DxD: Matsuda? - Chapter 36: Glad I Chose You?

What is a story without a reader?Nothing.Stories are for the readers to define.What about a story with four readers?It is a lot for the story, but for the author the story is far from being satisfactory.So when the author closes the story beloved to only four readers.How do they deal with it?How do they deal with the end?What happens when the author swallows the key to the story’s life.Especially when it simply became beyond human terms.

“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.

[Factory-Courtyard Life • Face-Slapping Matches • Hidden-Advantage Revenge • Rising Star at Work]Tian Xiang’s fiancé is stolen by her cousin—no big deal, plenty of fish in the sea.Then glowing words appear above the cousin’s head: “Reborn Heroine.”Tian Xiang blinks—she’s inside a 1970s harem-novel world where every character wears a flickering label:Big Villain • Tragic Second Male • White Lotus • Evil Mother-in-Law • Villain #1, #2, #3… and above her own head?“Silly-Sweet Cannon-Fodder.”Well, not anymore.Using her real-life job as a factory-union clerk, Tian Xiang rewrite her life script.She warns the other “harem extras,” sabotages the original male lead, and—oops—earns herself the new tag: “Ultimate Villainess.”The novel insists villains end in ruin.Tian Xiang’s reply: “If I’m going down, we’re all going down.”Meng Cheng’an—once a literal background prop, now upgrading in real time:Background NPC → Major Villain → Obsessed Lover → Yandere Husband → Shamelessly Devoted Spouse.The more chaos Tian Xiang stirs, the faster his labels evolve—until the final tag reads:“Her Partner-in-Crime—For Life.”

Jian Rushi, born in a rich family, was a college girl. Due to some economic reasons, her family went broke. Her father committed suicide under great pressure, while her mother ran away with someone else, leaving her alone in this world. As she tried to find some comfort from her boyfriend, she found that her boyfriend cheated on her. Feeling devastated, Jian Rushi thought of ending her life. But she wanted to do a crazy thing before that. Suddenly she remembered she was still virgin. So she decided to sleep with a man before she died. She went to a pub one day and saw a pretty man drinking there alone. She mistook him as a money boy and took him home. After they slept, she had no money to pay him. As the compensation, Jian Rushi became the mistress of that man, who turned out to be a golden bachelor. And a series of embarrassing things happened…

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