MTL - One Piece: The Long Road - v5 Chapter 2 surprise

“Block him.”“He's technically still my boss.”“Then block him with dignity.”The call ended again.And then started again.I let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a sob, then finally answered with the enthusiasm of a snail crawling through salt.“Yes, Mr. Walton?”“Have you changed your mind yet?”I collapsed onto the towel and gazed at the sky as though it might consume me entirely if I pleaded sweetly enough.“Do you ever take a break?” I asked, shielding my eyes with one hand.“You're avoiding the question.”“Because it's a dumb question.”He exhaled, the sound sharp and irritated even over phone. “It's not a dumb question. It's a business offer.”“It's a weird offer-one that I already said no to.”There was a brief pause, and I could practically hear him clenching his jaw through the speaker.“You are acting unreasonably.”“ Unreasonable?” I sat up. “I'm not the one drafting fake girlfriend contracts like it's a normal Tuesday.”“Isabella-”“Certainly not, Mr. Walton.” I mimicked his tone perfectly. “I told you I'm not doing it. You need to find someone else to play pretend with.”SYNOPSISIsabella Miller thought saying no to her boss’s fake dating offer was the end of the story.But Adrien Walton doesn’t take no—especially not when he’s convinced she’s a gold digger.Suddenly, her student loans are piling up, her father’s vet clinic is on the brink of eviction and her brother is about to be kicked out of college. Coincidence? She thinks not.Adrien Walton is calm, calculating—and he's just pulled every string to corner Isabella into the perfect position.Now she’s stuck choosing between pride and survival.So she agrees to his offer: be his fake girlfriend.No feelings attached. No drama. Just business.Or so she thought.“Conference Room B. Fifteen minutes,” he said, passing by without a glance.The folder he pushed across the table landed with a thud.I opened it. The contract. All of it.---Enemies to lovers? Check.Slow burn? Hmmnyea.Banter so sharp it might file your nails? Yes.Delicious workplace tension? Of course.Tension that could melt steel?Absolutely.Smut?? Wanna find out?Welcome to corporate romance warfare. There’s no escaping this contract.

What is a story without a reader?Nothing.Stories are for the readers to define.What about a story with four readers?It is a lot for the story, but for the author the story is far from being satisfactory.So when the author closes the story beloved to only four readers.How do they deal with it?How do they deal with the end?What happens when the author swallows the key to the story’s life.Especially when it simply became beyond human terms.

Elaine is ripped from this world to Pallos, a land of unlimited possibilities made real by a grand System governing classes, skills, and magic.An ideal society? What is this, a fantasy novel?Adventures? Right this way!A Grand quest? Nah.Friends and loot? Heck yes!Humans are the top dog? Nope, dinosaur food.Healing and fighting? Well, everything is trying to eat her.Join Elaine as she travels around Pallos, discovering all the wonders and mysteries of the world, trying to find a place where she belongs, hunting those elusive mangos, all while the ominous Dragoneye Moons watch her every move.

Joe finds himself kidnapped by aliens, shot at a planet inside a metal ball with a parachute strapped to it, and dumped on a planet full of people who can't speak with him. Now he has to figure out where he is, who captured him, why he was sent here, and, if possible, how to get back home!Great forces move as a young man finds himself suddenly taken from home by a strange people to explore a strange land. He does not know he is to explore nor does he even know who has taken him or why. Joe struggles to survive in a strange world of unusual peoples and cultures but his experiences prove to the task. Many learn from him just as much as he learns from them.Joe learns of the world, of the strange forces within it, and gains friends and a new family along the way. He will be ground to nothing, but will find himself once more.