Thrown Away by my Family, Cherished by my Enemy - Chapter 24: Old Madam Shen’s sincerity

“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.

I have experienced all the eight sufferings of this world.

I do not ask for nirvana, but for you.

Wild and hard-to-tame demon (gong) x cold, ascetic and childish immortal (shou)

- Description from Novelupdates

Traveling through the world of One Piece, Ron, who became Kuina’s fiancé, awakened the god-level theft system.

In order to become stronger and change the fate of Kuina’s death, and to survive in this dangerous era of great pirates, Ron started to steal Sauron’s top kendo talent.

And that’s just the beginning.

In order to become stronger, Ron embarked on a journey to steal the talents of the world’s strongest.

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for stealing Karp’s physical talent!”

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for stealing Nika’s talent!”

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for stealing Shanks’ domineering talent!”

“Ding! Congratulations to the host…”

- Description from novelbuddy

「Shimizu-san, you dyed your hair black.」「Ah, yes.」「Why did you dye it all of a sudden?」「Because…yesterday…」Shimizu-san, who sat next to me and had dyed her hair from blonde to black gradually lowered her voice, slightly blushed, and laid her face down on the desk.