I Don’t Want to Be Loved (Web Novel) - Chapter 22: Of Crichton Blood

You’d think seeing the future would give me a head start on surviving the apocalypse. I had it all planned—until everything I knew shattered when my husband sacrificed himself to save me and our son. Now it’s just me, my three-year-old son Leo, and my cursed gift of foresight that only seems to kick in when it’s nearly too late.I’m doing my best to keep us safe, to find food, to make some kind of plan—“Mommy?”I glance down, trying to ignore the tug on my pant leg as I focus on our supplies. “Not now, Leo. Mommy’s thinking.”“Mommy!”I sigh and finally look down. My three-year-old is standing there, clutching… I blink. “Leo, where did you get a knife?”He shrugs, grinning like it’s the most natural thing in the world.My heart stutters. “No, really. Where did you find that?”I try not to laugh. I mean, he’s three. Maybe he just—found it somewhere? But the next day, it’s a water bottle. Then, a tiny flashlight, somehow with batteries still inside.I don’t even know what else; he’s pulling things out one by one with the pleased grin of a kid who’s just figured out his favorite game.Well, we may just survive this mess after all.Now, if only the universe could have spared me from him. I don’t even know his name, but I know his type: tall, broad, and annoyingly handsome, with an air of calm control that’s out of place in this chaos. Ex-military, if I had to guess, with a voice that’s just as infuriating as his smirk. The man has a habit of showing up at the worst—or best—possible times, with a gun at the ready and secrets buried as deep as those bright green eyes.I mean, he’s probably useful, but I’m trying to keep my eyes on the prize here: survival.For Leo and me.Because, foresight or no foresight, nothing is guaranteed in this new world—except the fact that people like him are trouble.

She was transmigrated into a novel where she became the cannon fodder who abused the male lead and ultimately suffered her demise under said male lead. And to return back home, she had to obtain the city boundary map first.

Ye Mu doesn’t want to play a game! Now that she’s inside the book with such a plot, the only way around her death is to kill the male lead first and let this world collapse!

However, upon seeing a scraggly, skinny little boy whose brows were full of perseverance, her hand won’t move…

Well then, she would subdue the male lead’s tyrannical tendencies! How to do it? Raise the male lead and have him help her find the city boundary map? That’s a good idea!

Despite raising him properly, the male lead seems to have grown into a devious man who won’t listen to her. Moreover, he lures her over with the city boundary map.

“Do you want this or not? Then come to my bed.”

Her face was full of tears. Where was the promised honest and upstanding monarch? Does she have to raise him all over again?

The man smiles and pats her on the head, “Come on, stop crying. Wash and go to bed.”

- Description from Novelupdates

“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.

“Hey monster, you're not ready for this blow, but I don't give a shit!!” said Lian as he drew a circle inside another circle in his mind.Then, a few seconds later, a fireball as big as a house hit a monster just over 4 meters tall...It was a waste of resources, but it was damn fun!“BOOM!!!” he said as the fireball reached the monster, covering it entirely.The excitement on his face was palpable as his clothes and hair fluttered from the power generated by the impact.[Accuracy: 97%]“Tsk, it's really hard to achieve 100% accuracy when casting spells... that just means I have to do better!”Meanwhile, the monster and the entire area around him was destroyed. The crater was huge, flames burned the ground, and ash mixed with dust covered the air.---In a world full of Gates, Mages and Knights work together to defend humanity from extinctionLian, a boy from a small town, awakens a very... unique system.Casting spells by drawing strange shapes in his mind had become normal for him by now.Thanks to the system, he had become a Mage, a human capable of using mana to cast spells.Facing monsters from the Gates had become routine. Studying magic was a pastime. After all, he had the System, he didn't need to study classical magic. Or maybe not...