Gardenia's Heart - Chapter 26: The Test

Crimson Vale Academy—where reputation is currency, and failure is a stain you wear on your sleeve.Behind gothic walls and spotless uniforms, students aren't just educated—they're measured, ranked, and pitted against each other in a brutal meritocracy. Privileges are earned, not given. The strong rise. The weak vanish.Enter Kairon Vale, a transfer student marked Rank D—the bottom of the bottom. No badge. Just a stitched black fang, branding him as “Obsidian”—a warning to others.In a system where points dictate your value, Obsidian-ranked students claw for every opportunity to ascend into the prestigious Golden or Platinum ranks—where comfort, power, and influence await. But for most, it’s a losing battle.Yet Kairon isn’t here to fit in, impress, or play by their rules. Cold, calculating, and impossible to read, he watches the system… and waits. Because while the academy judges worth by numbers and names—he understands something deeper:Everyone wears a mask. And every mask can be cracked.Let the games begin.

I never asked to be a part of werewolf society - or this world.Every day that passes, the mating bond between my protector and I threatens to occur, once and for all. To consume me entirely... and lock my path with this world on the brink, even when I still think of home.⧖ ⧖ ⧖One minute I was Citra Lomdi - a Princess to a kingdom of silk and secrets in a whole other place. There, I was a *magnificent* Fox shifter... maneuvering in the gilded cage that was my life. The next thing I knew...I was trapped in the body of a she-werewolf being rejected by her mate. A man that wanted the original owner, Helene Duskpaw, to accept the rejection of the mate bond so badly that he'd be easily convinced to kill me. He did *almost* seem to be trying!But my problems didn't end there.An 'Apocalypse System' has chosen me and a countdown timer reminds me whenever I look that fate can be measured. That there might be a point to my arrival here.A fierce & brilliant CEO of a supernatural society tech empire has their sights on me, too. The Alpha of the Rimecoat Pack that is quite annoyingly... as sexy as she is powerful.This Kyrie Voss also seems to believe she is my fated mate. Silly wolf superstitions. Whether that is true or not, isn't really important!I'm caught in between a cold-snap future and a hot-love pursuit... but I am Citra Lomdi and I will not be tamed. Not by the wolf within me I share this body with, the rogues that see me unmarked, or the Alpha that can set my blood on fire with her amazing restraint.The only problem is:Helene was pregnant before she died. So now, I am too.

I’m so sorry, Mr. Lawson, you can marry my daughter Marga but Sabrina is an exception.

Why? She’s your daughter I thought you and my parents had already arranged this marriage. And I choose Sabrina. I won't marry anyone but Sabrina.

Then why Sabrina?

Let’s say that Sabrina and I have a special thing back then, Gabriel said with a little smile. Ferdinand frowned and was curious. Well, she might deny it.

Sabrina Mondragon Alvarez – is a mute rich woman. She's an introvert and hated getting along with rich people who always talk about senseless stuff. She was bullied by socialite but never they knew that behind that innocent-looking woman hides a strong and powerful aura.

Being quiet doesn't mean weak but is something more dangerous than anything. Silence would lead all of her enemies to one place that can also be called danger.

Soon, she'll have them in the place that she's secretly reserving for those who made her life and family miserable.

She said to be someone who can't speak not until he came and chose her to be his wife.

Gabriel Lawson - a rich powerful tycoon with a strong background. He fell in love with the woman he had a one night stand with and chose her to be his wife. He would do anything for her. And for those people who hurt her--they must pay a thousand folds.

Synopsis: Yang Chen, the inheritor of the divine throne of Hades, was separated from his family at a young age and sold to a foreign assassin organization. Enduring the darkest of worlds, he eventually returned to his homeland incognito. Intending to live a low-profile life as a street vendor selling lamb skewers, fate took an unexpected turn when he married a well-known local corporate CEO. Hoping for a quiet existence, he found himself drawn into the role of a guardian knight due to the presence of beautiful women from various walks of life. As he navigates through these connections, his past experiences and former comrades resurface. Inadvertently, he delves into the world of cultivation in China and uncovers the essence of this world.