The abandoned daughter of the Lu family turns around and marries a celibate tycoon.

The call was answered almost instantly.

"Feed?" Lu Xiran's voice came through the receiver.

Gu Yanshen froze, almost instinctively snatching his phone back. "You..." he began, his voice hoarse from the long silence, "Are you home?"

"……Um."

His Adam's apple bobbed. "Then... wait for me."

He didn't even have time to scold Lin Chen; he grabbed his coat draped over the back of his chair and strode out of the office.

When Gu Yanshen opened the door with his fingerprint, the air was filled with the warm aroma of food.

Lu Xiran was facing away from him, ladling the cooked noodles into a bowl. She was wearing a light-colored apron, and the warm yellow light shone on her, outlining her slender and soft features. This scene inexplicably soothed a part of the anxiety in his heart.

"Let's eat noodles." Lu Xiran didn't turn around, her voice calm and even as she placed a steaming bowl of noodles on the table and pushed it to his usual seat.

Gu Yanshen took off his coat and approached. He looked at the bowl of noodles, then at her downcast, emotionless profile, and a faint hope welled up in his heart. "You...aren't angry anymore?" he asked tentatively, his tone cautious without even realizing it. He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite. The familiar taste soothed his empty stomach and strangely calmed his tense nerves.

"There's nothing to be angry about." Lu Xiran still didn't look at him, her voice as light as a feather, yet with a deliberately maintained calmness. "I... I lost my temper the other day, I'm sorry."

She paused for a moment, as if gathering her courage, then raised her head and tried to draw a formulaic, shallow arc in her eyes.

"Uncle," she reverted to the slightly distant form of address she used when they first met, each word seemingly carefully chosen, "our marriage is a contract, each of us getting what we need. I was overthinking things before. From now on... I'll control my emotions, play my role well, and help you take care of Grandma. Don't worry."

Gu Yanshen's chewing motion suddenly stopped, his chopsticks frozen in mid-air. He slowly raised his eyes to look at her, and in his always deep and sharp eyes, his face, which was trying to appear relaxed but couldn't hide its paleness, was clearly reflected.

Letting go?

He never imagined that her "letting go" and "understanding" would make him feel...so sad.

Is it because they don't care? Is that why they can be so "sensible" and so "clear-headed" in drawing boundaries?

What was more suffocating than her tears and questions was her calm "indifference" that completely pushed him away.

"Playing a role?" He put down his chopsticks, the metal clinking against the porcelain bowl. He stood up, his tall figure exuding an invisible pressure, and walked towards her step by step. "Lu Xiran, what do you mean?"

Lu Xiran was taken aback by his sudden approach and took half a step back, but she still tried her best to maintain that fragile smile on her face: "It's just... we agreed on this from the beginning. I will do what I should do."

"Are you trying to distance yourself from me now?" Gu Yanshen's voice deepened, carrying a hint of anger and a trace of disbelief and pain. He reached out, wanting to touch her, but when he saw the deliberate aloofness in her eyes, his fingers twitched, and in the end, he just clenched them into a fist.

Lu Xiran turned her head away, avoiding his burning gaze, and remained silent.

Gu Yanshen let out a cold snort from his nose, a sound that was filled with hurt anger and a kind of irritable frustration that seemed to say "what's the use of trying?"

The next second, Lu Xiran felt dizzy—his strong arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, almost roughly lifting her up and carrying her to the bedroom in a few steps, where he threw her into the center of the soft but cool bed without any resistance. The expensive mattress bounced back slightly, and she sank into it, her long, black hair scattered messily.

"Gu Yanshen! What are you doing?" She sat up in alarm, the feigned calm in her eyes finally shattering, revealing her true panic.

He stood by the bed, backlit, his tall figure looming over the room, carrying a heavy sense of oppression. He raised his hand, loosened his tie somewhat irritably, and tossed it aside, his action revealing a desperate and ruthless defiance.

"Lu Xiran," he leaned down, placing his hands on either side of her body, trapping her in his shadow, his voice low and frighteningly hoarse, "Since you're going to act, then act more convincingly." He stared at her instantly pale face, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, "Didn't you say it? Each to take what they need."

He emphasized the last four words heavily, with a sharp sarcasm, like a boomerang stabbing fiercely at himself.

Before she could finish speaking, he gave her no time to react, leaning down and pressing down on her. His burning body, with its undeniable weight and heat, held her firmly in place.

"I need you—" he almost growled, his deep eyes blazing with a fierce fire—a fire of anger, desire, and a fear of loss that even he himself didn't fully understand. He easily restrained her frantically pushing hands with one hand, pinning them firmly above her head, the force so strong that her wrists ached.

"Since you say you want to play this role well and be a good Mrs. Gu," his hot breath brushed against her lips, their noses almost touching, his tone forceful to the point of being fierce, yet deep down revealing a clumsy, helpless despair, "then from now on, fulfill your duties as a 'wife'!"

"Gu Yanshen, let me go... This is not my 'duty'!" She struggled, her voice trembling with panic and grievance, and tears quickly welled up in her eyes.

He spoke the most hurtful words, his actions were tyrannical and punishing, but deep within his eyes surged a kind of burning passion that she couldn't understand, a passion that was almost painful.

"Then what is?" He lowered his head, his hot breath brushing against her sensitive earlobe, his voice extremely low, "Trying to be respectful to each other? Pretending to be affectionate?"

His lips pressed against her trembling lips, forcefully prying open her teeth, conquering and taking over, but then, the moment he tasted her salty tears, he froze almost imperceptibly.

Lu Xiran felt as if her heart had been torn in two.

Half of her body softened shamefully in his familiar yet chilling presence, clinging to the safety and warmth that his embrace had once given her; the other half, however, was in sharp pain and humiliation because of the name "Song Zhihe," because of that glaring red dress, and because of his violation of her in the name of "fulfilling his duty."

She loves him.

This love, which had quietly grown unnoticed and had now seeped into her very bones, made her unwilling to be treated as someone else and possessed in the name of love.

"Is this what you need?" she asked, choking back tears, catching her breath. "Or do you need an obedient Song Zhihe, a mere ornament to satisfy your physical needs?!"