A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale - Side Story 38: A Kirin’s Uncertainty.

“Block him.”“He's technically still my boss.”“Then block him with dignity.”The call ended again.And then started again.I let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a sob, then finally answered with the enthusiasm of a snail crawling through salt.“Yes, Mr. Walton?”“Have you changed your mind yet?”I collapsed onto the towel and gazed at the sky as though it might consume me entirely if I pleaded sweetly enough.“Do you ever take a break?” I asked, shielding my eyes with one hand.“You're avoiding the question.”“Because it's a dumb question.”He exhaled, the sound sharp and irritated even over phone. “It's not a dumb question. It's a business offer.”“It's a weird offer-one that I already said no to.”There was a brief pause, and I could practically hear him clenching his jaw through the speaker.“You are acting unreasonably.”“ Unreasonable?” I sat up. “I'm not the one drafting fake girlfriend contracts like it's a normal Tuesday.”“Isabella-”“Certainly not, Mr. Walton.” I mimicked his tone perfectly. “I told you I'm not doing it. You need to find someone else to play pretend with.”SYNOPSISIsabella Miller thought saying no to her boss’s fake dating offer was the end of the story.But Adrien Walton doesn’t take no—especially not when he’s convinced she’s a gold digger.Suddenly, her student loans are piling up, her father’s vet clinic is on the brink of eviction and her brother is about to be kicked out of college. Coincidence? She thinks not.Adrien Walton is calm, calculating—and he's just pulled every string to corner Isabella into the perfect position.Now she’s stuck choosing between pride and survival.So she agrees to his offer: be his fake girlfriend.No feelings attached. No drama. Just business.Or so she thought.“Conference Room B. Fifteen minutes,” he said, passing by without a glance.The folder he pushed across the table landed with a thud.I opened it. The contract. All of it.---Enemies to lovers? Check.Slow burn? Hmmnyea.Banter so sharp it might file your nails? Yes.Delicious workplace tension? Of course.Tension that could melt steel?Absolutely.Smut?? Wanna find out?Welcome to corporate romance warfare. There’s no escaping this contract.

[Warning: Mature Content R18+]The taste of forbidden love is the sweetest agony!!They were fucking right.I, Frery Kane was whipped and captivated by a Lycan Shifter from the Bay Shifter pack in Paradise Bay. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, an irresistible pull I couldn’t deny. Alpha Tor Gale, a Lycan Shifter of unparalleled strength, only of his kind, his blood as intoxicating as ambrosia, his presence a temptation, I couldn’t escape. He made me crave more than I should or was allowed.In Paradise Bay, Vampires and Shifters are bound by ancient laws, their rivalry etched into the marrow of our existence. To meet him was to defy centuries of hatred; to love him was to risk everything.Each secret meeting was a dance with death, a betrayal of the Paradise Vampire Coven, and a rebellion against the laws that chained us. But Tor was my forbidden desire, my beautiful torment, and my greatest weakness. I knew the cost of this love, a love that could ignite war and destroy us both. But how could I resist the one thing that made my immortal heart beat once more?Excerpt from Alpha Tor's POV:“So you’ve been following me,” Tor’s deep growl echoed in the icy cavern. His golden eyes caught the flicker of torchlight. His breath misted in the freezing air, curling like smoke between them.“What gave me away?” I responded my voice as low, deep, and steady.Tor laughed a deep rumble that shook the cavern walls. “You reek of desperation. Do you think I didn’t notice your scent clinging to the trees? Are your footprints melting the frost? What is it, vampire? What do you want from me?”My jaw clenched and my gaze didn’t waver. “Your blood,” I taunted as my voice was laced with coldness to see if he could be threatened by my words. “Your kind is... intoxicating. Forbidden. I can’t stop myself.”I expected him to cover but he stepped forward and responded “If it’s my blood you want,” he murmured, his voice low and teasing, “then come closer and take what you need”The words struck me like lightning, and a fiery heat surged through my veins. My beast clawed at my control, drawn to him in a way that defied logic. His gaze held mine, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t know whether to run or to stay.___________________________________________________________________________________________In the end, they called me a betrayer. A traitor to the Paradise Vampire Coven. But how could I hold back when I had tasted something far sweeter than immortality? Alpha Tor was my forbidden fruit, the Lycan Shifter Alpha who defied everything I was taught to hate. But when I surged forward, ready to face anyone who dared stand between us, fate revealed the old prophecy hidden in Hanka Island. Alpha Tor wasn’t just my lover, he was my lifetime mate, our bond blessed by the ancient magic of Hanka Island itself.And our love was not meant to follow the rules, it was meant to break them.

Mimizuku, a small girl with chains on her wrists and ankles and the numbers “332” branded onto her forehead, wanders into the Forest of Night seeking to be eaten by a monster. However, when the ruler of the monsters, the mysterious and beautiful “King of Night,” refuses to eat her, she tries to formulate a way to convince him otherwise.

By Xishui River, there lived a family with the surname Ruo, whose luck was so disastrously poor that it was as if misfortune was possessed by their very souls. When other families had bountiful harvests, the Ruo Family harvested not a single grain. Their planted vegetables were devoured by insects, their chickens got chicken plague, their pigs got swine fever…Despite the household being full of strong men, they were either mad, crippled, or blind…What would have been a family of great prospects became the poorest within ten miles.The only thing that others envied about the Ruo Family was its thriving male members! The old lady of the Ruo Family had given birth to six sons, who then gave her four grandsons. She dreamt day and night of having a granddaughter. When she finally got a grandchild, to her dismay, the child was mentally disabled: at over three years old, she still couldn’t speak or walk, couldn’t even eat or relieve herself without help.Everyone thought the Ruo Family would never turn their fortunes around in this lifetime! That was until the half-old three-year-old mentally disabled child suddenly called out, “Mom…”The heavens began to change.The world began to turn mysterious.In the Ruo Family’s courtyard, the persimmons ripened overnight. The vegetables in the fields, nearly nibbled bare by insects, turned lush and green. The old hen that had never laid eggs suddenly started laying…While others faced famine, the Ruo Family’s granary was full.The eldest son was no longer mad, the second son was no longer crippled, the third son was no longer blind…The old lady of the Ruo Family, with her hands on her hips, laughed heartily to the sky, “Who says my Xuanbao is a dimwit? She’s clearly a treasure of blessings!”(This is a farming novel with a hint of fairy charm, where the female protagonist in a previous life was a just-awakened daylily that has reincarnated as a human.)