When Lu Shiyin was eighteen, she visited a friend’s house and learned during a casual chat that her friend had a younger male cousin, currently fourteen, an all-around excellent student.

That evening, as dusk settled in, she was squatting by the fish pond at her friend’s house watching the koi swim. The thud and vibration of a basketball hitting the ground startled the fish away instantly.

She turned around — a tall boy, his face flushed from exercise, was lifting his collar to wipe sweat.

Their eyes met briefly before the boy quickly left the scene.

She asked her friend, “Why did your cousin run off as soon as he saw me? I didn’t even get a chance to say hi.”

Her friend replied, “He’s going through puberty and has a phobia of the opposite sex.”

But later that same night, when she went downstairs to get a drink of water, Cheng Jinghe was standing in the dim light. The glow cast half his face in light and half in shadow, his sharp nose like a dividing line. He softly asked, “Sister, what are you looking for? I’ll get it for you.”

Remembering what her friend said about his “phobia,” she jokingly replied, “I want the jade pendant around your neck. Can I have it?”

The boy paused, then silently removed the pendant and placed it on the table.

Lu Shiyin thought he was too obedient and patted him on the shoulder: “Sis was just joking, keep it safe.”

Not long after, she was forcibly sent abroad by her family. Years later, they met again — across the table at a marriage arrangement meeting.

Gone was the shy boy; in his place was a handsome and composed man.

She was now an unloved, nominal general manager, while he, at a young age, had already gained real power in the family business.

During their marriage, they remained polite and distant — until Cheng Jinghe made the first move.

Under the night sky on a yacht, he gently wiped the moisture from her lips and asked,
“Can you try to accept me?”

Cheng Jinghe always treated their marriage with great care, and even a small smile from her would fill him with joy.

Until one rainy night — his newlywed wife was once again dropped off by a strange man. They had been through something together, and their closeness was hard to ignore.

As the man left, he glanced at Cheng Jinghe with a look of disdain.

Cheng Jinghe felt that the man’s gaze was a reminder — that he hadn’t won her through honorable means.

That’s when the fear began — fear that she would find out everything.

From then on, his once “content” heart turned to greed, growing wild and unchecked.