Pampered Darling

[Sharp-tongued, soft-hearted bad woman × scheming younger woman]

[Ten-year age gap]

[Fake stepmother]

Also known as: What do you do when you run into a top-tier seductress before you've even left the beginner's village?

Why didn't anyone tell me looking after my boss's daughter would mean getting myself tangled up too?

Didn't you say you hated me? Why do you keep coming onto me?

Blurb One:

Pei Xi is twenty-eight and has become the mother of an eighteen-year-old.

It's absurd, but she's really become a mother.

Luckily, the kid seems pretty well-behaved.

To set a good example, Pei Xi stopped drinking and stopped going to the bar. She made sure to get home by eight every night, doing her best to play the part of a kind and considerate mother.

It didn't take long for the kid's bad habits to show. At first, Pei Xi didn't pay much attention, assuming it was just a rebellious phase.

Then one night, after Pei Xi got drunk at a work event and didn't come home, the kid suddenly tried to run away. With the college entrance exam coming up, Pei Xi had to sweet-talk her into coming back so the task could be completed successfully.

After that, Pei Xi indulged her more and more, giving her whatever she wanted. She thought it would make the kid remember how good she'd been to her, but the girl really was ungrateful.

She told Pei Xi to stop interfering, contradicted her at every turn, insulted her, and played tricks on her.

Pei Xi patiently put up with it all.

All she had to do was raise the kid until she came of age, then she could leave. After four months of raising her with all her heart, Pei Xi finally saw the girl graduate from high school and become an adult. She smiled at her.

"Kid, welcome to adulthood. This is the first lesson I'm teaching you: goodbye."

With that, Pei Xi walked away without looking back.

But two months later, the kid came looking for her at the bar, begging her to take care of her.

Blurb Two:

The year Lin Qi turned seventeen, her deadbeat father finally died. At the same time, a woman who claimed to be her stepmother appeared.

Her stepmother was young, tall and leggy, with fair skin and stunning looks. She even spoke in the mature, husky voice Lin Qi liked best. She was gentle and thoughtful, and Lin Qi quickly fell for her.

To get her stepmother's attention, Lin Qi deliberately acted against her wishes. All she wanted was for the woman to devote all her attention to her.

But her stepmother was far too calm, leaving Lin Qi anxious and insecure on lonely nights. Whenever the woman wasn't around, Lin Qi would seek comfort in her room.

Four months passed, and someone saw through her childish games. On the day after Lin Qi came of age, everything in the house that belonged to the woman was cleared out.

She never thought those words she'd said against her true feelings would all come true. Only when she could no longer find a single trace of the woman did Lin Qi realize how many mistakes she'd made.

When she saw that woman again, she was wearing a short black backless dress, sitting among a group of people and laughing with dazzling abandon.

It was the most genuine version of her Lin Qi had ever seen.

Lin Qi wanted to apologize and ask her to keep taking care of her, to tell her she would behave now and listen.

The woman listened in silence, then asked, "What are we to each other?"

Later, Lin Qi watched Pei Xi bring one different person after another into the bar and frantically sent her messages to complain:

"This one's not as pretty as me. Your taste is terrible."

"This one's not as tall as me. Don't you care about a woman's figure? What was the point of me building all that muscle?"

"This one's not as rich as me. You even have to pay for her drinks."

"Oh, right. I changed the beneficiary of my personal accident insurance to you. Don't think it's a scam when they call you."

Pei Xi: ?

"I was once withered. Love is what nurtured me."

Reading guide: 1. The older woman has a messy romantic past, the older woman has a messy romantic past, the older woman has a messy romantic past! But she has never slept with a man.

2. There is no romance before the younger woman comes of age.

3. The female characters are all flawed. Please don't start insulting them or making nasty comments over certain plot points.

4. The story is almost entirely about women. The male characters are only there when the plot needs them, and they play minor roles.

5. The pursuer suffers most; the love interest is a jerk and the pursuer is a masochist.

6. Some scenes may be uncomfortable. Apologies in advance!

7. The writing isn't great, and some plot points don't hold up to scrutiny. Apologies for the amateur writing.

Theme: Even a withered tree can bloom again. Love can nourish flesh and blood.