Gardenia's Heart - Chapter 77: Dinner

Three rejections. Three shattered dreams. That was Layla’s reality, all because she was different—a half-shifter in a world obsessed with purity. Ostracized, shunned, and finally sold off like a pawn to the most feared ruler alive—the Lycan King. He was ruthless, a king with a graveyard of brides, each one a ghostly reminder of a fate worse than death.Layla loathed him. Hated the way his gaze cold and fathomless, held no warmth for her. Hated how his touch, both thrilling and terrifying, sent an uninvited chill down her spine.---“I hate you!” I screamed, hands clenched so tight my knuckles ached.He sighed, a smirk curling at the edge of his lips, his tone mocking as he closed his book with a deliberate snap. “Stressed, are we?” he asked, strolling toward me, each step reminding me exactly who held the power here.“Lucky for you,” he drawled, rolling up his sleeves as he stopped just inches away, “I know exactly 70 ways to ease those nerves.” His fingers brushed my cheek, a touch that seemed to burn into my skin. “The first… a hug.” His voice dropped to a rough whisper as he leaned in, breath hot against my ear. “And the rest... well, that's 69? what do you say about that?”I swallowed hard, my heart thudding wildly as he tilted his head, waiting for me to react, that insufferable smirk still in place.“What’s the matter, darling?” he murmured, a taunt lingering in his gaze.---A Dangerous ObsessionCan she resist the pull, or will she dance into the flames of her own destruction?A dark dive into obsession, raw need, and the razor’s edge between desire and devastation.---LYCAN KING CASSIANI will tear her apart piece by piece, feeding the wildfire that grips her with each shuddered breath. Like air to flame, I’ll claim every inch, drawing heat from her skin until it sinks into her bones.Her pulse will race under my hands, her breaths shallow, pleading. Her eyes may scream, but her lips will still murmur my name. That first taste of fear will only feed something deeper—a need that burns through her veins, molten and fierce.And just when she’s too far gone to turn back, I’ll twist the knife, giving her the pain she’s learned to crave.She’ll be the moth to my flame, helpless against the very thing that will consume her.

Zheng Tan somehow returns to the year 2003, turning into a black cat. Picked up from a rubbish heap by the Jiao family, he is given the name “Charcoal”, and so begins the life inside Professor Jiao’s family. Zheng Tan remembers that he was once a person, but currently his body is that of a cat. He has no way of speaking the human language, but can understand it, and even retains the thinking and IQ of a young 20 year old youth. Read along as he adapts to this new world, and somehow tumbles from a group brawl to catching a thief.

- Description from Novelupdates

Born as a hybrid, I was ab*sed by my maternal grandfather because I was a useless child who didn’t inherit any abilities from my dad’s family, and ended up dying.I returned to the past with my memories, but my options weren’t so different from the past.I’ll either live like this and be ab*sed to death just like in my previous life, or I’ll go to my dad who hates me.‘I don’t want to die again.’Eventually I went to my dad who hated me, with a locket in my hand that would prove me to be the daughter of the Black Leopard family.“Let me…let me stay here.”All I asked for is protection until I became an adult. Then, when I was old enough to live alone, I was going to go out and live without causing trouble. Because I was going to be a good kid this time.But, somehow…“My beloved daughter, if there is anyone who touches you, I will kill them immediately.”My father, who I thought hated me, was so sweet to me.“Hey, Perfi, don’t keep hugging Thiel. At this time of year, I heard that girls are very delicate.”“Where did you learn that s*upid theory? Thiel likes to hug.”The two brothers who I thought were scary like me so much.“Thiel, I’m going to hand you over the head position of this Black Leopard family.”My paternal grandfather suddenly tells me that he is handing over his position to me.Hey …didn’t everyone hate me?

What if life could be repeated?

But he became the clan uncle who was once called a lunatic?

Alas, wearing open-crotch pants in front of me, crawling on the ground, is it my two-year-old self?

I originally wanted to give my former self more New Year’s money, but I never thought that I would go from a braised pork stall to a food giant, from a small factory to an industrial empire.

- Description from novelbuddy