Contract Marriage with My Secret Partner in Crime - Chapter 106: Borrowed Time

Meet Alex Knight, a hardworking young man burdened by crushing debt and a bleak future. When his new boss turns his life into a waking nightmare, Alex finds himself trapped in a job he can't escape, his future held hostage by the whims of a tyrant.Just when he believes he has one anchor left—his girlfriend's love—a devastating betrayal leaves him utterly broken.But then the world changes. The system descends, dragging everyone into a chaotic new reality. Alex becomes the first to sync with it, earning a mysterious title:[Apocalypse Baby][You have awakened the skill: Exploding Touch][Anything you touch turns into a bomb.]Armed with a deadly gift, Alex rises from the ashes of his former life to become an unstoppable force in an urban fantasy world where power rules and vengeance drives him forward.

“I WILL MAKE THEM ALL REGRET THE DAY THEY MET ME! I WILL MAKE THEM WISH THEY WERE NEVER BORN! AND I WILL MAKE THEM HATE THE DAY THEY THOUGHT OF BETRAYING ME!”“You will, Sweetie. And I'll help you with that...”Those were the last words Avery spoke and heard before passing out in her bloody red wedding gown, on the same day she was supposed to marry her boyfriend from senior high school.~~Avery McCallum, the sole heiress and president of the McCallum Group of Companies, had her whole family wiped out on her wedding day. Framed for her grandfather's murder and stripped of her position, Avery vows to take revenge on those who wronged her. But her powerless state seems to mock her determination.Enter Archibald Donovan. She used to hate the devilishly hot and narcissistic chairman of the A² Corp who also happened to be her older brother's best friend, but when consumed with the need to take revenge, she begged him to marry her in return for fulfilling a long list of conditions. Archie agrees, and a month later, Avery re-emerges as Ava Donovan, a rising actress and the wife of the most powerful man in the country.With her newfound status, Avery systematically destroys her adversaries, uncovering dark secrets and hidden agendas along the way. But as she navigates the treacherous landscape of her new life, she must confront the truth about her family's past and at the end of it all, come back to him.She owed him after all...EXCERPTArchie's eyes darkened when he saw her stumbling out of the wine cellar, a bottle of wine in one hand and her night robe, in the other. She was literally half naked.“Hey...” her greeting came out in a slur, and that was all he needed to know she was drunk. Very drunk, at that.“Why?” he asked simply, knowing she would interpret his question as she usually did.“I...I visited them today. The flowers on their stones were already wilted and...and...it broke me. I wanted to be happy and at the same time, I wanted to cry,” Avery replied, inhaling short wisps of air before she continued, “Then I found the cellar.”“Did it work?”She shook her head slowly in reply, lifting her head up in time to see a mischievous smirk curl on his lips.“Don't be sad, Baby girl. I happen to know a way to make you cry and keep you excited at the same time,” he said.“Really?”“Wanna try it, Mama?”Avery nodded, slowly but firmly as he closed the distance between them.As he promised, she did cry...in pleasure.

Su Qinglan sat cross-legged on the grass, holding the chubbiest tiger cub she’d ever seen.“Aww… Look at you,” she whispered, booping its tiny nose. “So cute I could eat you up...”A sudden shadow loomed over her.“What’s so good about this stinky cub?” a deep, amused voice asked.She blinked up… and froze.Towering above her was a tall tiger beast man, his golden eyes narrowed in a lazy, predatory smile.“Let’s have ours,” he said.Su Qinglan’s brain short-circuited.… Ours? OURS?!Before she could process, in the next moment she was hoisted up onto his broad shoulder like a sack of grain and carried straight toward the cave.Su Qinglan was so choked by the suddenness of it all… she forgot to even complain.***Su Qinglan’s knees knocked together as she stared up at the enormous serpent.Its cold, red eyes narrowed, the flick of its tongue tasting the air between them.“D-Don’t eat me,” she stammered, hugging herself. “I...I’m not tasty… really, I’m stringy and full of… uh… bad cholesterol.”The snake’s head lowered until it was mere inches from her face. Her fox ears twitched wildly.And then, before she could blink...its massive body shimmered, scales turning into bronzed skin and lean muscle.Standing before her was a man so breathtakingly handsome that Su Qinglan’s poor fox eyes watered just looking at him.Su Qinglan swallowed hard, her tail fluffing up in panic.“I… I…” Her voice cracked.Okay, new problem… the snake is hot.She squeezed her eyes shut.“If you… if you really want…” She blurted, her face burning, “…y-you can… take me.”***One moment Su Qinglan was fighting with the zombie king with all her might.Boom!The next, she woke up in a bizarre beast world… inside the body of a lazy, pampered, fat local tyrant everyone hated.The “original” Su Qinglan had been an arrogant, scheming villainess who spent her days bullying weaker beast women, chasing after handsome males, and terrorizing the tribe kids. Now, thanks to fate’s twisted sense of humor, Qinglan had inherited the body and the bad reputation.But honestly? Being fat in a beast world was still better than starving in the apocalypse. At least here, she could eat.The only problem? In this world, men weren’t just men, they were beastmen. Tall, strong, dangerous… And apparently, every beast woman was expected to have several husbands. The catch? The “original” Qinglan’s antics had scared away every decent male within a ten-mile radius.Armed with her apocalyptic survival instincts, a sharp tongue, and a mysterious system that suddenly activated...“Binding with host…“”Congratulations, host, for successfully arriving in the beast world.“Qinglan decided she wasn’t going to cry about fate.If she had to live here, then she’d live big, literally.

[Inflict Weakness ─ Lv.1] ◇ Inflict the target with a physical attribute weakness upon contact. [Shop ─ Lv.1] ◇ Consumes points to buy items.