BURNING THE LINES BETWEEN US
Jerome Lin, only child of beauty mogul Miranda Lin, has lived his life beneath the weight of legacy. As managing director of Linéa Cosmetics, he has everything,wealth, power, and a love he thought would last forever. Until he discovers that his girlfriend is secretly involved with Akihiko Tanaka, the man his mother is determined to marry for influence.
His trust shattered, Jerome confronts Miranda, only to be dismissed as collateral damage. She marries the man anyway.
When Akihiko’s enigmatic son Collins returns to Japan to inherit the Tanaka empire, the two men meet and instantly clash. Their parents expect them to cooperate. Instead, they glare, argue, clash, and burn with a tension neither can explain.
But beneath that friction lies something magnetic. Something dangerous.
Forced to attend dinners, business meetings, and social events together, hatred turns into curiosity… then slow, forbidden attraction. Their first intimate moment is discovered, and their parents explode into rage, threatening to disown them both. Jerome and Collins choose each other anyway, leading to the bitter collapse of their parents’ marriage.
Finally free to be together, they begin planning a future,until Collins’s ex arrives claiming she has his child. Jerome breaks apart, terrified of losing everything again. A DNA test reveals the truth: the child is not Collins’s. His ex fabricated everything to claw her way back into his life.
With the truth unveiled, Jerome and Collins reunite stronger than before. Their parents move on…Miranda marrying a rising politician, and Akihiko marrying Jerome’s ex.
Meanwhile, Jerome and Collins build an empire of their own, built on love, forgiveness, and the fire that first brought them together.
A love story born from hate.
A romance they were never meant to have.
A destiny they chose anyway.
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Chapter: CHAPTER 6 : THE STORM AT HOME Jerome’s car skidded into the driveway of the Liu penthouse, tires squealing against the marble, his hands clenched so tightly on the steering wheel that his knuckles were white. Every heartbeat felt like a drum of war inside his chest.He didn’t knock when he stormed through the front door. He didn’t pause to greet the familiar smell of jasmine that always meant home. Tonight, there was no home. There was only fire, rage, betrayal, and grief all intertwining into one suffocating storm.“Mother!” Jerome’s voice echoed sharply, bouncing off the marble walls. “Mother, I need to talk to you!”Miranda Liu emerged from the living room, her poised elegance unchanged, but her eyes narrowed slightly, sensing the tension radiating off her son.“Jerome,” she said carefully, keeping her voice calm, “what’s wrong?”“What’s wrong?” he repeated, almost laughing bitterly. “Do you want me to start from the beginning, or just jump to the part where your fiancé is sleeping with my girlfriend?!”The wor
Last Updated: 2025-11-27
Chapter: Chapter 5: The Shattered TruthThe city outside was quiet that night, but Jerome’s apartment was not.Not after what he had seen.He sat on the edge of the sofa, his body taut, jaw clenched, fingers trembling as he held his phone. The screen was dark now, but the memory of the audio, the low, intimate voices, the way Vanessa had whispered his mother’s fiancé’s name, it replayed endlessly in his mind. Each syllable carved a deeper hollow in his chest.Vanessa had been more than a betrayal. She had been a lie he had held close for years, someone he trusted with the rhythm of his heartbeat. And now…He heard the soft click of the door.“Jerome?” Her voice floated through the apartment, cautious, hesitant.He didn’t turn immediately. He could feel her presence before he saw her, the faint perfume, the nervous shifting of weight, the hesitation of someone entering a room they weren’t sure they deserved to be in.“Vanessa,” he said finally, voice low, restrained, tight as steel. “Sit.”She moved to the sofa across from h
Last Updated: 2025-11-23
Chapter: Chapter 4: The Walls That Heard His Breaking Heart The dinner had been cold in every sense of the word.On the surface, it sparkled, chandeliers dripping with gold, glasses clinking, guests laughing politely. But beneath the pristine tablecloths and polished smiles, Jerome felt something rotting, something hidden, something dangerously close to the surface.Vanessa barely touched her food.She barely spoke.And every time Akihiko shifted in his seat, she stiffened like a trapped bird sensing a hunter.Jerome wanted to reach for her, to comfort her, but he couldn’t ignore the feeling gnawing at him,a silent, ugly truth whispering at the back of his mind.There was something between them.Something he wasn’t supposed to see.And tonight, he would.When the dinner ended and guests began to disperse, Vanessa rose quickly, almost too quickly, her movements sharp and tense. She excused herself, claiming she needed a moment alone.But Jerome knew her well enough to recognize a lie.So, after a minute, he followed.He kept his footsteps quiet
Last Updated: 2025-11-23
Chapter: Chapter 3: Eyes Gave It Away Jerome adjusted the cuffs of his black suit one last time as he stood outside the grand Astoria Hall, trying to swallow down the frustration twisting in his chest. The building shimmered like something out of a dream, towering glass, gold-trimmed doors, a red carpet stretching like a royal pathHe wasn’t ready for this.He wasn’t ready to meet his mother’s soon-to-be husband.And he definitely wasn’t ready to pretend everything was normal.But here he was.“Jerome?” a soft voice called behind him.He turned and stopped breathing for half a second.Vanessa.She stepped toward him in a silky midnight-blue gown that hugged her like a secret. Her black hair fell over one shoulder in soft waves, her lips red, her perfume familiar enough to tug sharply at his heart.She was beautiful. Heart-stoppingly beautiful.But something felt… off.Her gaze kept dropping away from him, almost instantly.Her hold on her clutch was too tight.She smoothed her hair for the third, fourth, fifth time.“Vane
Last Updated: 2025-11-23
Chapter: Chapter 2: The Announcement That Should've Never Been MadeJerome barely slept.He spent most of the night lying awake in his apartment, staring at the ceiling while questions twisted like thorns in his mind.Why was Vanessa’s voice so strange?Who was that man in the background?Why did his mother suddenly back down from telling him whatever she planned to say?By 7 AM, he gave up on trying to rest.He showered, dressed in a crisp charcoal suit, and headed straight to his office before rush hour even began. The quiet building didn’t comfort him today. It felt hollow, cold, echoing the uncertain beat of his heart.At 8:12 AM sharp, his phone buzzed.Mother: Come to my office. Now.He inhaled deeply.So she hadn’t changed her mind after all.Jerome walked across the executive floor with measured steps, but his heartbeat was anything but composed. He stopped at Miranda’s door, took a breath, and knocked.“Come in,” she called.He entered, and immediately sensed a shift. Miranda stood near the window in a tailored ivory suit, her posture poised,
Last Updated: 2025-11-23
Chapter: Chapter 1: Cracks in the glass Jerome Liu always believed he understood the rhythm of his life, predictable, clean, structured. Every morning at seven, he entered the glass tower of Linéa Cosmetics as its Managing Director. Every evening, he returned home with messages from Vanessa that made the stress of the day dissolve into softness. Every step of his future was neatly laid out, each piece fitting into the next like a perfect puzzle.But today felt wrong in ways he couldn’t explain.Jerome stood behind his office desk, tall windows framing Tokyo’s skyline. The late afternoon sun painted the city in molten gold. The beauty of it should’ve soothed him, it usually did.Instead, he stared at the silent screen of his phone with a tight, uneasy chest.Vanessa still hadn’t replied.He had sent her a simple message three hours ago.Are we still meeting for dinner?Seen.No response.That wasn’t like her.Jerome exhaled slowly, his fingers drumming on the sleek table. He told himself she was busy. Experiments ran late. L
Last Updated: 2025-11-23
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