The First Demon of the Chan Sect - Chapter 685: The 228th Palm: Initial Clues Emerging

He’s her stepbrother, her sin and her biggest mistake waiting to happen.Catherine Brown thought moving in with her mother’s new husband couldn’t be harder until she met the cold, arrogant and sinfully attractive Julian Vaughn, her stepbrother.He hates her, teases her and gets under her skin everyday. He’s everything she should stay away from, off-limits and untouchable.But when his anger turns into something darker and hungrier, when he looks at her like he wants to ruin her innocence, Catherine realizes danger has a new name.And no matter how hard she tries, she can’t stop wanting the one man she’s not supposed to have.When hate turns to desire, who’s really in control?EXCERPT✨“You’ve never had sex before?” Julian asked, disbelief flickering in his eyes.Catherine hesitated, then nodded, staring at the floor instead of him.He bit his lower lip, trying to rein in the thoughts crowding his mind. Goodness, she was too innocent for her own good.“So all you did with your previous boyfriends were just kisses and smooches?”She immediately stood, her cheeks flushed. “There are no boyfriends,” she blurted. “I’ve never even been kissed. Please don’t laugh at me.”Laugh? Hell no. Julian wasn’t laughing. He was fighting the urge to pull her close. Knowing she’d never been touched only made his hunger worse.She didn’t realize he’d moved until his breath brushed her ear, his voice dropping low and dangerous.“Catherine, just say the word and I’ll show you what it means to be touched by a man.”Her heart stuttered in her chest and he could hear every beat.

Alicia Fonell thought marriage would save her—but life with Travis Blackwood is nothing but bruises, betrayal, and silence. Trapped in a family built on greed and lies, she has only one goal: escape.Then Malachi Blackwood returns. Her husband’s older brother. Dark, dangerous, and untouchable. He swore he’d never come back to Silver Lake, but secrets and revenge drag him home.The closer Alicia gets to him, the harder it becomes to resist. Forbidden touches. Stolen glances. A temptation she knows could destroy them both.Trigger / Content WarningThis story contains a morally grey male lead whose choices, actions, and desires are not always healthy or “right.” Malachi is obsessive, controlling, and dangerously possessive. If you’re looking for a gentle love story, this may not be for you.But if you crave intensity, forbidden passion, and a hero who walks the line between love and ruin—welcome.

'Divinity Online'. The new breakthrough in the Full-Immersion Virtual Reality technology. After decades of work, Divinity Corp had achieved the impossible. Creating a massive video game world that people can enter and live in as if it were Earth. Their goal was clear, to create a world other than Earth that we can call home.A place where the laws of reality vanish, and the true ceiling of power shifts completely.Naturally, the shockwave Divinity Online created across the entire globe was unlike anything else. Every single person has heard of it, even those who have had no interest in video games before.Giant corporations and even governments immediately rushed to start planning to invest in this new world and just like that, billions of people had their eyes on one single date: the 19th of July.***Arthur, like everyone else, had heard of the game and was as excited as everyone else to try it, if not even more. With how much he grew bored of his life on earth, this fantasy world was like the divine call he had been searching for. However, there was a very small problem.He had no money to buy the machine required to access Divinity Online. His wretched life had turned him into a broke teenager with no parents, and no relatives. But, by some kind of luck, he got his hands on one of those machines.Not knowing what was awaiting him in that world, Arthur was simply seeking one thing... A new opportunity in life and to find a purpose he could work for when he had none so far.[Welcome to 'Divinity Online'.][Assimilation Started...]

He hated everything I was, but I searched for affection in every cruel glance he gave me.“There were so many things I wanted to say to you, but even writing them feels impossible. Because I know that if I were to put down the words I keep in my heart, you'd only say it's natural, after all, I’m just a stupid, self-centered person, like you often said.But I'm not. And that’s why I won’t bare my heart to someone who never truly knew me. Because... you wouldn’t trust the sincerity of a stranger. Right?But I did.You were the stranger whose sincerity I believed in.So I’m stepping away from being the person who embodies everything you hate—because I hate those things too.Maybe in another life, I’ll get to tell you who I really am.”