Stray Cat Strut - Chapter Eighteen - Better Than Some, Worse Than Most

“Is Fate the excuse of the forsaken, is Free Will the delusion of the chosen?”Such was a question that Xavier, the Demon King, never had the chance to ask himself. As he lay defeated, awaiting his death, he wondered about the wretched life he lived.'The hero who killed me, the one who held the same ambitions as me. We both wanted good for the people, for the world. We are both two sides of the same coin, yet, fate decided that he will be the one the light will shine on.Perhaps it was me too, perhaps it was my karma for flowing the rivers of blood with my sword. But still... It was fate that squashed the humanity in me first!Damn fate, if I had one more chance, I would've lived for myself more, I wouldn't have taken this arbitrary role of being a necessary evil... This world, this game of destiny... It can burn to ashes for all I care.'As he sunk into the cold embrace of death, a certain [REDACTED] heard his dying wish with amusement and cast their die, reversing the wheel of time one last time and going all in on him on a risky gamble with the stakes of their world.

At 3 years of age, her father went missing. At 15, the muscle in her hand snapped. At 16, her mother passed away in a car accident. At 19, she was framed by her uncle. At 22, she was burned alive by her newly- wedded husband and her best friend. Perhaps it was God’s sympathy that allowed her to return to the time when she was 15 years old to re-live once more. The previous lifetime of being low- key and having forbearance resulted in betrayal and misery. In this lifetime, she must be lofty and domineering to let those who have bullied her suffer a terrible end!

- Description from Novelupdates

Forcefully brought over from the modern world to an alternate world, Wang Chong felt detached and lived his life aimlessly.

However, when calamity struck and he saw his family and everything he cared for being torn apart, he felt regret.

Thus, he stood up and eventually became the Grand Marshal of the Central Plains, leading an army against those who seek to destroy all he cherished.

Yet, despite all his efforts, it was already too late to reverse destiny.

But before his death, a shooting star, the same one which brought him to this world, appeared before him, and he was given another chance to undo his regrets.

Anita White gave up everything for love.Her family. Her power. Her legacy.Eight years ago, she found David. He was poor, brilliant, naive, and loyal. Or so she believed. She built his empire from the ground up, turning a nobody into a billionaire.But when betrayal came, it was more than infidelity. David Blackwood shattered her body, her mind, and her soul—infecting her with disease, killing her child, and freezing her out of the very world she created.But Anita is a White. And now, she’s coming home.Back in the arms of the most ruthless family in the country, Anita must navigate corporate warfare, mafia politics, and deadly alliances.To take down David—whose saintly public image masks darker secrets than she ever imagined—Anita turns to the one man she vowed never to see again: Maverick Ravenswood, a mafia kingpin with questionable loyalty and a dangerous obsession.And then there’s Killian Wellington. The childhood fiancé whose life was destroyed, and who may want revenge... or something far more complicated.As secrets unravel and past sins come to light, Anita realizes the betrayal goes deeper than one man. She was never the queen... she was just a pawn in someone else’s game.But now?She’s about to burn the board with Maverick on her right, Killian on her left, and her father, Reginald White behind her.#Slowburn