Chef at the University Canteen - Chapter 144: The Food at the Seventh Dining Hall Is Delicious, but Don’t Come Lightly

Delia's life was a cruel reality: the neglected and abused illegitimate daughter of a noble family, the Ellington family, she yearned for the love of her stepmother, Baroness Augusta, and younger sister, Lady Anne, who relentlessly mistreated her.Her world crumbled when she discovered a double betrayal: her beloved husband, Lord George had secretly pined for Anne, marrying Delia only to be near her sister. Simultaneously, her step mother framed her for a crime Anne committed.Overwhelmed and heartbroken, Delia's attempt to escape a death sentence led to a fatal carriage accident.But death was not the end. Delia awoke one year in the past, finding herself still engaged to George. This was her second chance, and the naive girl was gone, replaced by a woman consumed by a burning desire for revenge. Her first target: Duke Eric Carson, the powerful and wealthy man her sister Anne desperately pursued.Delia boldly approached Eric with a proposition for a contract marriage. To her surprise, Eric agreed, but with a condition: their fake marriage would become real and they can go their separate way after a year, hiding his own secret agenda. Now, armed with Eric's unexpected devotion and his willingness to lay down his life for her, Delia meticulously begins to dismantle her family's world. With Eric's help, she exposes the secrets they hide, manipulates their desires, and turns them against each other, orchestrating George’s demotion, Anne's downfall and seizing everything her sister coveted, including Duke Eric love and obsession.Will Delia and Eric be able to conquer all odds to get what they want? What happens when Eric doesn’t want their contract marriage to end? What happens when the last petal of that indicates her second chance falls?———————EXCPRET“I can’t return your feelings, your grace,” Delia whispered, her back against the cool wall.“But I can,” Eric murmured, stepping closer.Delia’s voice trembled. “It’s not the same.” She choked out. “ No one can love me without hurting me.”“Then teach me,” he said, his breath warm on her cheek. “Teach me how to love you the way you deserve to be loved. I’m a quick study.”When she stayed silent, he sighed contentedly, a soft smile playing on his lips.“It’s alright. Just… use me. Anything you need. if you want money, ask the treasury, take as much money that’s needed. if you want power, use my name. if you want security and love, use my body.”His breath warmed her skin, his chest rose and fell with hers. “As long as it's from you, I'm happy.”

“You need my help, Tesoro. You choose. A marriage with me or be torn apart by them” His voice was cool as though this wasn't a matter of life or death.I didn't want this life. My father had gambled a lot and left me with a lot of enemies and now I needed the help of Don Vincenzo LaRosa who was my high school bully and now the Don of the most powerful mafia family in Italy if I was going to survive it.It was just a marriage of convenience but I realized something. He wasn't helping me out of a good heart. I had been sold without my permission to him. I was the mafia's pawn.

The plague of insects descended overnight. As an ordinary person without invincible powers and extraordinary exercises, facing blood and death, what should we do at the critical moment of life and death?

(I am a reasonable party, but the novel needs appropriate YY, please do not excessively investigate the rationality of the background in a razor-sharp way.)

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“Help me, please,” Bella pleaded, grasping his hands.His dark eyes, devoid of warmth, pierced through hers with an unsettling coldness. “Why should I mess with those goons to help you?” he asked callously.“I’ll do anything you say,” she said without thinking, desperate. “Just save me from them.”He demanded something that Bella had never anticipated even in her dreams.A contract marriage!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bella Dawn was already in distress to pay her step father’s debts. To add her misery, her mother was diagnosed with liver disease and needed immediate transplant.Where would she get that much money?Then, like a cruel twist of fate, she accidentally encountered a handsome man, Theodore Reid, the enigmatic CEO of Ace Group.Rumors said that he was a ruthless businessman with a heart as cold as ice. Yet, to Bella, he was kind, rescuing her from the clutches of those who sought to exploit her.She was grateful to him until he demanded something weird, shattering her pervious assumptions. He wanted to marry her.NoHe wanted a contract marriage.In exchange, he would take care of her mother's treatment and compensate her generously at the end of their arrangement.For Theodore, it was a solution born out of necessity, a means to appease his grandfather's demands for an heir while he searched for the one who had once saved him, his angel.Bella’s appearance reminded him of his savior. So, he offered her a contract marriage. It was a temporary solution to his grandfather’s demand to get an heir until he found his angel.With no other options left, Bella reluctantly agreed to the terms of the contract. But little did she know it would test her resolve and resilience like never before.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“Remember one thing, never fall in love with me,” he said, cold and dangerous.Bella gulped, nervous. “What if I do?” A sliver of defiance, a foolish question escaped her lips. She was already attracted to his handsome appearance.He squeezed her jaw and hissed, “You will regret it.”“What if you started liking me?” she dared to ask.He leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear. “No chance,” he scoffed. “You're not my type.”Bella’s heart sank.