Villains Aren't Stepping Stones! - Chapter 85: The Arrival and The Willow Tree

The constant mission is getting redemption.

Shuttle though various worlds to become a variety of scum men, do a little whitewashing and become a good man in the eyes of everyone.

Redeem those who are miserable, and let them live a happy life.

- Description from Novelupdates

When Evelyn’s loser fiance steals her company's secrets and elopes with her prostitute mother, she finds herself facing impending bankruptcy. But unexpected help comes in the form of an unusual offer from her business rival and ex-boyfriend, Alexander Langford.“Bear my children, Eve, and I’ll save this precious company of yours.”To everyone else, Alexander is the heir to a billion dollar fortune, and the acting industry’s handsome darling. But to Evelyn, he is nothing more than a cold-hearted, arrogant man she dumped for being a compulsive liar years ago - but unknown to her, he has never lied about his love.How could Alexander miss the golden chance to hit two birds with one stone? He gets his inheritance, and a family with the love of his life. Now, if only dear Evelyn would stop thinking the worst of him…[Strong female lead x doting male lead.][EXCERPT]“You’re out of your mind,” Eve snaps. “You could have any woman in this world, and you want ME to be the mother of your children?!”“Why not? You’re smart, savvy, and fucking hot,” Alex says as he takes a step forward, trapping her body between his muscular arms. His dark blue eyes gaze deep into hers with unbridled lust. “I want our children to have the best from both of us. Our children could take over the world.”“There is no ‘our’,” Eve says coldly, pushing him away. “I will be the surrogate for your children. This is nothing but a business deal. There is NO love in this contract. But in exchange, you need to do something else.”“And what is it?”“Help me take down my ex-fiance. That bastard deserves to die after fucking my mom and ruining my life.”Alex chuckles. “It’s a deal then, sweetheart.”It was nothing but a business deal at first. But what if the line between business, love, and hatred were getting blurry as they got entangled too far and too long?[Power couple, slow burn, getting back together.]

The plague of insects descended overnight. As an ordinary person without invincible powers and extraordinary exercises, facing blood and death, what should we do at the critical moment of life and death?

(I am a reasonable party, but the novel needs appropriate YY, please do not excessively investigate the rationality of the background in a razor-sharp way.)

- Description from novelbuddy

They call him Ghost.A name whispered in fear across warzones, black markets, and underworld circles.To the world, he's a phantom—a faceless mercenary who leaves no trace but bodies in his wake.To his enemies, he’s a death sentence.To his brothers-in-arms in Graveyard, he’s family.But to himself... he's a haunted man searching for a past stolen in gunfire and smoke.After a flawless mission deep in the Eastern Province, Ghost returns to the hidden forest base he's called home for sixteen years. Yet the victory is short-lived. His foster father, the commander delivers an unexpected order:“That was your last mission.”Now, Ghost—real name Miles Sterling—must step out of the shadows of war and into a world he’s never known. Guided only by a scarred letter, a fading memory, and the voice of a woman he hasn’t seen since the day everything was taken from him.But war forged more than his body and name.Behind the mask, behind the scars, Miles has another secret.One he’s kept hidden even from his brothers in arms.He’s not just a weapon.He’s a ghost with a fortune—a hidden empire he built in silence, across borders and black markets, forged in strategy and blood.A man of many names, and many shadows.Beneath the bullets, tattoos, and silence lies a truth buried in ashes.And Ghost is about to dig it up—one letter, one enemy, one memory at a time.