A Reaper's Philosophy - Chapter 23: A Single Step

They say opposite attracts, that's a lie. Opposites kill each other!When a hot blood meets another hot blood, things are bound to get burnt.That is exactly what happens when the pompous and prideful elven princess, Neriah of the Avelah Kingdom is forced to marry the brash dragon Prince, Barak of the Trago Kingdom.Neriah's goal is to someday break away from her marriage and run away with the love of her life, Lyle of the Niles. While Barak will do everything to keep her as a wife.Neriah is certain she's in love with another, but she's also certain that no one can ignite the kind of passion her husband brings. Her husband who she hates more than anything.Can the flames of passion be drawn from hate? Can that same passion burn down the walls of lies, betrayal, and hurt? Can its ashes transcend into love?Excerpt“I am a rose, a beautiful flower, delicate and precious! But you my dear sir are nothing but the thorny stem! Prickly, dangerous and very harmful!” ranted Neriah while poking his chest with her index finger.“Well you seem to forget one important detail, my love.” He calmly grabbed her poking hand.“And what would that be, my fine sir?”“That the thorny stem and the rose grow together. The delicate rose and the prickly thorn, they belong together my dear.”“You—”“And no amount of ranting and raging will change that. You think I want to keep a witch like you? You are a pain in the neck. If I am a thorn then you are a piece of fish bone stuck inside my neck. I cannot swallow and I can not spit it out! I just have to bear it!”“You insolent bastard! Do you mean to say I am a burden!”“Well you are no precious prize, are you?”And that was it, she threw herself at him with her claws ready to mar his face, but he was quicker and he caught both her hands with one of his own and pressed her heaving chest upon his. Golden eyes stared deep into hers. They were as green as the fresh leaves on an orange tree.His fingers caressed her face, “You might not be a precious prize, but by the heavens, you are mine.” And his lips fell on hers, and once again, another argument was drowned.

A chubby little girl was reborn. She received a heaven defying system as well as a drastic weight loss as she advanced in ranks to become a goddess. She started a company, became the big boss, signed on superstars and filmed movies. There were no limits to her counterattacks - face slapping and tumbling around were daily occurrences to her. In the end, midway through her smooth-sailing ventures, her system would always play a few tricks. [Ding! Issuing the main mission: Host, please seduce Mr CEO with all your might!] What?? The goddess was instantly dumbfounded. Hold on!! However, the goddess suddenly turned backwards and her body dashed towards Mr CEO in a manner that was completely out of her control. One step, two steps, three steps… With a crash, she hugged onto him tightly, unwilling to let go even when her life was put on the line.

I gave them my everything.My time… my strength… my heart.I trained while they slept.I smiled when they laughed.I stayed… even when it hurt.And what did I get?Nothing.They looked at me like I was pathetic.Like, I didn’t belong.Like I was… less.But I... the naive person I am, continued trusting them.They told me to act like trash, fine—I became trash.They told me to act like a scumbag, fine—I played the role.However...One mistake, one single moment...That’s all it took.And they threw me away.But now…Someone else woke up in my body.A stranger, a man who doesn’t know the pain I suffered, but wears my face.Let’s see what he does with it.Because me?I’m done with this life, so to the soul who took over my body...This is your mess now…'Gray'.

After a car accident, Cen Pan lost every loved one aside from her younger brother, who was lying in the ICU. Feeling that she was on the verge of suffocating from the burden of medical fees right after graduation, she was visited by her grandmother in her dream. “Darling, I had a friend who really loves the clothes you design. Would you burn one of them for him? He will pay you handsomely.”

Cen Pan simply found it surreal, but did so anyway so that she could be at ease.

The next night, her grandmother gave her an address and a password in her dream. “Here, this is the password of the safe, and his payment is in there.”

Skeptical, Cen Pan looked for the safe at the address, and found a diamond worth a hundred grand in the safe!

After that, her deceased family members kept appearing in her dreams.

“Darling, it’s going to rain tomorrow—so bring an umbrella.”

“Darling, I met a hacker who had been dead for a hundred years, and he’s asking if you want to inherit his lost art.”

“Darling, do you have a boyfriend? I just made a friend who really wants you to marry his grandson!”

Marry? Cen Pan immediately shook her head, but was stunned when her grandfather showed the grandson’s photo.

Why did he resemble her new boss so much?!