Chapter 01

The ballroom sparkled like a world of its own, filled with dazzling chandeliers and the soft murmur of the city’s elite. The Lu Group Fashion Gala was the event of the season, a stage where the powerful gathered, where billion-dollar deals were sealed over champagne and whispers.

Shen Xinglan stood near the corner, fingers brushing against the silk fabric of her dress, feeling the faint tremble in her hands. She hated these events. The spotlight, the attention, the silent expectation that everyone here knew exactly what they were doing—except for her."I shouldn’t be here."

Her mind was already racing with a hundred worst-case scenarios. Had she dressed appropriately? Was she standing in the wrong place? Did people look at her and wonder why someone like her was beside a man like him?

She lifted her gaze, searching for the only person who made these gatherings bearable.

And there he was.

Lu Jinyuan.

Even in a room filled with power, he stood out effortlessly. Black tailored suit, cold unreadable expression, eyes sharp like he had already figured out everyone's secrets. His presence commanded attention, yet he never had to raise his voice.

People gravitated toward him—business executives, designers, models—all desperate to be in his favor.

And yet, somehow, in the middle of it all…

His gaze look toward her.

She froze.

It was just a second, but his eyes softened—so subtly that no one else would notice.

Then, he moved.

Within moments, he was standing before her. Tall, composed, powerful. But with her, his voice was low, smooth, comforting.

“Why are you hiding?”

She hesitated. “I just… I don’t suitable for me here.”

Jinyuan let out a short breath, his fingers brushing against her wrist. “Xinglan.” His tone was both stern and gentle. “You suitable wherever I am.”

Her chest tightened. It wasn’t fair how easily he said things like that.

It still felt surreal sometimes—being his girlfriend.

They weren’t supposed to end up together. She had been nothing more than a quiet, unnoticed strategist working under Lu Group’s luxury branding team. He had been the unreachable CEO, the man who had everything.

Yet, for some reason, he had noticed her.

It had all started a year ago.

She had worked for Lu Group for over a year, spending most of her time buried in data, analyzing consumer trends, and designing marketing strategies that no one even realized were her ideas. Xinglan was just a quiet brand strategist in Lu Group’s luxury division, working tirelessly behind the scenes.

And Lu Jinyuan, the popular and cold CEO, was someone she never expected to cross paths with.

But in business meetings, when senior executives debated for hours over a problem. The presentation had gone wrong, a crucial client deal was on the verge of collapse, and she had taken the blame even though it wasn’t her fault. She had stayed late in the office, fixing the reports, fingers trembling on the keyboard.

Xinglán wasn’t the kind of woman who stood out. She was always in the background, always hesitant to take credit.

But Jinyuan had noticed her after that and found something wrong with that incident.

One night, he had found her still at her desk, long after everyone else had gone home. She had been working overtime to fix a proposal—fixing a mistake someone else had made, one she wasn’t even responsible for.

She hadn’t noticed him standing there.

“Why are you doing this?”

She had looked up, startled. “CEO Lu…” I—It was my responsibility.”

She blinked in confusion.

“They’re taking advantage of you,” he had told her, voice firm.” You have a sharp mind,”.” If you keep fixing other people’s mistakes, they’ll never see you.”

She had looked away, fidgeting. “I don’t need to be seen.”

“If you never trust yourself. You don’t realize your own value.” he told her before going.

For the first time, someone had seen through her.

After that, things started changing.

He began noticing her more. Noticing the way she overthought everything, the way she hesitated to speak in meetings even when she was the most knowledgeable person in the room. He's always calling her into meetings and asking for her opinions that she never thought of the mattered he asked.

He noticed that she worked harder than anyone else, but never asked for recognition.

And she had fallen first.

She had fallen the moment he had shielded her from the corporate wolves, when he had looked at her not as an invisible background worker but as someone important.

Every time she hid in the background, he brought her forward.

Every time she doubted herself, he made her trust her own thoughts.

But what she hadn’t known was—he had fallen first, too.

Because Lu Jinyuan, the cold and untouchable CEO, had noticed her long after that night.

And one night, when she had nervously tried to reject his offer to drive her home, he had simply given her his jacket and told her, “You’re mine, Shen Xinglan. So let me take care of you.”

That was the first time he had ever been drawn to a woman like that.

He had seen her during meetings, quiet, observant, overthinking every little thing. He had noticed how she never pushed for credit, even when her ideas were the best in the room. How she flinched at confrontation, but had a mind sharper than most executives in the company.

So, he had decided to pull her into his world himself.

And he also wanted to protect her.

So, without her realizing it, he had slowly pulled her into his world. Because he saw something rare in her, that brilliance she refused to believe in.

But within a month, when he had taken her hand in his outside a business event, shielding her from the overwhelming press.

That was the beginning.

And now, months later, here she was—his girlfriend, standing beside him in a world that still felt too overwhelming.

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