Prologue

Miami, USA.

Even though it was winter, the southern coastal city was still warm. Especially today—the sky was a clear blue, not a single cloud in sight, and the sun blazed so bright it almost felt like it could pierce through your eyes.

The man lifted his face to the sun. He wasn’t sure when it started, this habit of staring at sunlight—maybe because it reminded him that he was still living in a world filled with light, not lost in endless darkness.

The heat baked his skin. His sun-kissed complexion looked healthy, and the muscles on his arms—exposed beneath a simple short-sleeved T-shirt—were firm and well-toned.

He worked at the docks, unloading cargo from ships. Always wearing a baseball cap, always alone. No one knew where he came from. They just knew he was Asian—an immigrant.

He called himself Gavin—a name that means “hawk of war,” which oddly matched his tough, steely appearance.

He rarely looked anyone in the eye. But when he did, people got chills. His uneven eyelids—single on the left, double on the right—gave his gaze an unsettling imbalance. One eye looked gentle, almost smiling. The other? Cold and emotionless.

Creepy. That’s how the other workers described him. He gave off a dangerous vibe—something primal that made others instinctively steer clear, like sheep avoiding a hungry wolf.

He’d been working at the port for a few months now. No friends. Not that he cared. Relationships didn’t matter to him. As long as he got paid and had food to eat, that was enough.

Right now, he just wanted to stay alive.

Alive, and waiting for her.

He’d been lying low for a while, but finally, it was time. Every February, she brought a team of company elites to Miami for the international yacht exhibition.

He made sure to be there—blending in, wandering casually—waiting for her to notice him. And when she finally spotted him, he could almost feel the air around her freeze.

She was shocked—totally stunned. He watched her pale face with a kind of twisted satisfaction, feeding off her reaction like it was some sick pleasure.

Before she could get close, he slipped away into the crowd.

He knew she'd come looking for him.

After all, she became the CEO of a yacht manufacturing company at twenty-eight—hailed as Taiwan’s youngest and most beautiful businesswoman. No doubt she had the skills to track him down.

Sure enough, a week later, she showed up at the port.

He was drenched in sweat, working hard, moving cargo. She just stood there for a while, silently watching him, before finally calling out in a clear, pleasant voice:

“Hi.”

He pretended not to hear.

“Hello,” she repeated, more firmly.

He paused for a couple of seconds, then turned and looked at her. His voice was laced with a working-class accent, full of mockery.
“Babe, this ain't exactly a place for ladies.”

She stared at him for a beat, then cautiously asked,
“You… don’t know who I am?”

He squinted.
“Should I?”

“We’ve met before,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow, dropped the box he was carrying, and walked over to her. He wiped his sweat off with a towel, glancing at her with lazy, careless eyes.

“If I’d met a beauty like you before, I’d definitely remember. Damn shame I’m busy right now—otherwise, I wouldn’t mind having a little fun with you—”

“I’m Xia Xue.” She cut him off coldly, speaking Mandarin with perfect clarity.
“Xia as in summer, Xue as in snow.”

His face didn’t change.

“You don’t understand Mandarin?” she asked.

He shrugged.

Then she calmly said,
“Your name is Wei Rudong. You’re 32, single, Chinese-American. Your family immigrated to the U.S. back in your grandfather’s time. You grew up in San Francisco. Your parents died young. You dropped out of high school and never had formal education, but studied through distance learning. You’ve worked in L.A., San Diego… and came to Miami just last year.”

He narrowed his eyes, glaring at her with fake hostility.
“You’ve been investigating me?”

“I’m sorry. But once I explain, you’ll understand why I had to,” she replied calmly with a soft smile.

That smile—poised, intelligent, confident—had CEO written all over it.

He narrowed his gaze further, muscles tensing.

She took a deep breath.
“Mr. Wei Rudong, there’s something I need your help with.
I want to ask you… to pretend to be my husband.”

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