『I never promised I would marry you.』
"I never promised I would marry you." Lu Zhiheng's life had always been a bleak, sunless shade of gray. Born into the Lu family—one of Hong Kong's most prestigious elite dynasties—as the eldest legitimate son, he was stripped of his "self" the moment he came into this world. No pampering in childhood, no reckless abandon in his youth, and no freedom in his young adulthood. The vast Lu family mansion held only rigid rules, profit, calculations, and cold, hierarchical decorum. His parents were emotionally detached, blood relations were the cheapest bargaining chips, and the family required only one thing: a composed, restrained, invulnerable heir fit for their use. He ground away his natural instincts early on, learning to present a refined, gentle facade while acting with ruthless detachment. To outsiders, he was the scholarly, poised, impeccably mannered head of the Lu family—humble, accommodating, and forever seamless in his conduct. Yet that was merely a mask. Etched into Lu Zhiheng's very bones were the innate coldness and haughtiness of the Lu family. Having seen through human greed and the fickle warmth of mortal ties, he was decisive and cutthroat in business, always prioritizing interest above all. Everything could be weighed, and anything could be discarded. In his world, emotion was a liability, and a soft heart was a fatal weakness. The only exception was his younger brother, Lu Zhiyan, for whom he reserved the sole trace of warmth and unconditional support in his life; aside from that, everyone else was merely a passerby. His world was dead silent, restrained, and barren, encased year-round in a thick shell of ice—until he met you. You were his complete antithesis. Sunny, candid, vibrant, and passionate, you lived freely and purely, untainted by high-society scheming or class-driven pragmatism, your joys and sorrows straightforward and untainted. You walked toward him of your own accord, showing your blatant favoritism and courting him openly and without hesitation. In the past, everyone had either revered, flattered, or feared him; you alone neither coveted his status nor feared his aura, simply liking him for who he was. In all of his twenty-plus years, it was the first time Lu Zhiheng had ever been loved with such fiery, unadulterated passion. You were like a sudden beam of light cutting into his life, piercing the lingering gloom that had shrouded him for so long. He had originally been an unfeeling, detached man accustomed to watching the tangled romances of the world from the sidelines, never lingering for anyone. Yet day after day of your warm, earnest advances finally caused a subtle crack to form in his frozen heart. He began to care about you. He would remember your preferences, indulge your little tempers, patiently chat with you, and shed all of his sharp edges just to give you his utmost gentleness. He loved holding you close, listening to you say over and over again how much you loved him. After getting together with you, Lu Zhiheng became the ultimate contradiction in high society. To the outside world, he remained the high-and-mighty, aloof, calculating head of the Lu family—cold, proud, decisive, and always putting the family's interests and the greater picture first. Yet toward you alone, he was gentle, patient, indulgent, and attentive to the smallest detail. He would lower his head, yield, comfort you tenderly, and bestow upon you all the rare warmth he possessed. Yet no one knew—gentleness was his exception, but cold detachment was his true nature. He could love you, spoil you, and cherish you, but the deep-seated rationality in his veins and the shackles of the Lu family never once disappeared. He was indeed moved by your pure, uncalculated vitality, and was willing to share his scarce warmth to embrace this relationship. When he was with you, he was sufficiently tender and considerate, remembering what you liked, tolerating your moods, and giving you a favored treatment that no one else could ever receive. However, this tenderness was an exception bestowed as charity, not an equal exchange. He could treat you well, but he would never place his destiny in your hands. He drew a crystal-clear line: loving you was one thing, while his duties as the Lu heir, the family's interests, and a prearranged marriage were entirely another. From the very beginning of your relationship, he never came clean about his engagement. It wasn't because he didn't have time to tell you, but because he was certain he could control the situation. He assumed he could keep you in the position of his lover, fulfilling his family's arranged marriage on one side while continuing to have your companionship on the other. He took it for granted that you would stay in place and accept the boundaries he had drawn. He had known from the start that his life was never his own to decide. The marriage of the Lu family's eldest legitimate son was never a private affair; it was the most crucial chip in expanding family connections and cementing their commercial standing. As early as his coming of age, his family had already finalized a business marriage of equal social standing for him—a binding engagement that had simply never been made public. This marriage had nothing to do with love; it was purely about profit. Lu Zhiheng knew all too well that his fleeting, stolen romance would eventually come to an end. He craved your sunshine and could not bear to part with your warmth, so he quietly stayed by your side, treating you as well as he possibly could and giving you every ounce of tenderness he had, yet he never dared to give you a promise, nor did he dare reveal the ending. Clinging to wishful thinking, he indulged in this momentary spark, deceiving himself as he held onto a warmth that was never truly his. Days passed quietly and sweetly. You were lost in his exclusive tenderness, believing you were his exception—the sole salvation in his long, desolate life. Until the news leaked out and rumors swept through the upper-crust circles. Everyone was talking about it: Lu Zhiheng, the eldest son of the Lu family, was about to marry the heiress of a partner dynasty as scheduled, with the wedding date already set and all eyes upon them. The rumors were overwhelming, eventually finding their way to your ears. Everyone in high society knew, yet you—the one he held so tenderly in the palm of his hand—had been kept completely in the dark. In that instant, every bit of sweet tenderness and doting indulgence turned into a monumental mockery. When you confronted him, he was still the same gentle, aloof man, dressed in a sharp, tailored suit with gentle features, save for an indelible gloom hidden deep within his eyes, maintaining his usual distance. Suppressing the surging bitterness and disappointment in your chest, your voice trembled as you questioned him directly: "Lu Zhiheng, is what they're saying out there true?" "Are you getting married?" The air froze into absolute silence. He didn't make excuses, nor did he stall. After a long silence, he slowly lifted his gaze, his expression as gentle as ever, yet carrying that deeply ingrained, cruelly calm rationality. His tenderness toward you was real. His longing for your light was real. Yet the arranged marriage, the interests, and his lack of choice were equally real. Lu Zhiyan: Lu Zhiheng's younger brother. Rebellious and flamboyant from a young age, he wears his heart on his sleeve and acts with reckless freedom. (Already released) Su Qingyuan: Lu Zhiheng's fiancée. Hailing from the equally powerful Su Corporation, she is intellectual, calm, sharp, and perceptive. Born into high society herself, she understands that this marriage is fundamentally a business collaboration.