The Last Step - Chapter 52: Heavenly Beginning

He’s the dream guy of women world wide, the CEO of a formidable mega-corporation. But, he’s absolutely powerless against her, resorting to all kinds of methods to force her into a marriage, tying her to his side with a certficiate.

The more ruthless the Palace is, the more miserable the loser will end up—this he understands. But what he does not understand is, why the brother whom he lived together with peacefully in the past, would so heartlessly humiliate him today. Asking him to beg for mercy, asking him to succumb to his knees, and even… asking him to tactfully entertain him. “Yong Shan, ah, Yong Shan, as of today you are the one who qualifies to succeed as a Crown Prince, what exactly is it that you want?”

For the past 16 years, Yong Qi’s gaze was never set on him. Despite being twins with his younger brother, Yong Lin, Yong Qi has always been directing his smile and laughter towards Yong Lin, and to him, Yong Qi deliberately alienates him. He does not understand, they have the same features and looks, and he obviously is his brother too, but why won’t he be intimate with him… as if he is humiliating him. “Yong Qi, ah, Yong Qi, why won’t you understand, what I want is very simple…”

- Description from Novelupdates

Cairn is a prince who is already tired of ruling. Faced with an imminent coronation and an overbearing father, he wants nothing more than to drown his responsibilities in cheap liquor and poor decisions. With the help of his sister, he hatches a plan to escape the clutches of the throne once and for all. It all goes terribly wrong, and Cairn finds his priorities shifting in the face of unimaginable tragedy. The change of heart comes too late, however, and Cairn dies. He reawakens to find himself transported ten years in the past. He immediately begins to plan for the future, only to discover his killer has somehow followed him. To succeed, Cairn must unite the kingdom and discover the motivation of his killer, using as many tries as it takes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I exhausted pretty much every time loop story ever written and decided to write my own. You'll see a few similarities here between this story and some existing stories, at least initially. There's a lot of inspiration drawn from both MoL and Re:Zero, though in terms of pathos and darkness, this story leans more towards the latter. Be warned, it is something of a slow burn. The main character will grow and become powerful, but a theme of this story is that power comes slowly and often at great cost.

As a top manager, everyone constantly tries to curry favor with Li Xiwu. And due to her identity as Mrs. Pei, the rich and the powerful would always greet her politely. A celebrity instructor, and the wife of a man from a rich family… Is there anyone who would not envy her? However, only Li Xiwu knows that she is a substitute for Mr. Pei’s unrequited love, and none of her titles or privileges have anything to do with her.***

Losing yourself after being someone else’s substitute is a tedious thing. Having gained that epiphany, Li Xiwu began to ponder how she should claim alimony of astronomical proportions from Mr. Pei. However, while she was obsessing over how to get rich from the divorce, her mother-in-law, who had always disliked her, invited her to take part in a variety show, while promising to make her rich. Li Xiwu’s lips curled into a grin. “Fortune favors the brave!”At first, her mother-in-law constantly attempted to embarrass her, and netizens were all moaning about how she was the most pitiful rich daughter-in-law! Later, her mother-in-law was inseparable from Li Xiwu, and would keep bragging about her to everyone she met, leaving the netizens cheering: Leave the face-slapping to Mrs. Pei! Li Xiwu did not expect herself to shoot to fame in the variety show either. However, while she was convinced that she could get a smooth divorce afterward, her mother-in-law called her son immediately as soon as the variety show ended.“Divorce my baby, and I will disown you!”Mr. Pei: ???