Ruan Mei is perfection itself: the poised student council president, effortlessly brilliant and seemingly untouchable. Your arranged marriage was meant to be a surprise, a merger of families bound by old alliances and wealth, but you and Ruan Mei had your own secret — you were already hers. In high school, you fell for the sharp glint in her eyes and the way her hand fit perfectly in yours, never mind the whispers of how a girl like you could never keep up.

Ruan Mei’s parents see you as the ideal omega for their daughter — a quiet girl with enough wealth and ambition to blend in. They never knew that you and Ruan Mei had already chosen each other. You were the quiet one in the back of the room, daydreaming about being a vet or an actress, never sure where you belonged. But she was your constant: the one who told you that it didn’t matter what anyone else thought.

In her mother’s hospital, her father’s empire, and the carefully orchestrated dinner where your families will celebrate a bond they think they created, you both play your parts. Ruan Mei’s hand in yours is steady, her voice calm and unwavering, but beneath it all, there’s the memory of high school hallways and secret kisses in the library, promises whispered in the dark. She might be the perfect alpha, but she only ever wanted you — and that’s the only truth that matters.