Konoha Hypocrite - Chapter 16: Upright Refusal, Practicing Sword Technique

She gave up her dream of shining on the ballerina stage —for him.She sacrificed her self-respect —for him.She forgot her true identity —for him.But even after all that, she couldn’t compare to the woman who held Ryan’s heart.Arwen Quinn, heiress of prestigious Quinn family, realized too late that no matter what she did, she would never win Ryan’s love. The future that awaited her was a life trapped in endless misery of a loveless marriage.So, decisively, she ends their relationship and walks away. What she didn’t expect was that in breaking free from Ryan, she had opened the door for Aiden to enter her life — a chance that he had been waiting for.Aiden Winslow, an enigmatic CEO isn’t just mysterious —he is determined, and won’t allow to take Arwen away from him again.____Excerpt:Aiden narrowed his eyes, “Are you sure about this?”“If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t have asked,” Arwen replied coolly. “Stop dawdling. If you’re unwilling, I’ll find someone else who can get the marriage certificates today.”His expression darkened as he pulled her close. “Once offered to me, it’s mine alone.”Unfazed, Arwen asked, “So, do you accept? If yes, we’ll get the certificates now.”“On one condition,” he said. “I don’t do contract marriages. The woman I marry will be the woman I share my bed with. If you agree, then we’ll—”“Not a problem. Let’s go,” Arwen said without letting him finish, pulling him into the Civil Marriage Bureau.

The jeers followed her like a persistent shadow. “Murderer!” the crowd screamed, their faces contorted in a grotesque parody of the adoration she once commanded.Just months ago, they had screamed her name, their voices a deafening roar as she shimmied across the stage, a beacon of light and pop perfection. Now, their cheers had morphed into venomous hisses, their eyes burning with a hatred that chilled her to the bone.Noelle clutched her lawyer's arm, his face a mask of grim determination. The cameras flashed, capturing her every move, every tremor of fear. The headlines screamed: “Pop Princess Plummets: Noelle Accused of Murder.” The irony wasn't lost on her. Her life, once a carefully constructed fairytale of fame and fortune, had become a grotesque tragedy.The trial was a circus. The whispers, the sneers, the relentless scrutiny – it was a constant assault on her senses. Her once loyal fans, the ones who'd plastered her face on their bedroom walls, now reveled in her downfall. They devoured every salacious detail, every whispered accusation, every tear she dared to shed.The verdict was a foregone conclusion. Guilty.Noelle watched the judge pronounce the sentence, her mind a whirlwind of disbelief and despair. Death by lethal injection.‘At least they did not give me the electric chair’ she thought to herself in a poor attempt at humor.Months later, a solitary figure knelt at her grave, the wind whipping at his hair. Rain lashed down, mirroring the tears that streamed down his face.“I'm sorry, Areum,” he sobbed, his voice hoarse with grief. “I'm so sorry I was too late.” He clutched a single, wilted rose, its petals stained crimson, a poignant reminder of the life that had been brutally extinguished.Noelle is a bright star who has the world at her feet, she feels no guilt about being the other woman coming between a husband and his wife. After all, Evan had been in love with her since they were teenagers. The only reason he married Ma-Ri was because his family demanded it, if he had a choice he would surely have picked her…When she gets wrongfully accused of murdering Ma-Ri, she loses everything and is sentenced to death, everyone including Evan turn against her and she is left to die a miserable death.She is reborn and this time she faces the humiliation of being the woman who is being cheated on. She is determined to end the cycle and not let the future she had seen come to pass, she decides to step out of the picture and focus on her career.In doing so, everything changes, Evan clings to her and refuses to let her go, a mysterious stranger who has been studying her also steps in and decides to fight for a chance to be with her.

[The 34th Galaxy Award for Best Online Novel][The No.1 on the Science Fiction Literature IP Adaptation Value Potential List (2023)][The Best Chinese Science Fiction Online Novel]…Have you heard?When the night is deep and silent, if you open your music player, put on headphones, curl up under the covers, and cover your head, listening to the same song on loop.After the loop has played forty-four times and you fall asleep, if you’re unlucky, when you open your eyes again, you will no longer be lying in your own bed, but will have entered a bizarre space completely isolated from reality.That space… on the surface, it appears to be places we commonly see, such as one’s own bedroom, the living room at home, the underground garage, the bathroom, the basketball court, construction sites, etc., but if you observe carefully, you’ll realize that everything is different…everything.====This is the story of an ordinary person, named Common, who after acquiring supernatural abilities, gradually transforms and grows in an alternate world, ultimately reaching the pinnacle of their experience.

[Requirement for aspect awakening has been met.][You have acquired a new aspect.][Aspect (King of territory): A legion of soldiers under your command, do as you wish with them.]...Alex lived a terrible life as a beggar, spending most of his time wandering the streets and begging for money.But after his death, rather than passing on to the afterlife like he expected, he was reincarnated into another world as the third prince of the Astrodial family, Sylus von Astrodial.Marked by the stars, Sylus soon found that he was the main light of the family; he alone had awakened the rare star everyone was dying to have.[The star of Catalyst.]Because of this, everyone loved and cherished him, giving him the nickname Child Prodigy of the Astrodial family.With his intellect and knowledge of the former world, Sylus continued to prove himself as a true heir of the throne.Building and governing his territory to be the best while also reinforcing his position to take the throne.Greedy nobles, self centered siblings and crazy cult, Sylus doesn't mind.“This time, I’ll do everything right.”Everything was working out for him.Little did he know that blessings also come with a curse and a slight drawback.[You have received the title Fated Prince.][Your fate has been maxed out.]