The Guardian gods - Chapter 17: Discovery

“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.

Elias had never been lucky — not once, not ever.Abandoned at birth, raised in suffering, and tormented by a life that never gave him a break, Elias trudged through existence like a ghost wearing human skin. By the age of thirty-two, even his heart gave out, quietly and without drama — just like everything else in his life. It simply… stopped.But death wasn’t the end.Instead, Elias found himself face-to-face with a stunning goddess — the Keeper of Fate. And for the first time, someone finally told him the truth: his entire life had been a mistake. A cosmic error. His Karma, meant for another, had been switched at birth, condemning him to a life of endless misfortune.To make amends, Fate offered him a second chance — a new life, with the luck he had been denied.With a single pull from the divine card deck, Elias drew the Legendary Extraction Talent — an ability that allows him to absorb powers, skills, and even laws of the world itself.From a broken man to a rising force, Elias will forge a new path.He will extract the power of heaven and earth.He will defy fate and ascend to the apex.And this time… luck is finally on his side.

After the brutal loss of his beloved grandfather, Liam Hunter embarks on a harrowing journey into the heart of the Dark Forest, known as the Forest of Kyrell, with a singular goal: to gain the strength necessary to honor his grandfather’s memory and to never lose anyone dear to him again. At just ten years old, Liam is thrust into a world of darkness and malevolence, where he endures four grueling years of training and transformation. In this shadowy realm, he is reborn as a fierce warrior, driven by a relentless desire to eradicate every demon and ultimately confront the Demon King, Emrys himself. To achieve his formidable goal, Liam must forsake any emotional connections that could weaken his resolve. The once vibrant and joyful boy is transformed by his trials into a cold and unfeeling combatant, hardened by the harsh realities of his quest. This is the story of Liam Hunter—the last wielder of dark magic—whose journey through darkness and sacrifice will shape him into a force of vengeance and resolve.

Somehow, the protagonist Kim Jin possessed a rich pushover extra in a novel who was exploited by the villainess and then met their demise together.But there’s no way Kim Jin would let that happen! He immediately defeated the villainess and locked her away. After that, the only thing left was to steadily enjoy life in this world while investing and extracting profits using his knowledge.But why… the more he punished her, it seemed that the villainess he had captured began to cling to him too much?