The Growth of a Titan - Chapter 7 - - Betrayal

There are times when you’ll still never be good enough no matter how hard you try.

Born with a frail twin sister, Li Caiyi gives most of her time to take care of Li Chunhua. Her parents and older brother trust her to take care of her sister, yet Li Caiyi can’t help but feel the disparity in treatment and affection given to both of them.

In her whole life, she has never become anyone’s first priority. Not in the heart of her family, and especially not in the heart of her childhood friend, the Young Master of Meng family, Meng Renshu.

When Li Caiyi became Meng Renshu’s wife, Li Caiyi thought she could finally become someone’s first priority, but everything fell apart in just three years.

She decides to let everything go. Then she meets Shen Qiang in the most unexpected place. No one wants to accompany her in her life, yet this stranger offers to accompany her in death.

“Do you want to jump together?”

When she opened her eyes, Li Caiyi had gone back to her high school times.

This time, she won’t make the wrong choice again.

But where can she find Shen Qiang?!

Anton is a great-grandfather. He is living quite a happy life, despite his advanced age and declining health… until a group of cultivator bandits moves into the area. The nearby guardians of the area, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, are unable to track them down as they continue to ravage nearby towns. During one desperate winter Anton is out on a hunt when his family- his entire village- is killed or taken as slaves by the bandits. He lacks the strength to fight them, and he wasn’t even present for their arrival to die with his loved ones. At the pit of his despair, he wonders if he ever had any chance to change things. What could he even do? He cannot even pull his best bow, and his eyesight is failing. If he had been a cultivator… perhaps there might have been a chance, but he was decades- perhaps even most of his life- too late.Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge (2022)Notes on cultivation levels:There are five general stages of cultivation, though the fifth is extremely rare. Each cultivation style might have their own name for the stages.1. Body Tempering2. Spirit Building/ occasionally System Creation (Ninety-Nine Stars)3. Constellation Formation (Ninety-Nine Stars)4. Life Transformation/Galaxy Construction (Ninety-Nine Stars)5. Ascension

It’s been 11 years since I’ve lived for others and not for me.

The moment I cried out wanting to get away from my exhausting life, I opened my eyes in the body of some Count’s 20-year-old daughter.

Since this happened, I decided to live my life freely as a single woman.

But…

“I need a lady to act as my fake wife for a certain period of time.”

“A contract marriage?”

“The term is one year. When the time is up, I’ll give you divorce with no strings attached.”

The Duke of the Empire whom I had happened to meet at a ball was hitting on me.

Turns out he’s no other than the Emperor’s beloved brother, Duke Scade!

Hold on, it’s just going to end in a clean divorce with no strings attached?

“You should also give me alimony. Give me one of the best lands of the Ducal household with 10 years’ worth of profit.”

“…..What?”

“If you don’t want to do that, then we cannot get married.”

This time I’m going to live a life taking care of the things I need first!

***

“I’ll escort you since it’s late.”

Where to? My bedroom is just around the corner.

“Tonight, I’ll do my best.”

No, I don’t need you to do that.

“Did you just look at that man?”

Excuse me, Duke, you said it’s for a limited time only, so why do you keep obsessing over me?