MTL - My Stepmother is Soft and Charming - Chapter 169 Be sincere (Supplementary updates 5 and 6)

“Help me, please,” Bella pleaded, grasping his hands.His dark eyes, devoid of warmth, pierced through hers with an unsettling coldness. “Why should I mess with those goons to help you?” he asked callously.“I’ll do anything you say,” she said without thinking, desperate. “Just save me from them.”He demanded something that Bella had never anticipated even in her dreams.A contract marriage!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bella Dawn was already in distress to pay her step father’s debts. To add her misery, her mother was diagnosed with liver disease and needed immediate transplant.Where would she get that much money?Then, like a cruel twist of fate, she accidentally encountered a handsome man, Theodore Reid, the enigmatic CEO of Ace Group.Rumors said that he was a ruthless businessman with a heart as cold as ice. Yet, to Bella, he was kind, rescuing her from the clutches of those who sought to exploit her.She was grateful to him until he demanded something weird, shattering her pervious assumptions. He wanted to marry her.NoHe wanted a contract marriage.In exchange, he would take care of her mother's treatment and compensate her generously at the end of their arrangement.For Theodore, it was a solution born out of necessity, a means to appease his grandfather's demands for an heir while he searched for the one who had once saved him, his angel.Bella’s appearance reminded him of his savior. So, he offered her a contract marriage. It was a temporary solution to his grandfather’s demand to get an heir until he found his angel.With no other options left, Bella reluctantly agreed to the terms of the contract. But little did she know it would test her resolve and resilience like never before.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“Remember one thing, never fall in love with me,” he said, cold and dangerous.Bella gulped, nervous. “What if I do?” A sliver of defiance, a foolish question escaped her lips. She was already attracted to his handsome appearance.He squeezed her jaw and hissed, “You will regret it.”“What if you started liking me?” she dared to ask.He leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear. “No chance,” he scoffed. “You're not my type.”Bella’s heart sank.

Occupational Analysis of “Crown Princess”:

Number One: Promotion prospects are bleak, Crown Princess—Empress—Empress Dowager, the time between each is vast, and difficulty is extremely high.

Number Two: No guarantees of continuous labor, not to mention the lack of insurance, you can be dismissed at any time, furthermore you will no longer be able to start another career!

Number Three: The nature of the job is dangerous, at any time there is the danger of death, if the Crown Prince isn’t able to ascend as emperor, you will fall out of luck together with him, if the crown prince ascends as emperor, you have to be careful as to not unluckily fall alone.

Number Four: Moonlighting as a s*x worker, though the intensity of the job is unlikely to be very big, however, there is no power to select the service partner.

To summarize, the job of Crown Princess isn’t particularly a good job, no prospects, large stress, and the manual labor is intense……

Okay, in fact that was just a flood of words, a simple summary is:

This is a story about a “woman’s” struggles in the harem……

At the same time, it is also about a “man’s” sufferings in the harem……

- Description from Novelupdates

As a human, I should be miles away from any large shifter event. Especially the annual Mate Hunt.A hunt for mates. Doesn't that sound barbaric? Yeah, it's as bad as it sounds.Several packs in the area gather as their newly minted adult wolves shift. Females are let into the woods first and are given an hour's head start, just before sundown. Then it's time for the males, ostensibly thrown out to hunt down the scent of their fated (or chosen) mates.It isn't an event for the faint of heart, and it's definitely no place for someone who can't shift. So why the fuck am I here, running my little human heart out, chased by what sounds like an entire pack of wolves? Great question. I don't know, either.But I'm here.Surrounded by howls fueled by the thrill of the hunt.Feet bleeding. Lungs freezing.I am so fucked.----R18. Dark themes, including but not limited to: Murder, attempted murder, a stack of dead bodies, betrayal, mild sociopathy, an ML who appears to bathe in red flags despite his favorite color being green, an unwarranted hatred of blueberry muffins, and pillow thievery.

Feng Ruqing was a spoiled princess with a hideous countenance in Liu Yun Kingdom. She used to ride roughshod over anyone who stood in her way, backed by her father the emperor who loved her with all his heart.

Not only did she force the chancellor’s son to marry her by breaking the existing loving couple up, but her mother-in-law had also passed out from rage because of her. In the end, she took her own life after the heartbreak and humiliation of being dumped.

When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer the bratty princess who was a good-for-nothing.

* * *

Rumor has it that spirit beasts have become servants in princess’ manor and the princess is devouring precious spirit herb dishes every day.

Rumor has it that the chancellor’s son who pleaded for reconciliation after divorcing the princess was thrown out of the princess’s manor.

Rumor has it that some good-looking young masters went to the princess’s manor in hope of being her servants were nearly killed by the state preceptor.

Rumor has it that the charming state preceptor was looking for the princess eagerly as he wanted to hold her responsible for sleeping with him.

- Description from webnovel