Deep Sea Embers - Chapter 20

D-list celebrity Zhong Ruanxing had been embroiled in controversies over her sultry figure ever since her debut. Smear campaigns and malicious rumors clung to her like a shadow. Years of oppression from higher-ups and sabotage by rivals made it difficult for her to shake off her reputation as a femme fatale, severely hindering her career.

Song Jingxing, CEO of the prestigious Song Group, graduated top of his class and stirred up storms in the business world with his capabilities. An aloof presence at the pinnacle of power, his interpersonal relationships were a mess, with even family keeping their distance. People loathed his attitude.

A freak accident caused these two very different people to swap bodies.

What they thought would be an arduous ordeal turned out to be an unexpected boon. Each found they could easily resolve issues that had plagued the other.

The celebrity living the CEO’s daily life: Greeted his family affectionately, treated subordinates with care, gave employees benefits, complimented his secretary’s new hairstyle—starting the day with vigor!

The CEO as celebrity: Trampled over rivals, tore apart enemies, sent lawyers after antis. Whoever dared provoke him would die! The CEO was whipping the entertainment industry into shape!

Much later, netizens posted:

[Who is Zhong Ruanxing’s backer? Her resources are too good now. From nobody to A-lister, whose thighs did she hug to get here?]

Online influencers hurried to speculate about the magnate behind Zhong Ruanxing.

Until the famously aloof CEO of the Song Group responded: I’m pouring resources into my own girlfriend. Got a problem with that?

After leaving earth in a pathetic way, Asher finds his soul in the body of a baron's bastard son.As the last surviving member of the Ashbournes, Asher must take up the mantle and build his territory or die in the jaws of a beast or the blades of hungry nobles greedy for his territory.Luckily, he did not enter this man-eat-man world without support.[Ding! Soulbinding successfully completed.][Would the host like to upgrade your bronze-ranked butler to a powerful silver-ranked swordsman? Yes or No.]

At twenty‑nine, she was the youngest CEO in the tech industry—NetVault Security had gone from small startup to Fortune 500 in just six years. The media called her a prodigy. Her board called her unstoppable.Her therapist called her alexithymic.Unable to understand or describe her own emotions.The elevator chimed. Elara didn’t look up. Only one person had after‑hours access.“You’re late,” she said. “The investor meeting is in twelve hours. Did you review the—”“I’m not here about the meeting.”…“Ugh.”Elara lost her life that day at the hands of her mentor and adoptive father. By the next morning, the same people who once called her a genius and praised her to the sky were calling her a coward who killed herself to escape scandal.Then Elara woke up.Not in her office. Not in a hospital.In a different world. In a different body.She was now Elara, the Fourth Princess of this so‑called great kingdom—only to find that this princess was an utter pushover, completely useless in everyone’s eyes. No one feared her. No one respected her. Even her own palace was full of other people’s spies.How is Elara supposed to survive this palace battle, when seven princesses fight in the shadows and she’s known as the weakest one? And can she ever escape this place… or will she decide to win instead?……“Your Highness, please… ugh…”The leash of light around Mahir’s neck—the head of the knights—tightened with a soft pull. His face flushed red, and not from pain.“Princess, here.” Ken, the strongest beast knight, knelt closer and held out a small pill between his fingers, guiding it gently to Elara’s lips.“Swallow it,” he said quietly. “You used too much power today.”On the floor below the bed, three beastmen knelt in a row, broad shoulders tense, ears twitching, their eyes fixed on her with dazed focus. Thin, glowing leashes of magic ran from their collars to the bands at Elara’s wrists.“Please…” Ken’s voice dropped, rough and a little hoarse. “Put your foot here.” He touched his gloved hand to his chest. “On me.”Elara sighed, half annoyed, half amused, and rested her foot lightly on his armored chest. All three of them drew in a sharp breath at the same time, faces turning even redder as the magic between them flared.Their eyes—gold, amber, and deep brown—looked up at her with the same lost, devoted gaze.

|| To all the readers who are grieving over Caelestis Lanister’s death. I deeply apologize but this character always deserved death in my eyes of justice. Although he was a good leader, a good friend, probably a good son, yet he was never a good friend or boyfriend to Stella.Even after going through all his sins, if you still sympathize with him. I have an offer for you.Would you like to change the destiny of Caelestis Lanister?Yes/No||A translucent blue window appeared in front of Eleanore, who had just opened her eyes in a strange white place, after meeting her end in a Traffic accident.Eleanore finds herself in a new world, with a mission to change the destiny of her favorite character from a book she had recently read, “Revenge is her only desire.”Tired from her daily struggles, she was ready to venture into a new life of the rich, but to her dismay. She finds herself in the body of the villainess that dies in the first chapter of the novel, who shares the same name as hers, Eleanore Sinclair.Moreover, the day she enters into her body is the day she gets killed by Caelestis for harming his lover, Stella.Eleanore binded by the system that guided her through in her mission of changing Caelestis’ fate, realizes that the system favoured Stella over her. She struggles to keep herself alive, while working on Caelestis and Stella's relationship.As she tries to save Stella from the obsessive grasps of Caelestis, she finds herself getting entangled with the notorious villain. As tension and hatred between them rises, a love blooms between them which gives nothing but pain in return.The male lead being her own brother, will she be able to save Caelestis which is no longer her mission but her love?_______“Lies!” he spat again, his voice rising. “I will kill you, Eleanore. If you ever try to do that to her again, I will kill you.”His words cut through her, burning with hatred and fear. Anger surged within her as she fought against him. She had never intended to hurt Stella, not once. The blame lay with the original owner of the body, not her. Why must she listen to these accusations?“I have no such intentions!” she shouted at his face, gasping to find breath. “Let me go!”Her foot lashed out, kicking him in the thigh, but he quickly pinned it down as well. Exhausted from her useless struggles, Eleanore realized she had to gather her strength and then perhaps bite off some skin from his handsome face.“You are just an obsessed man,” she snarled. “You don’t know how to treat a woman. You’re killing her!”Before she could finish, Caelestis silenced her with a violent grip around her throat. His hand tightened around her neck, cutting off her breath.Her wrists were free, but now her neck was caught, and every breath became a struggle. Panic surged through her as she struggled to find, her nails digged deep into at his arm in a desperate attempt to free herself.Caelestis’ true nature had finally appeared in front of Eleanore, and it scared her. She had already been afraid of him, but now the fear felt like it was gripping her very soul.