MTL - 70s: Raising a Baby - Chapter 97

In a prehistoric age when all things in the world had no names,God descended.God created life, reason, light...He separated the darkness, and brought life from the underwater cradle to land.He bestowed language upon the ape-men, freeing them from the realm of beasts.He chose the first prophet of the world, who led the entire civilization's history, the descendants of the prophet later established a great nation.......In the golden age that followed, people left God and dispersed across the world.Many things were forgotten, leaving history to be buried by time.Yet life is a return.People will eventually remember,In this story, God first loved the world.

The first-ever virtual reality game, New World. {The time has come.} {Synchronization starts.} That marked the beginning of the catastrophe. As the game became reality, the Earth began to crumble. However, there was hope. All-Master Jeong-hoon, who had survived until the very end, was just one step away from finishing the game. “Gah!” But ended up being betrayed by his comrades. “Should I say, from the moment you said you wanted to end this game?” The reason for their betrayal was simple, if the game ended, their power would disappear. The moment they thought it was all over. [An unknown mysterious force is protecting you.][An unknown mysterious force is sending you back to the past.][Warning! The system attempts to intervene… failed.][Warning! Warning! The system attempts to intervene… failed.][Warning! Warning! Warning! The system attempts to intervene… failed.][An unknown mysterious force dissipates.] Thanks to that unknown force, he returned to the past.

“Block him.”“He's technically still my boss.”“Then block him with dignity.”The call ended again.And then started again.I let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a sob, then finally answered with the enthusiasm of a snail crawling through salt.“Yes, Mr. Walton?”“Have you changed your mind yet?”I collapsed onto the towel and gazed at the sky as though it might consume me entirely if I pleaded sweetly enough.“Do you ever take a break?” I asked, shielding my eyes with one hand.“You're avoiding the question.”“Because it's a dumb question.”He exhaled, the sound sharp and irritated even over phone. “It's not a dumb question. It's a business offer.”“It's a weird offer-one that I already said no to.”There was a brief pause, and I could practically hear him clenching his jaw through the speaker.“You are acting unreasonably.”“ Unreasonable?” I sat up. “I'm not the one drafting fake girlfriend contracts like it's a normal Tuesday.”“Isabella-”“Certainly not, Mr. Walton.” I mimicked his tone perfectly. “I told you I'm not doing it. You need to find someone else to play pretend with.”SYNOPSISIsabella Miller thought saying no to her boss’s fake dating offer was the end of the story.But Adrien Walton doesn’t take no—especially not when he’s convinced she’s a gold digger.Suddenly, her student loans are piling up, her father’s vet clinic is on the brink of eviction and her brother is about to be kicked out of college. Coincidence? She thinks not.Adrien Walton is calm, calculating—and he's just pulled every string to corner Isabella into the perfect position.Now she’s stuck choosing between pride and survival.So she agrees to his offer: be his fake girlfriend.No feelings attached. No drama. Just business.Or so she thought.“Conference Room B. Fifteen minutes,” he said, passing by without a glance.The folder he pushed across the table landed with a thud.I opened it. The contract. All of it.---Enemies to lovers? Check.Slow burn? Hmmnyea.Banter so sharp it might file your nails? Yes.Delicious workplace tension? Of course.Tension that could melt steel?Absolutely.Smut?? Wanna find out?Welcome to corporate romance warfare. There’s no escaping this contract.

It was in the middle of the night that the woman who would be the Duchess came to see me.

She said my father and mother died, and my kind uncle became king.

She said it’s not worth it for me, the crown prince, to be living in hiding, too.

“A while ago, Your Highness had been hiding from me. With all due respect, is that for the sake of survival? Just because your parents died doesn’t mean you have no reason to survive. Actually, that fact alone made it all the more reason why you should live. If you die now…”

If I died now?

When I asked her while looking at her eyes, the woman eventually brought out the harsh truth with empathetic eyes.

“It’s like a dog’s death.”

“That’s rude….”

It’s been a long time since I said that. In a short while, he has been treated as a madman and beaten to death just by saying similar things. She loosened her arms that held me and I suddenly stiffened up due to it. Because I thought she might have loosened her arm to hit me. But she didn’t.

She knelt down with one knee in front of me, just like a knight.

“Hastred’s Sarian raised her salutations. May you accept it gladly.”

My first knight is beautiful and kind.

“Are you on my side?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

It was all a lie.