Hard Enough - Chapter 10: The gauntlet thrown down

”Let me take a look.“ The handsome professor, with his broad shoulders and powerful muscles, lifted me effortlessly and placed me on the desk. His strong hands gently lowered the strap of my uniform to examine the bruise from training.”Helanie! Why do you always end up hurt?“ His voice grew husky, sending a shiver down my spine as I struggled to catch my breath.I had to remind myself that he’s my professor... and my stepbrother. I shouldn’t be seduced by his touch.”If anyone bullies you again, come to my office and I will deal with them,“ he murmured, his beautiful eyes locking onto mine.Despite knowing he’s forbidden, I couldn’t help but wonder—should I tell him about the mate bond I felt the night he was drunk?..When her parents rejected each other, Helanie went from being her daddy's angel to a neglected and forgotten child. But on her eighteenth birthday, things took a dark turn. When her body went into heat, she attracted a group of alphas. Instead of rescuing her, her secret alpha boyfriend ran away.That night changed Helanie’s life forever. Accused of consenting to the attack, she was sentenced to execution by her own pack. Desperate, she fled, determined to find her mother.What she didn’t expect was to find her mother preparing to marry a rogue king with four dangerously handsome and beastly sons.Things turn even darker when she felt a mate bond with her bully stepbrothers, will she be able to escape their claws or their seduction will ruin her life to next extremes?

Some exist with pride, others struggle with pride, some compete with pride, and there are those who fail with pride, but very few can walk away with pride.Congratulations, for as you read these lines, you have witnessed the whole lives of many great basketball players.This pronunciation was embodied when Stephen Curry, after facing defeat in 2021, claimed that no one would want to face them the following season; When Tim Duncan was convinced before the start of the 2014 Finals that they would not mess up; When Kobe Bryant promised at Old Buss's memorial to take the Lakers to the playoffs; When Nowitzki, shedding his label as a soft player, retreated to the locker room in tears at night; When Kevin Garnett let out a skyward howl after holding the championship trophy; When the 2004 Detroit Pistons won and the F4 Lakers lost…Our story begins in an era when pride still mattered.

A kind girl falls in love with a vicious killer. Unhinged Yuri story set in Seoul.------“Like a prey waiting with a trap, I missed my predator.I missed her touch in the places I’ve never been touched.I wanted to hear her sing the songs that I’ve never heard.”------As the blood dripped off the knife she held firmly in her pale hand, I saw my reflection in the cold blade that had just taken the life of a man.I dreamed of magical moments like this every day.Something - someone to come and free me from the suffocating monotony of normalcy.She stormed into my life brandishing death, and in the moment of madness, my heart fluttered.Then she came to my place, uninvited. I treated her wounds and fed her. She slept on my couch like a cat. We started our lives together. Death bound us like the knot of tie I fixed for her as she left for work - to kill, kill, and to kill again.I spent countless nights sitting in darkness, on my couch hugging my knees, gripped with worry and excitement. I prayed for her safe return home, but I did not pray for the souls she’d be sending to hell.But she always returned, like a stray cat coming for food in the back alley behind a restaurant. I was the cook who put out the food for her, stroked her, and gave her shelter.A stray cat. A great feline predator. She was mine and mine alone.Together we laughed, alone I cried.Together we laughed, alone I cried.But I think we also loved.I think.------This is a dark and twisted psychological slice-of-life romantic comedy with a sprinkle of inspiration from the noir genre. If that doesn’t make sense, it’s because it doesn’t.

Du Jiuyuan lay in a grave of love for three years. Finally, her heart was as dead as ashes, she gave up on finding love and decided to go down a career path of a strong woman. But what was going on with her ex-husband? He used to be someone whom she would only see once every four to five months. Why was he appearing in front of her now and then? When she talked to others about collaboration, he would coax her from behind. “Yuan Yuan, this person is unreliable. Let me invest in her for you, okay?”

When she got into conflict with others, he would support her from behind. “Yuan Yuan, don’t be afraid. Your husband is Ji Jinchen. Don’t worry about her.” Du Jiuyuan was speechless. “…” Please take note that it was her ex-husband who divorced her. One day, when a male colleague sent her home after a meal, she was seen by Ji Jinchen. The man blocked her at the foot of the wall and questioned her in a low voice. “Don’t be with others, otherwise… I will lose my mind.

Later, Du Jiuyuan rose to the top of her career and attracted countless suitors. One such suitor gave her a bouquet of roses and the next day, her office became a sea of flowers. Some suitors gave her desserts that could only be bought after queuing up. The day after that, her office would be flooded with desserts. Some suitors gave her a pet… Du Jiuyuan went crazy. “Ji Jinchen, if you dare to give me a house full of pets, I will fight it out with you!”

Ji Jinchen said, “Jiuyuan, forgive me for being stupid and not seeing your grievances, but you have to believe that from the moment I married you, I never thought of getting a divorce. Du Jiuyuan: I thought that the man I loved for seven years was a stone that couldn’t be covered up, but then I realized what kind of fiery heart was hidden in this stone.”