A Confession to the One and Only

[Sweet, sunny girl painter + brooding, fatherly older man + tsundere, clingy, spoiled younger man; male lead and male supporting character steal each other's girl]

The head of the Shen family, Shen Jingqi, was harsh and unfeeling to everyone, yet doted on Second Miss Cui, Cui Muyan, with all his heart. He protected her so openly that everyone in their circle assumed she was his whole world. But nobody knew that in private, he had never asked whether she wanted to be with him.

He kept putting it off, so Cui Muyan took the initiative.

She carefully prepared a gift for her confession and went to see him. Before she could speak, he handed her a stack of background checks on young men from prominent families.

In the dim light, Shen Jingqi remained composed. "Yanyan should start dating. These are all people I've carefully vetted for a long time. Their character and family backgrounds make them suitable matches."

"Shen Jingqi," Cui Muyan asked softly, "before you spoke, I said I had something to tell you. Did you know what I was going to say?"

"I did." Shen Jingqi nodded calmly. "So you don't need to say it out loud."

This stack of profiles was his answer.

Her heart turned cold. "Aren't you afraid you'll be pushing me into a fire pit?"

He answered earnestly, "I'll always be here to catch you."

Later, Cui Muyan got together with the third young master of the Zhou family, Zhou, who was known as a peerless beauty. The young master Zhou was flirtatious, affected, and unruly, but around Cui Muyan he turned into a relentless pest. His advances drove the usually detached Shen Jingqi mad with jealousy, stripping away his elegance.

Eyes reddened in the darkness, he asked her, "Can that confession I made back then still count?"

Cui Muyan gave no answer.

From a corner came a sudden chuckle. The third young master Zhou lounged against the wall. "If you're going to steal someone's girl, shouldn't you ask me first?"