Firebrand - Chapter 54: The Gifts of Friendship

It is said that humans only reveal 5% of their DNA. The person you perceive yourself to be and the person others judge you for is determined by this 5%. No one can know what is in the hidden 95%.

WARNING: DARK AND MATURE CONTENT. Readers discretion advised.Serena Alaric wanted nothing more than a quiet life, far from the shadows of her family’s dark past. But when masked enforcers storm her home and drag her into the clutches of the Council of Vitae, she learns her blood is the key to a deadly legacy she never asked for.Lucian Draven is the cold and ruthless leader of a powerful mafia syndicate, cursed to endure unimaginable pain. The Council claims Serena is his only salvation. Yet beneath the Council’s polished facade lies a web of lies, experiments, and betrayal that runs far deeper than either of them imagined.Forced into an uneasy alliance and given a time limit to produce an heir, Serena and Lucian must navigate a treacherous world of power and manipulation, where trust is a rare commodity. As they uncover the truth about the Council’s sinister plans, their hatred begins to give way to something unexpected—a bond forged in fire and blood.But with enemies closing in from all sides and time running out, Serena and Lucian must decide: will they fight their fates, or embrace the dangerous connection that could either save them, or destroy them both?

Xia Zhijun got the title ‘study god’ after scoring first place in the whole city. He’s the model of a good student in a teacher’s eyes: good grades, good manners, and quiet. When he wasn’t smiling, his entire body emits a cold abstinence aura. The girls only have the guts to look from afar and not get close.
Later, it was rumored throughout the entire school that even the study god would fight and hit on girls. Whoever dared to provoke his girl, he would teach you how to be a person at every minute. The night of the graduation ceremony someone saw him blocking Gu Siyi in the corner. He didn’t stop kissing even when she cried. He bit her lips and said in a raspy voice, “I’m going crazy…”
During college finals, Gu Siyi almost bursted out crying, “I’m such a failure. I won’t be able to find a good job in the future…And if I can’t find a good job, I can’t provide for myself…”
Xia Zhijun played with her pink earlobe and remarked, “I’ll take care of you.”
After they graduated, Xia Zhijun created a research company and Gu Siyi became the boss’s wife.
The commercial rocket, “Star of Siyi” was successfully launched. So everyone knew that the new technology superstar, Xia Zhijun has a wife who he spoils a lot.

- Description from Novelupdates

“They said the world would fall without me.”“They said I was the strongest.”“Then they buried me with honors... and a blade behind my back.”Remiel St. Clair, humanity’s strongest exalt, prince of a once glorious empire, was betrayed and buried.Nine centuries later, he awakens in the body of Lucien Callastre, the second prince of a kingdom descended from his own treacherous bloodline.Stripped of powers, but not of pride, he must rebuild his lost strength and rise to power yet again to fend off the ever-growing threats of the spirits.The maw is growing.The spirits are returning.But so is he.And this time, the Exalted Prince is not dying quietly.