Crossing the Line, Sinking Too Deep

Synopsis: Jiang Ningchu lost both her parents when she was young and was taken in by the Jiang family. Though she had always been in poor health, under the Jiang family’s careful nurturing, she gradually blossomed into a rose in full bloom. Everyone praised Jiang Ningchu for being sweet, obedient, and filial, saying she was incomparably better than her good-for-nothing older brother. Jiang Heng was Nancheng’s notorious heir to a prestigious family—fierce, arrogant, and beholden to no one. Even the cherished little sister his family doted on could hardly get half a kind word from him. Jiang Ningchu knew perfectly well that he disliked everyone equally, so she always kept her distance. The news that Jiang Ningchu was getting married reached Jiang Heng through someone else. The moment someone mentioned his future brother-in-law, his expression darkened. Others assumed the siblings simply weren’t close. But after spending an entire night working up a sweat at the boxing gym, he prepared half his fortune as her dowry. Jiang Ningchu began to notice that, somehow, her usually indifferent older brother had started paying more and more attention to her. Late one night, Jiang Ningchu woke on the sofa with Jiang Heng’s jacket draped over her. Taking courage from the alcohol, she tested the waters for the first time and told him she liked him. “Like?” Jiang Heng gave a cold laugh. His voice was faintly cool, threaded with mockery. “Who do you like?” Jiang Ningchu bit her lip and stumbled away. For a long time, the figure she’d been waiting for never appeared in the corridor again. The glass in his hand shattered across the floor. Dark red blood ran down his palm, one drop after another striking the ground. Jiang Heng finally let out a breath, as though a great weight had been lifted. Of course. She had mistaken him for someone else. Because the instant he’d heard her say she liked someone, he’d already decided to drag her down to hell with him. From the very first day Jiang Ningchu stepped into the Jiang household, Jiang Heng began to hate being called Brother. — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: Crossing the Line, Sinking Too Deep — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠