Gilded Ashes: When Shadows Reign - Chapter 296: Bitter Fruits

'A self-centric Female Lead, lost-in-love Male Leads, and useless extras who will die. On top of it, this world will not be here for long because of that ancient threat. So, what should I do now?'What kind of world was a world of Female-Oriented Fantasy romance? One filled with tinted glass and roses? Life should have been easy here, right? Wrong! Layla had read this book before, and she knew what happened.“Those useless leads left this world in a shamble! I need to do something about it before it gets destroyed. If I am going to live here, I need to ensure this world stays alive long enough. Who has time for romance when the world will end soon?”Her goal was set, and her life was laid out. Layla was going to use whatever she could to secure her second life.Everyone was a useful piece from here on, and Layla used them well to achieve her end goal. This might be a world based on a fantasy romance, but she would ensure it would not repeat it's ending.______Note: It has a strong Female Protagonist as the MC. No romance, no harem, no yuri.

As a virtuous wife, does it include tolerating his cousin, enduring his concubines, bearing his mother?

If you will not let me live freely, why would I let you live in satisfaction?

Did fate let women time-travel so she could learn the three morals and four virtues?

Rather than act like a coward and live, it would be better to live in satisfaction and die.

- Description from Novelupdates

Shen Xi was the daughter the Jiang family had mistakenly taken home. After their real daughter, Jiang Xue, returned, Shen Xi’s foster mother asked Shen Xi to stay, hoping she could help Jiang Xue get used to life in the city as Jiang Xue had been living in the countryside all this while. Alas, everyone claimed that Shen Xi was clinging to the Jiang family because she refused to part with the family’s wealth. Her foster parents didn’t clarify this accusation. Then, Shen Xi’s fiance ended up getting engaged to Jiang Xue instead.

One day, Jiang Xue killed someone when she was driving. Shen Xi’s foster parents knelt before Shen Xi, begging her to take the fall for Jiang Xue with tears in their eyes. Shen Xi agreed to their request to repay their kindness for raising her. However, she didn’t know that the person Jiang Xue had killed was her foster father, in other words, Shen Xi’s biological father! While Shen Xi was in prison, Jiang Xue even indirectly killed Shen Xi’s biological mother! In an instant, Shen Xi became an orphan.

After experiencing her foster family’s ruthlessness and persecution, Shen Xi exposed the sinful deeds the Jiang family had committed over the years and Jiang Xue’s crimes after being released from prison! Then, she detonated a bomb, sacrificing her life to take revenge for her biological parents.

However, after the bomb exploded, Shen Xi was shocked to find herself returning to many years ago when Jiang Xue was first found, and Shen Xi’s identity of not being the Jiang family’s real daughter was about to be exposed. During this time, she was still a rich young lady dressed in expensive clothes as she sat in the Jiang family’s car on the way to her fiance’s birthday banquet. Shen Xi’s lips curled up slightly. A good show was about to begin.

She wanted to change her fate and her biological parents’ fates. However, she never expected that both her parents were heirs to a large financial group. Also, the renowned movie star, a young genius doctor, and a domineering CEO were all her biological brothers! She, who wasn’t loved in her past life, was being pampered in this life! Then, the paparazzi caught her on camera, entering a hotel with a rumored bigshot. The crowd gasped. Was this bigshot Shen Xi’s brother as well? The bigshot hugged Shen Xi’s waist and kissed her. “Nope. I’m her lover!”

It was understood that this was a capitalist country, where the possession of the greatest amount of capital determined to whom the nation effectively belonged.The smile that had been resting on William Sheffield’s face was abruptly erased as his expression turned cold. In a tone laced with determination, it was demanded by him that the police be contacted immediately so that they could crush those who stood in their way. The reasoning behind his words seemed clear: if such actions had been taken before by someone like Rockefeller, then why should it not also be possible for Sheffield?A sense of irony hung in the air as the sentiment was expressed—this was America, where each day seemed to unfold as though it were part of an ongoing shootout, with battles fought not just with guns but with power, influence, and wealth.