On Our Wedding Night, I Discovered the Crown Prince's Hidden Illness - Chapter 23 - Selfishness and Self-Interest

An introverted teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. Her first attempt at taking down a supervillain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons.

When Evelyn’s loser fiance steals her company's secrets and elopes with her prostitute mother, she finds herself facing impending bankruptcy. But unexpected help comes in the form of an unusual offer from her business rival and ex-boyfriend, Alexander Langford.“Bear my children, Eve, and I’ll save this precious company of yours.”To everyone else, Alexander is the heir to a billion dollar fortune, and the acting industry’s handsome darling. But to Evelyn, he is nothing more than a cold-hearted, arrogant man she dumped for being a compulsive liar years ago - but unknown to her, he has never lied about his love.How could Alexander miss the golden chance to hit two birds with one stone? He gets his inheritance, and a family with the love of his life. Now, if only dear Evelyn would stop thinking the worst of him…[Strong female lead x doting male lead.][EXCERPT]“You’re out of your mind,” Eve snaps. “You could have any woman in this world, and you want ME to be the mother of your children?!”“Why not? You’re smart, savvy, and fucking hot,” Alex says as he takes a step forward, trapping her body between his muscular arms. His dark blue eyes gaze deep into hers with unbridled lust. “I want our children to have the best from both of us. Our children could take over the world.”“There is no ‘our’,” Eve says coldly, pushing him away. “I will be the surrogate for your children. This is nothing but a business deal. There is NO love in this contract. But in exchange, you need to do something else.”“And what is it?”“Help me take down my ex-fiance. That bastard deserves to die after fucking my mom and ruining my life.”Alex chuckles. “It’s a deal then, sweetheart.”It was nothing but a business deal at first. But what if the line between business, love, and hatred were getting blurry as they got entangled too far and too long?[Power couple, slow burn, getting back together.]

“You Scammer! Return me my 10,000-year-old Mystic Jade Staff!”“You lost it fair and square in the gamble, Grand Elder. I can’t help it if your so-called Profound Scrying Eyes couldn’t see through my cups.”“What cups!? Those were the Divine Temple Bells of the Mahayana Temple!”“And?”“Even the Immortal Monarch himself can’t see through them, you thief!”***“What do you mean you won’t reimburse me for the Flying Sword Insurance I took?”“The terms and conditions clearly state that there will be no reimbursement within the first year of taking out the policy.”“You never said that!”“And you never read the fine print in the contract, Patriarch.”“The fine print that was written with illusory ink!? You bastard!”***“How did my small loan of 1,000 Immortal Stones turn into a debt of 100,000 Immortal Stones? You loan shark!”“That’s just the power of compounding, my friend.”“You call that compounding? I took the loan last week, you scammer! And I’m not your friend, I’m the goddamn Emperor!”***“How are you not dead? I saw your corpse with my own eyes!”“My death was greatly exaggerated, Senior Sister.”“You didn’t even have a head!”“Like I said, exaggerated.”***In the vast world of cultivation, where honor and integrity reign supreme, one man dares to defy the heavens—not with sword or spell, but with deception and trickery.Once a lowly street urchin, Han Yu quickly realized that cultivation required three things: talent, resources, and powerful backers. He had none of those. What he did have, however, was a sharp tongue, quick hands, and a complete lack of shame.From gambling dens to immortal auctions, from conning sect elders to running an interdimensional insurance scam, Han Yu’s reputation spreads across the cultivation world like an unstoppable plague.No treasure is too sacred, no contract too ironclad, and no oath too unbreakable for him to twist to his advantage. Even the mighty Immortal Clans dare not underestimate him—after all, the last sect that tried ended up legally belonging to him.With a growing list of enemies, a debt larger than some celestial empires, and a skillset that consists entirely of loopholes, misdirection, and sheer audacity, Han Yu’s journey to the peak of immortality is anything but conventional.Will he be hunted down by every major power in the realm? Will he accidentally scam his way into becoming an Immortal Emperor? Or will he outwit even fate itself and make the heavens owe him a favor?One thing is certain—when Han Yu is involved, nothing is ever fair, but the house always wins.-------P.S: This book is set in the universe of Walker of the Words and is in the same time period.Tags: #Comedy#weak to strong#Scamming#Beast companions#Monster Master#World Exploration#Faceslapping#Overpowered Cheats#Pretending to be weak

“Is Fate the excuse of the forsaken, is Free Will the delusion of the chosen?”Such was a question that Xavier, the Demon King, never had the chance to ask himself. As he lay defeated, awaiting his death, he wondered about the wretched life he lived.'The hero who killed me, the one who held the same ambitions as me. We both wanted good for the people, for the world. We are both two sides of the same coin, yet, fate decided that he will be the one the light will shine on.Perhaps it was me too, perhaps it was my karma for flowing the rivers of blood with my sword. But still... It was fate that squashed the humanity in me first!Damn fate, if I had one more chance, I would've lived for myself more, I wouldn't have taken this arbitrary role of being a necessary evil... This world, this game of destiny... It can burn to ashes for all I care.'As he sunk into the cold embrace of death, a certain [REDACTED] heard his dying wish with amusement and cast their die, reversing the wheel of time one last time and going all in on him on a risky gamble with the stakes of their world.