, Liu Chaoyin was studying in Paris when she met Xie Kaiyun for the first time.

A hellish bastard, hellishly exceptional, hellishly charming: the worst kind of man.

He exposed her family background.

"Liu Chaoyin, English name Crystal Liu. Youngest daughter of Liu Shenghong, the famous Hong Kong and Macau entrepreneur, and Yan Qionghua, the famous singer."

"Miss Liu, you're very famous."

2.

Later, Liu Chaoyin and Xie Kaiyun fell in love, got married, had children, and started a business. They had a daughter and a son, and built a world-class company.

She stood by his side at the height of his success, and went from being the famous Miss Liu to the famous Mrs. Xie.

She still loved him, but no longer wanted to be with him.

3.

At forty-three, Liu Chaoyin and Xie Kaiyun announced their divorce, and she returned to Paris.

On a winter night in Paris, the man lost count of how many times she had kicked him out over the years.

She told him over the phone:

"Kaiser, twenty-five years ago, I was interning at H Group. You were my boss, and the first time you exposed my family background, you said my father was the famous entrepreneur Liu Shenghong and my mother was the famous singer Yan Qionghua. You said I was famous. Right then, I thought I would become one of the most famous women in the world, just as you said. Back then, I wanted to be the world's most famous perfumer, Crystal Liu. I always thought you would become the first Chinese person to lead a European luxury goods group."

"Eight years ago, when Chaokai went public, the first report on our shared wealth came out. The newspaper called us 'the Xie Kaiyun couple.' It really bothered me. I wondered if one day a headline might say 'Liu Chaoyin and her husband.'"

"I want to be famous, but even more than that, I want to be myself. I don't want to take my parents' surname or my husband's name. I want Liu Chaoyin to be Liu Chaoyin, and Crystal Liu to be Crystal Liu."

Liu Chaoyin went on: "Xie Kaiyun, if marriage is like a job, then you're definitely a perfect boss. First, the pay is great and the workload is light. I've never been short of money all these years, and I've never had to worry about daily expenses. At most, I've worried about the kids and my career. Second, you know how to nurture your employees. You sent me to study, gave me the authority to run the business independently, and taught me how to get things done. I remember all of that. And you offer excellent perks, meeting both my emotional and physical needs very well."

"But sometimes I wonder: isn't this unfair? Why are you the one in charge of me, instead of me being in charge of you?"

"I understand. I'll make it happen."

Even then, that was all Xie Kaiyun said.

Any assessment of Xie Kaiyun would be complicated. An ambitious man, a speculator, a bastard, a gambler.

His arrogance and ruthlessness had turned him from a violent delinquent from a fallen family into a business magnate worth hundreds of billions.

But if you asked Xie Kaiyun what the biggest gamble of his life was, he would probably answer with three words: Liu Chaoyin.

I'll stake everything on you. I'll bow to you.

You want to be famous? I'll make you one of the most famous women in the world.

Liu Chaoyin x Xie Kaiyun

Red rose x stray dog

The dazzling transformation of a rich young lady / A powerful man goes through hell to win his wife back

Twenty-eight years of loving and fighting without end / Marry, divorce, remarry / From the old century to the new / A luxury goods and real estate industry story

Theme: The self that never dies