The Snow Melts Away

. My next book is "Plucking the Delicate Flower". The blurb is at the end. Click to expand~

[Gentle, clinging vine x Cold, obsessive CEO x Arrogant, unruly playboy]

In the second year of her relationship with Xie Yumu, Wen Xu received the news that he was getting engaged.

So it turned out he wasn't against getting married. He just didn't want to marry her.

She packed her things and prepared to leave the villa. Xie Yumu sat on the sofa, pinched the cigarette between his fingers, and put it out with a mocking smile. "Wen Xu, you've grown a backbone."

As her hand touched the doorknob, his cool, indifferent voice came from behind her. "I still have the surveillance footage of your brother smashing things at the company."

"If I want to, I can have him locked up for a year or two at any time."

At that moment, Wen Xu felt as if her heart had been cut open. She was nothing but a bird in his hand, unable to escape the gilded cage.

*

From the first moment Pei Jiayang saw Wen Xu, he hated the way she nestled in the arms of his "future brother-in-law." Whenever he thought of how his sister had been hurt and saddened over Xie Yumu, his dislike of this woman who pretended to be gentle only grew.

At first, he only wanted to drive a wedge between the two of them. He disregarded her wishes and kissed her forcefully in front of Xie Yumu.

Gradually, he found himself paying attention to her every move without realizing it. Then he saw the ambiguous marks Xie Yumu had left on her body, and listened as she told him of her pain and confusion. The desire hidden deep within him began to stir.

"Why don't you move out of the villa? I'll find you somewhere else to stay."

Later, his overwhelming love conquered what little reason he had left. He grabbed Wen Xu firmly by the shoulders and demanded she leave with him.

But the hesitation and confusion in the young woman's eyes had already given him an unspoken answer.

In the end, Pei Jiayang crushed all his pride and self-respect. Drunk, he lay across her lap and begged, "Wen Xu, I don't need a title. Please don't make me leave, okay?"

*

Rain poured down outside the car. Xie Yumu stood in front of it, drenched from head to toe, and saw Wen Xu and Pei Jiayang nestled close together inside the sports car. Pain pierced his heart like a thousand arrows.

In his twenty-nine years, he had never been so miserable. He cast aside his dignity and struck the car window hard, again and again, until blood trickled from between his fingers.

Only after a long while did Wen Xu stroll out, holding an umbrella.

Xie Yumu, nearly six foot three, hunched over and grabbed the hem of her clothes with trembling hands, humbling himself as never before. "Xiao Xu, when are you coming back? Fufu won't eat any kind of cat food at home. It misses you..."

Wen Xu looked down at him in silence.

Rain ran in streams down his sharply defined face. He raised his eyes to look at her, his voice growing slightly hoarse. "I do too."

Reader's Guide:

1. Includes a single-perspective narrative twist. There are no purely bad people, and everything will be explained later.

2. The second male lead gets the girl.

3. All male characters are sexually inexperienced.

Next Book: Coming Soon, "Plucking the Delicate Flower"

Su Rui has only a high school diploma. Fortunately, she's fair-skinned, beautiful, and naturally blessed with good looks, which have given her the ambition to climb into high society. After a carefully planned encounter at a bar, she successfully becomes Lin Tingzhou's housekeeper and moves into his home to take care of his daily needs.

Everything goes unusually smoothly after that. Lin Tingzhou presents her with a ten-carat diamond ring and says he wants to marry her.

She pretends to be overcome with emotion, accepts with tears in her eyes, and slips the heavy ring onto her ring finger.

Though Lin Tingzhou has a disability in his leg, he's handsome and rich, and both his parents are dead. For a woman of her background, he couldn't be a better match.

He wants to introduce her to his best friend. She thinks it will be an ordinary dinner, and that she can get through it as usual by pretending to be an innocent little white flower.

But the man across the dinner table scrutinizes her for a long time with a ruthless gaze that seems to see right through her. At last, in front of Lin Tingzhou, he says bluntly, "She's not good enough for you."

Su Rui's smile freezes on her face. She can hardly wait to twist him into knots.

Anyone who tries to stop her from marrying into a wealthy family is her enemy.

*

In the spacious fitting room of a bridal shop, the zipper on Su Rui's back suddenly gets stuck. No matter how hard she pulls, it won't budge.

The door quietly opens. Her slender shoulders and neck tremble, but she quickly regains her composure.

The only man who could walk in so openly must be her fiancé, Lin Tingzhou.

She raises her foxlike eyes and deliberately pulls the zipper all the way down. Her smooth, fair skin gleams under the light, soft and enticing as milk.

Su Rui straightens her back, facing away from the mirror, and softens her voice on purpose. "Tingzhou, could you help me with my zipper...?"

The footsteps draw closer. The man's fingertips trace from her shoulder blade down to her waist, sending a teasing shiver through her.

He suddenly turns her around. She backs away in alarm, and just before she hits the table, the back of his hand presses against her waist.

A dark smile curls on Zhou Siyun's lips as he leans closer. "Miss Su, is this how you usually seduce Tingzhou?"

*

Later, Zhou Siyun couldn't tell whether it was his own selfishness or a genuine desire to protect his friend that made him hesitate for so long before finally telling Lin Tingzhou all the ways Su Rui had deliberately manipulated her way into his life.

In a private club, Lin Tingzhou sits on a long sofa, holding a glass of red wine. He has swirled it for ages but hasn't taken a sip. His expression is almost undisturbed. "Is that all? Tell me something I don't know."

Zhou Siyun sits across from him with a cigarette between his fingers. Smoke swirls between them, obscuring his friend's expression. His own hand trembles. Ash from the burnt-out cigarette falls onto the back of his hand, but his wandering thoughts leave him unable to feel even the slightest pain.

With a sharp crack, the wineglass shatters into two pieces on the coffee table. The bright red wine, mixed with blood, trickles between Lin Tingzhou's fingers.

His voice is no longer as gentle as before. "So what? I break up with Su Rui and hand her over to you?"

Theme: Love life.