Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I fell in love with Lu Heran at first sight.

If you asked me whether it was more about affection or more about self-interest, the answer would definitely be physical attraction.

As a good girl who had grown up restrained by rigid rules and doctrines, I followed the path my parents laid out for me at every stage of life: getting into a normal university, choosing a literature-related major, and returning to my alma mater to work after graduation.

My belated rebellion erupted during my first year on the job.

In the eyes of my fellow teachers, I saw the future waiting for me, predictable from beginning to end-

Teach, go on blind dates, get married, have children.

On a hot, dull summer afternoon, I stared at the lesson plan in front of me and the bouquet of roses on my desk from a new male teacher, zoning out for a long time.

Ever since I was little, I had known I was born with a pretty, obedient-looking face.

Countless boys had shown interest in me, so many that it made me feel like some easy-to-acquire commodity.

It was annoying. Depressing, too.

Of course, some of them were sincere, but their shy blushes and nervous stammering always left me utterly uninterested.

I wanted to rip off the labels stuck to me.

I wanted to become dazzling, someone out of reach.

That unrealistic desire kept getting pushed down, only to resurface again and again.

Until one day, an agent friend asked me if I was interested in joining their talent show.

That was probably the most rebellious thing I had ever done in my life.

I quit my job, cut off my heavy bangs, and returned to Jingdu.

Everyone said the road through the entertainment industry was hard.

But I was young then, and I had just started making a name for myself on the talent show. I thought I was some destined star and threw myself toward the future with wholehearted enthusiasm.

Until six months later, when I kept running into walls, faced termination by my agency, had no roles to film, and even got targeted by a producer who wouldn’t leave me alone.

The man promised with lecherous eyes that as long as I went with him, he would absolutely make me famous.

I looked at his balding forehead and silently averted my gaze.

…Actually, fame wasn’t that necessary.

At least, I couldn’t stomach that.

I thought my acting career would be buried before it had even begun, but then I met Lu Heran.

In a private room full of no-name celebrities and directors, this cynical young heir was seated in the place of honor-

A flirtatious voice, a lazy curl of his lips, a cigarette lit between his long, well-defined fingers, and an expensive watch on his wristbone catching the scattered light.

He was simply a sight for sore eyes.

With just one glance, I was done for.

There was no helping it. Good girls like us have absolutely no resistance to that kind of roguish playboy.

Not to mention that he chose me and pursued me with great fanfare.

In front of every media outlet, he openly admitted that I was his “little girlfriend.”

You can imagine it.

In the sweltering late-night breeze, a lazy, handsome young heir leans against his red convertible sports car worth tens of millions, one hand in his pocket, a huge bouquet of delicate, fragrant red roses placed in the passenger seat. Then, from across the crowd, he curves his lips and smiles at you.

It was enough to kill me.

He was someone I had never encountered in the dull, monotonous first half of my life.

And he was the first person who made me hear the sound of my own heart pounding in my chest.

My best friend was endlessly tolerant of me.

Regarding this unequal relationship, she said with a perfectly serious face:

“What’s the big deal? For a good girl like you, you have to get your fill of the wild type before you can settle down and marry someone proper.”

“A rich young master like Lu Heran could let a little slip through his fingers and it’d be enough to feed you for the rest of your life. Seriously, while he hasn’t gotten tired of you yet, squeeze a few more payouts out of him.”

I deeply agreed.

So I willingly drowned in the tenderness he wove around me.

Lu Heran was very generous. He never held back when giving gifts.

When he found out I wanted to act, he even delivered scripts to me personally and let me choose.

Because of him, all the difficulties people had thrown at me on set disappeared.

The broad road leading to the Golden Rooster Award became incredibly smooth. All I had to do was keep polishing my acting skills.

If it hadn’t been for his white moonlight charging back into the picture, perhaps I would have greedily stayed by his side for another two years and tried to claim that highest honor.