Ascendance of a Bookworm - Chapter 40 - Freida’s Hairpins

Anne, a shy and introvert woman, was in love with Denis for ten years. But Denis had someone in his heart. When his girlfriend left him to pursue her career, he finally noticed Anne and asked her to be his girlfriend.Anne stayed devoted to him for three years, but Denis cheated on her with his first love. Worse, his scheming ex-girlfriend killed her.Fate gave her another chance. Anne was reborn. This time, she vowed to take revenge on everyone who had hurt her.Augustine, the CEO of the Sphere Group of industries, was powerful and wealthy. But he died from his family’s conspiracy.Reborn, he was determined to punish those who had schemed against him.In his past life, he had failed to protect Anne, his savior. This time, he vowed to love her and keep her safe with his life.But Anne no longer believed in love.~~~~~~~~~“Will you marry me?” Augustine’s eyes sparkled with anticipation and nervousness.However, Anne was calm. “Yes,” she replied blankly. “I’ll marry you. But don’t expect anything from me. Love is the last thing I can give you.”He smirked and took a step closer to her. “Miss Clair,” he pinched her chin, “are you sure you won’t fall for me? Can you resist my charm?”Anne’s breathing hitched, her stomach fluttering. The challenge in his eyes and his husky voice threaten to shatter her resolve to never fall in love again.“Let me promise you one thing: in this life, I’ll love you, cherish you always. All I want is your faith.”

On their wedding night, she gnashed her teeth, yelling, “Your Highness, that’s shameless!”

Set off by the flickering light of red candles, he curved the corner of his mouth into a wicked grin, “Actually, I can be more shameless…”

…

When they met for the first time, he was the young prince who lived in his day of brilliance, while she was the pampered princess of the adjacent state.

When they met again, he became the crippled underdog suffering from frustration, while she became the lackluster hostage stranded in an alien land.

In his mid-life, he was defeated in the fight and had his legs broken; his wife passed away and he didn’t have anything left except his father’s detestation… After constant blows took the edge off his spirit, all he wanted was nothing but serenity.

In her teen-age, her state perished and her home lost; she lapsed into an awkward situation after being abandoned and having her marriage annulled… As endless hardships isolated her from happiness, everything she wished for was no more than peace.

…

“Lu Zhishan, when I first met you, I didn’t think I’d marry you…too old,” after years passed by, one day, she lay on his laps mumbling, with a kind of hazy beauty on her boozy face, “and lame.”

“Mu Nanzhi, you have the wrong memory. At our first meeting, I’m neither old nor limp.”

“…When was that?”

“When people were celebrating your first birthday,” that man assumed all gentleness and joy crept on his eyes and brows, “On that day, you were ‘drawing lots’ in the rear hall. I also sneaked there to have a look. But, out of my expectation, you directly grabbed my true-love knot.”

…

How vivid the red love pea is embedded in the exquisitely carved dice,

Just as my feelings for you deep in my bones.

- Description from Novelupdates

When his family company went bankrupt, Qi Lin sought help from relatives and friends he had helped before.Qi Lin: “Brother Wang, I treated you to breakfast for three years in high school~”Wang Cheng: “I, Wang Cheng, am not an ungrateful person. Bring me 1000 bowls of hot dry noodles for my old classmate.”Qi Lin: “Xueyao, do you remember when you were looking for a job, you stayed at my villa for three years?”Qi Xueyao: “I paid you three years’ rent for a 10-square-meter room. Why don’t you move your whole family in?”Qi Lin helped these people back then, but now they’re indifferent to him.Disheartened, Qi Lin jumped from a high-rise building in despair.He thought he would die like that, but when Qi Lin opened his eyes again, he found himself back in his third year of high school.The family company hadn’t gone bankrupt, and he was still a rich second-generation playboy.Recalling the scenes after his family went bankrupt, Qi Lin sneered coldly.Since I was all about fooling around and waiting for death, why not become a rich second-generation with no morals?

After a young lonely orphan boy died on earth, He was reborn as the Prince of the Everhart Kingdom in Melux. And in this life, he got everything he ever longed for: Luxuries that he didn't have, magic that he only read and fantasized about, different types of sweets that he didn't even know about but most importantly, he finally had a family!He was pleased with his new life as he had parents who despite being the King and Queen of a Kingdom always managed to spend time with him and His maid who would do anything at his words. He could experience the joy of sharing a dinner with family, getting angry over silly things, and then apologizing while bawling his eyes out. He finally felt like he was not alone in this universe anymore and he also had people who cared and loved him dearly. His second life was seemingly perfect in his eyes until that horrifying and gut-wrenching night that flipped his entire world......