All the Dust that Falls - Chapter 2: Today Sucked

Angel Johnson was a waitress struggling to make ends meet when an unexpected contract with Tryson Bliss, one of City Y's most powerful and ruthless billionaires, changed everything.Tryson needed a fiancée to appease his demanding family, and Angel, desperate for money and a way out of her humdrum life, agreed to play the part.What began as a calculated arrangement soon evolved into something neither of them expected—an intense and forbidden connection.But when Tryson's family uncovers Angel's true motives, they cast her out with venomous disdain.Humiliated and heartbroken, Angel's last hope is confronting Tryson. But instead of an apology or a chance at redemption, she finds herself shattered when he declares that he has chosen his first love, Riley, the woman he was preparing to marry.Devastated and with only her pride left, Angel walks away, determined to rebuild her life alone.Two months later, Angel is lost in the pulse of the music at a dark, crowded bar, seeking refuge in anonymity.A hand seizes her from behind, and her breath catches as she turns to face the man she can't forget—Tryson.His eyes, once cold and calculating, are now stormy with raw emotion, and he pulls her into his orbit, holding out the contract she once signed. “We haven't finished our work, Angel. The contract says you have a year left to be my fiancée. Don't tell me you're planning on breaching it now.”With no choice but to comply, Angel moves back into the house that once rejected her.But to her surprise, the family she once loathed now welcomes her with unexpected warmth and kindness.As she navigates this unsettling shift, Angel is left to wonder—what has changed, and why?What secrets do they hide that could alter everything she thought she knew about Tryson and his family?And as Angel's heart begins to thaw, she's confronted with the hardest question of all: Can she keep the secrets she's hidden from Tryson?And will Tryson fight for her love a second time, despite everything that has come between them?

“Can you be useful to me?”

“I… I can be…”

The first time they met, she knelt trembling before him, begging for shelter. The slave caught his interest, and he brought her back to his palace.

She could’ve never imagined that in one night she’d go from a spoiled little slave princess of a defeated kingdom, to becoming a powerful prince’s pet.

He kept her by his side… spoiled her, cared for her, loved her, and gave her meticulous care and high status. Whatever she wished… she could do so under his name.

But, she angered him and chose to run away. He captured her within a day.

“Don’t forget, my little dearest, everything I have given you can be taken back…”

In a spur of anger, she hit him, her feeble hands striking against the flesh of his cheek. Gnashing her teeth in anger, she said, “Do you have the ability to take my child back?!”

- Description from Novelupdates

The strong are lonesome. Overcoming the loneliness pushes you to stand invincible at the top.

Pro-disciple of the Shaolin Temple on earth, Huang Xiaolong was reborn into a Martial Spirit world, carrying Hua Xia’s secret knowledge, the Body Metamorphose Scripture. In a Martial Spirit world, only those with Martial Spirit are able to train in battle qi and become a warrior.

Huang Xiaolong born with a heaven-defying rare Martial Spirit was mistakenly taken for common variant Martial Spirit during the awakening ceremony conducted by the tribe and thus sidelined. However, Huang Xiaolong with his common “variant” Martial Spirit again, and again displayed unnatural talent, defeating geniuses, shocking the clan and the entire Martial Spirit World

- Description from novelupdates

I’ve possessed the mid-boss who tortures the protagonist and receives true education.Am I crazy? How dare I do such a thing to the person who is supposed to be the protagonist?I even planned to treat all the protagonist’s friends hospitably…“Everyone, wait for me! I will definitely become stronger and come to save you!”Oh. Running away.