Hard to Leave the Harbor of Desire

At eighteen, after her adoptive father tore up Bai Menghe's college acceptance letter, she did something utterly reckless: she enrolled under the identity of a wealthy heiress, gambling on a chance to escape her bleak, hopeless life. But once she arrived, her clumsy impersonation made her the target of ridicule and suspicion. Just when she was walking on eggshells, Yan Ning, the heir to the wealthy Yan family, entered her world like a ray of light. Yan Ning was born into privilege, with an air of refined elegance, yet he gave her endless favoritism and unwavering support without asking for anything in return. He was a deadly whirlpool, drawing her deeper and deeper. Not long after, her true identity was exposed: she was the real daughter lost by the wealthy Bai family. This revelation also cleared the way for her to marry Yan Ning, making her the most envied and celebrated Mrs. Yan in all of Hong Kong. Until one day after their wedding, when the fake heiress returned from abroad. Bai Menghe saw her leaning drunkenly against Yan Ning, sobbing: "Brother, I know you only chose her because you were disappointed in me. But that year, you comforted me and said we'd be together once I got into college. Did none of that mean anything?" Only then did Bai Menghe learn she was merely a cover for their true love, an insignificant stand-in. ** After two years of separation, Yan Ning finally returned to Hong Kong. Countless people waited to see her make a fool of herself, but Bai Menghe had long since lost hope. All she wanted was to move the divorce forward. On the day she received the divorce papers, heavy snow blanketed the entire city. Beneath the dim streetlights, Yan Ning, who had never once lost control, kept tugging at the hem of her skirt, his eyes bloodshot. "Do you want me to die?" Only later did Bai Menghe learn what a madman this seemingly composed man was, and how readily he would trample reason underfoot. She also learned how wildly he had defied convention for her, and what an enormous lie he had once spun.