Valkyrie's Shadow - Chapter 4Empire in Chains: Act 1,

“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.

A cauldron, a secret forging method, and his blood created an ultimate weapon. The youngest Sword Crafting Master on Earth had been reborn from another world. With the Nine Yang Divine Furnace and a scroll of Divine Equipment, he was like a fish in water, standing at the pinnacle of the martial way. There were tens of thousands of clans, billions of cities, and countless experts. He was the master of ups and downs!

[Female disguised as a man + group favorite + cool article] Pei Yi transmigrated into a male frequency article. She became a cannon fodder that no relatives recognized!

The Thousand-Year Clan, the Ten-Thousand-Year Battle, deities play games with mortals' lives, fostering myriad tribes like nurturing parasites — with defeat meaning oblivion and victory ensuring sole survival.Only the one who prevails can earn the gods' faint smile.A youth named Qin Chuan, endowed with the power to stop time, leads humanity into the battlefield of countless races, only to discover that this is not their first foray onto this battleground...