Echoes of the Abyssal Blade: Path to Free Will - Chapter 102: Fear

Angel Johnson was a waitress struggling to make ends meet when an unexpected contract with Tryson Bliss, one of City Y's most powerful and ruthless billionaires, changed everything.Tryson needed a fiancée to appease his demanding family, and Angel, desperate for money and a way out of her humdrum life, agreed to play the part.What began as a calculated arrangement soon evolved into something neither of them expected—an intense and forbidden connection.But when Tryson's family uncovers Angel's true motives, they cast her out with venomous disdain.Humiliated and heartbroken, Angel's last hope is confronting Tryson. But instead of an apology or a chance at redemption, she finds herself shattered when he declares that he has chosen his first love, Riley, the woman he was preparing to marry.Devastated and with only her pride left, Angel walks away, determined to rebuild her life alone.Two months later, Angel is lost in the pulse of the music at a dark, crowded bar, seeking refuge in anonymity.A hand seizes her from behind, and her breath catches as she turns to face the man she can't forget—Tryson.His eyes, once cold and calculating, are now stormy with raw emotion, and he pulls her into his orbit, holding out the contract she once signed. “We haven't finished our work, Angel. The contract says you have a year left to be my fiancée. Don't tell me you're planning on breaching it now.”With no choice but to comply, Angel moves back into the house that once rejected her.But to her surprise, the family she once loathed now welcomes her with unexpected warmth and kindness.As she navigates this unsettling shift, Angel is left to wonder—what has changed, and why?What secrets do they hide that could alter everything she thought she knew about Tryson and his family?And as Angel's heart begins to thaw, she's confronted with the hardest question of all: Can she keep the secrets she's hidden from Tryson?And will Tryson fight for her love a second time, despite everything that has come between them?

[Strong female + vest + sadistic slap in the face + micro metaphysics]

[Group pet + no logic]

At the age of eighteen, Lin Wu learned that he was a fake daughter and was kicked out of the house.

Lin family: You have no talent or ability, your moral character and learning are worrisome, and you are not as good as Qianqian at all!

Lin Wu turned around and went to his biological parents’ house.

I thought it was just as shabby as the Lin family said, but I never thought it was completely different——

The backcountry is actually the premier special area for the rich!

Ordinary people are actually the richest people in the country!

My biological mother is a famous and authoritative professor!

Even my brothers and sisters are the proud ones in various fields!

Facing Lin Wu, who had no brand name and looked thin, they looked distressed: Wuwu, you have been wronged, from now on these countries will be yours!

Lin Wu casually made hundreds of millions, wiped out a group of mercenaries with his bare hands, completed experiments at an international research institute, and saved someone by the way, and politely thanked them.

The family members looked at her unfinished vest:! ! !

The handsome man who had been rescued stood in front of Lin Wu, raised his eyebrows and smiled: Such a great kindness should be pledged with one’s own body.

All the subordinates following behind covered their faces: Master Jiu, where is the reserve? !

- Description from novelbuddy

Her childhood was forged in shadows, and she was sharpened into a weapon, trained to be a ghost, a killer—an instrument of vengeance. The target: a decorated general who brought down her family.But fate doesn't follow orders.Just as Lara was about to execute her long-planned mission, everything spiraled out of control. A military convoy intercepted her escape route—escorting none other than the general himself. And then came the moment that changed everything.A blinding crash. Screeching tires. Her body was thrown like a ragdoll, then darkness.She had a fleeting recollection of another world, another lifetime where kings ruled the land with an iron fist.But she woke up, and twelve long months had passed. She did not know where she was or who she was. She remembered nothing.They told her different names.A child with trembling hope whispered, “Mommy, your name is Moira Torres.”Her doctor insisted, “Your admission slip says Larissa Reyes.”A hardened general leaned close and commanded, “Remember who you are. Remember your mission.”Then another general—dangerously calm, incredibly familiar—looked at her as if she mattered and asked, “Can I call you Lara?”The name unlocked something buried deep in her soul.Lara Norse Kromwel.Daughter of General Odin Norse.Empress of the First Empire.But the man who watched her most closely dismissed it with cold certainty.“This is the 21st century,” he said. “What nonsense are you spouting? What Empress? You are my woman. You can only be mine!”

There came a sudden ravage by monstrous creatures in a civilian world, leaving humanity's hope to lurk in shadows. Hunters, trained in special schools, wield potential and abilities that enabled them keep the beasts at bay.For Buji, life’s difficulties stem not from being an orphan, but from relentless bullying. Nicknamed “the weakling,” he detests the label but bears it forcefully since he could do nothing.When he transfers to a new school to join his foster sister, Buji thought things would be different. But, during the Awakening Ceremony of the school, he find out a shocking truth: he's was going to be an S-Rank hunter without a talent.Awakening no talent only added more difficulty to his life struggle as he was branded an outcast.On the verge of death during his first raid, Buji awakens an enigmatic system.[Host Found][Survival due to inheritance][Congrats, you have gained the status of a 'player'.][The player, upon leveling up will awaken a potent monster][Class: Animagus | Type: Snake | Aspect: Venom][Do you accept?]Given the choice to embrace a monstrous path, Buji seizes it with unyielding resolve.'If becoming a monster is my only path to strength, I’ll take it—and the world will regret casting me aside. Fighting against these hunters was going to be a job, but imagine a world where I had control over monsters, had my own monster kingdom, and becoming the strongest of all. Stepping on these hunters won’t be a deal anyway.'“Yes!”