Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 573: To the Sky (7)

“You are the Yan family's heir. From now on, you are a boy, not a girl.”From the moment Yan Xiuran could walk, those words defined her existence.As the eldest child of the Yan family, she was never allowed to be weak, never allowed to make mistakes, and most of all—never allowed to be herself.For twenty years, she lived as the perfect son—ruthless, brilliant, unstoppable.Until the day she was no longer needed.Her sickly half-brother recovered.Overnight, she was framed for crimes she didn’t commit. Branded a traitor. Disowned and exiled.“You were never my child. You're a bastard.”Stripped of everything, Yan Xiuran vanished.Five years later, she is no longer the forsaken heir but Li Xiyan, a nameless medical student with no past.But fate has other plans.Assigned to care for the fragile daughter of Shen Yuze—her family’s greatest rival—Xiyan is dragged back into the world she swore to abandon.Shen Rui clings to her.And her cold, calculating father? He refuses to let her go.“Stay by my daughter’s side, and I will give you everything your family took from you.”Her family abandoned her.Now, her enemy treasures her.

Pressured to get married or lose her father's financial support to pay for her mother's medical bills, Joanna Baker, the illegitimate daughter of the Baker family, is devastated when her boyfriend chooses another woman over her on their wedding day.Joanna, feeling distraught, witnesses a man in a wheelchair proposing to his girlfriend at a restaurant. The girlfriend's rejection and subsequent insult for his disability left everyone stunned.Feeling a shared sense of betrayal, she approaches the man with a vengeful proposition.“Excuse me, sir. Your girlfriend dumped you, and my boyfriend chose another woman over me. Let's get married for six months and get revenge on them.”What will Joanna do when she finds out the man she proposed marriage to was none other than Alexander King, the heir of the wealthiest family in NYC? He was also the cold CEO of King Multinational, with a hidden identity, Salvatore Black, whose name caused even presidents shiver? Has she just signed a deal with the devil?

In a world of countless enemies, the right talent is all it takes to thrive. Freddy Stern, a twenty-one-year-old cashier, has lived a plain, albeit harsh life. Having been orphaned—twice—he’s spent the last ten years working and staying out of trouble. His only aspiration is to save enough money to become an archhuman. His dream gets the jump on him when he barely survives a near-death encounter and finds himself with 1% Lifesteal, a bizarre talent with numerous contradictions and just as many uses. With every dead enemy, he becomes a bit stronger, a little wiser, and a lot more ruthless. And no matter how much damage he takes, he can always put himself back together. Physically, at least. But on his path to power, after having to look at the rotting guts of archhuman society again and again, can his talent keep his mind and soul as pristine as his body? Or will that part of him simply remain broken?

“Any who don the title of 'king' or anything of the sort in my presence is nothing more than an ignorant fool. This is my land and I shall be reclaiming it soon. I am Cacophony, the Vampire Empress!”As those words left her lips, every cell in my body reacted. It was unreal—no, it was otherworldly. Her beauty, her power, and her overwhelming arrogance. It might've been then that I realized that my normal life had ended.How did it come to this?Ah, it was curiosity. Yes, a deathly curiosity brought me to that graveyard that day.It was there that I stumbled upon her coffin. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing then, and even now I have no idea what possessed me to touch it—that single moment changed the course of history for the entire world. I found myself delving into a completely unknown world.Should I regret it? Maybe. But the truth is, I don't.Exploring the world’s hidden secrets, forging unexpected bonds, and living alongside the revived empress—it’s exciting.“Even if it's wrong, I think I'm going to enjoy every moment of it.”