The Monarch - Chapter 29: The heart

“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.

From a caste based high school, bottom-tier Naomi Masatsugu is caught up in a summon of his class to a different world. However, as soon as they arrived the king said, “This guy is unnecessary because he only has clumsy skills ” and it is concluded that he is to be forced to administer the orphanage, which no one wants to do. Unfortunately for the orphanage his skills were cheat skills that cause the girls to cling to him.

In order to “defend” the girls that depend on him, he must operate the orphanage while overcoming the powerful people, authorities, and former classmates that surround him.

Octavius, misled by friends, embarks on a quest to clear his father's name, ultimately facing a tragic end with his sister.Their journey results in devastating loss, leaving him powerless and yearning for revenge against those who harmed his family. Spirits offer him a chance to reincarnate, but he refuses, saying;“What’s the point of a new life if I keep running from my problems”The entities are taken aback by his unwavering decision, having never encountered a spirit who refuses to escape their troubled past. They warn him about the evil being that now resides in his old body, but that only motivates him. He believed In the saying - to defeat a monster, you have to be twice as monstrous.Embracing his fate as The Phantom's Gambit, they traverse the shadowy path of retribution, their identities blur, secrets unravel, and the line between savior and monster fades.This is a tale of darkness and redemption, where justice is a blade, and revenge is the only way forward.

Everyone has friends in their lives, right?They can be anyone—good friends, bad friends, or even... friends with benefits.Ahem!Anyway, the point is, everyone has friends. And so did I.I was friends with author of web novel.Yeah, was.A small argument over how the main character should act in novel of [World’s Greatest Hero] led to a fight with my friend, the author.Still frustrated, I stormed out of his house... and that’s when Truck-kun hit me.But that wasn’t the worst part.The worst part? I woke up in a different body—the body of a side character in my friend’s novel.A character who is supposed to die in the prologue.[Your body is dying!][You don’t have much time left.][The creator of this world is mocking you.]F#ck you, Author.F#ck this novel.I will survive, and when I do—I'll beat you to a pulp!---