A Kiss of Inferior Allure

That year, Jiangcheng was hit by torrential rain, and Fang Li arrived late to her boyfriend Jin Suian’s birthday party. Dressed in her rain-soaked reporter’s clothes, she stood among the wealthy and powerful, looking wretchedly out of place. Only Jin Suian crossed through the crowd and took her hand. He led her into a world she had never belonged to. That night, Cheng Yan sat in the darkest corner of the banquet hall. Through the curling smoke, he watched someone else’s girlfriend for a long time. - Later, when Fang Li had nowhere left to turn, it was Cheng Yan who reached out to her. Back then, she thought she had finally found salvation. Only in the end did she learn the truth. Those moments that had shattered her, humiliated her, and left her with nowhere to go had all happened with his tacit approval. He watched coldly as she fell, then reached out when she was at her most desperate. Again and again, until Fang Li could no longer leave him. But in the end, he was the one who told her: “Liking someone doesn’t mean you have to marry them.” - They met again when Fang Li was twenty-nine. At a banquet, she spotted Cheng Yan at a glance. The man sat in the dimmest part of the room, looking at her across the clink of glasses and cheerful chatter. In a daze, Fang Li suddenly remembered that rainy night so many years ago. He had pinned her against his car, losing his composure for the first time. “Fang Li.” “Is liking me really such a miserable thing?” - [Powerful-man romance / false salvation / stealing someone’s love] [Cold, sensual power broker × stubborn young reporter] [He personally ruined her life, then became her savior]