MTL - Centennial Family, Rising From Hong Kong Island - Chapter 9

“What does it feel like to be a shadow?”People say it's bondage — the absence of light, of freedom. But what is freedom, really?The ability to choose whatever you want?Or... just a beautiful illusion masking the void?Strange question, I know.But you'll understand soon enough.Because my lives?They've always been a little... enlightening.— Kaiser

Everyone knows that after the eldest Miss Shen was abandoned by a wild man, she was willing to degenerate.

The notorious Shen Ruojing appeared at the birthday banquet of the old lady of the Chu family of the first family, and everyone ridiculed:

“Sit at a table with a million-dollar gift.”

“Sit at a table with ten million gifts.”

“Miss Shen, how much gift did you give?”

Everyone was waiting to see her joke, but they saw Shen Ruojing pushing out a little boy with pink makeup and jade carving, “Please ask the old lady, which table is the grandson to sit at?”

***

Shen Ruojing, who was brought into the Chu family by her mother and son, just wanted to eat and wait to die and be a salted fish, but was rejected by the Chu family in various ways:

“We have first-class hackers, music masters, painting geniuses, and tech madmen in our family. Everyone is well-known in their respective industries, and what do you know?”

Shen Ruojing touched his chin: “I know a little bit of what you said…”

The three cute babies stood beside them and nodded in unison: We testify that Mummy does know a million dots.

- Description from novelbuddy

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?

Among the demons, the supreme ones are called “Great Saints.”