Hurt Me Like You Mean It [BL] - Chapter 4: San-marino bar

“You motherfucker… don’t come back to this shop again… or else…”Customers flinched at the loud noise. The next second, someone was thrown out of the shop by the delicate but handsome-looking omega shopkeeper.The alpha hunters flinched as they watched the omega shopkeeper move back after throwing an alpha out all on his own, and they all thought the same thing—do not anger the shopkeeper and do not go after him.After all, to these low-level alpha hunters, the omega civilian shopkeeper was a celebrity.However, what these hunters did not know was the secret the omega shopkeeper hid.Not only was he a hunter, but also part of the first-generation hunters who went after the world’s first and last L-class gate, and perished.But Kyle somehow survived. And not only did he survive, but he also found himself returning 10 years after he entered the L-class gate as a dead man walking.With no money and no identity to call his own, Kyle decided to start fresh from the bottom and live a civilian life he was not able to last time.He almost succeeded, if not for the new customers of his that were trying to uncover his identity.The world had changed from the once-bleak one where hunters were feared, to one where hunters were revered as celebrities, but Kyle had no intention of stepping into the limelight.Now, if only others got the message, he would appreciate it as well. After all, he had no intention of mingling with the world of top hunters again, even if the pull tried to bring him back.

By the fourth year of Su Wan's career, every league rookie hears the same warning from their coach and veteran teammates: “You can try to impress him. You can even try to defend him. But no matter what—no matter if he hurls the most brutal insults your way—never, ever talk shit to him!”

In the spring of year 6823 of the New Calendar, Lu Xuan, an unregistered resident of the Federation, hid outside a high school classroom and secretly learned a Cultivation Skill, embarking on the path of Cultivation.On the same day, he returned home and had a dream, just as he always did. In the dream, he was in the Guardian Storage Room during the Spring and Autumn Period in Chinese history（770-481 BCE）, and the current Keeper of the Records was named Li Er, also known as Laozi.Later, Lu Xuan dreamed that he became the succeeding Keeper of the Records, became Confucius's second teacher, became the senior brother of Zhang Daoling, the Ancestral Celestial Master, and became the honorary father of the First Emperor...Even later, someone unearthed a roll of bamboo slips from the ground, on which an event was recorded.[The eighteenth Keeper of the Records, Lu Xuan, his Sword Qi like a waterfall, assassinated Duke Huan of Qi in his bedchamber]

A wedding forged in vengeance, where love is the only risk they never planned for.“Let's get married,” Mia says, her voice trembling despite the fire in her eyes as she meets Stefan's guarded gaze. She needs this—needs him—even if he looks at her like she's just another complication.Stefan arches a brow, unimpressed. “And why would I do that?”“We both know what it's like to be betrayed by the men who raised us,” she replies, refusing to back down. “They stole our birthrights and handed them to someone else. The only difference is… you're the illegitimate one. I'm not.”He studies her—this heiress in designer armor, hiding rage beneath polish. “So your grand plan is a wedding band as revenge?”“No,” she says, stepping closer, close enough for him to smell the jasmine and gunpowder. “It's the only weapon they won't see coming.”Their fathers built empires by manipulation and control. Now, their children are making a vow—to burn it all down.Two shattered heirs. One dangerous alliance. A marriage built on vengeance.Mia Meyers was born to inherit her father's empire—until he handed it to his bastard son instead. Stefan Sterling knows rejection too well, discarded by a father who only valued power. Now, these rivals-turned-co-conspirators hatch a plan: marry for revenge, crush their fathers' legacies, and take what should've always been theirs.No love. No feelings. No divorce.But as lines blur between strategy and obsession, the real question becomes: can two enemies survive a marriage built not on trust—but on spite?