The Villain has Perished - Chapter 57 My Status Screen

“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.

After years of longing, Mu Chenyan was finally going to marry the man of her dreams — Yuan Xuan. However, on her wedding day, the tragic death of Shu Qinger, her well-known romantic competitor led to Mu Chenyan’s prison sentence.

In her last life, Yu Lingxi fell from a myriad of stars that surrounded the moon into the dust, and was forced to sacrifice herself to the regent, Ning Yin.

The regent was born handsome and beautiful, but unfortunately he has a crippled leg. He was a twisted and cruel madman who killed his brothers and father.

What Yu Lingxi was most afraid of was that while wiping the fresh blood on his hands, he smiled and said to her: “Lingxi, come here.”

After only two years of marriage, Yu Lingxi passed away suddenly.

After her death, Ning Yin did not set up a mourning hall, did not make funeral arrangements and buried her, and became even more insane, slaughtering the city with blood.

Then she was reborn at fifteen years old, when she was still a high-ranking noble daughter of the general’s mansion, and Ning Yin was not yet the regent who covered the sky with one hand.

Unable to swallow this anger, Yu Lingxi took the guards to find Ning Yin, who was living on the street, and intended to beat him anonymously to avenge the resentment in her previous life.

Unexpectedly, when she rushed to the scene in anger, she saw the thin boy curled up and was being pressed to the ground, and his left leg was about to be broken. The muddy water was covered with blood and trickled down, soaking his dark and resentful eyes red…

Only then did she realize what a pitiful past Ning Yin had.

Yu Lingxi made a mistake due to a strange combination of circumstances, and instead of going to beat someone, she went to save him.

She had no choice but to take in the little poor boy and try her best to teach him to be an upright young man with a healthy body and mind.

To her surprise, as she taught and taught, the little poor boy looked at her with more gloomy and strange eyes.

- Description from Novelupdates

Ren has never known kindness. He grew up alone in the slums, learning to survive by staying out of sight and trusting no one. One night, he stumbles into a strange tunnel and finds a hidden shrine forgotten by time.There, he sees a black cat with golden eyes and hears a voice inside his head.The shrine is more than it seems. So is the cat.As Ren is pulled into something ancient and mysterious, he must decide if he's willing to take a different step in life or keep running from the world that hurt him.Because the city doesn't care if he lives or dies, but something in the dark might.(No system, no isekai, no reincarnation, no regression, no harem. The story focuses on mystery and character development.)