OP Absorption - Chapter 89: Well Needed Rest

“Block him.”“He's technically still my boss.”“Then block him with dignity.”The call ended again.And then started again.I let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a sob, then finally answered with the enthusiasm of a snail crawling through salt.“Yes, Mr. Walton?”“Have you changed your mind yet?”I collapsed onto the towel and gazed at the sky as though it might consume me entirely if I pleaded sweetly enough.“Do you ever take a break?” I asked, shielding my eyes with one hand.“You're avoiding the question.”“Because it's a dumb question.”He exhaled, the sound sharp and irritated even over phone. “It's not a dumb question. It's a business offer.”“It's a weird offer-one that I already said no to.”There was a brief pause, and I could practically hear him clenching his jaw through the speaker.“You are acting unreasonably.”“ Unreasonable?” I sat up. “I'm not the one drafting fake girlfriend contracts like it's a normal Tuesday.”“Isabella-”“Certainly not, Mr. Walton.” I mimicked his tone perfectly. “I told you I'm not doing it. You need to find someone else to play pretend with.”SYNOPSISIsabella Miller thought saying no to her boss’s fake dating offer was the end of the story.But Adrien Walton doesn’t take no—especially not when he’s convinced she’s a gold digger.Suddenly, her student loans are piling up, her father’s vet clinic is on the brink of eviction and her brother is about to be kicked out of college. Coincidence? She thinks not.Adrien Walton is calm, calculating—and he's just pulled every string to corner Isabella into the perfect position.Now she’s stuck choosing between pride and survival.So she agrees to his offer: be his fake girlfriend.No feelings attached. No drama. Just business.Or so she thought.“Conference Room B. Fifteen minutes,” he said, passing by without a glance.The folder he pushed across the table landed with a thud.I opened it. The contract. All of it.---Enemies to lovers? Check.Slow burn? Hmmnyea.Banter so sharp it might file your nails? Yes.Delicious workplace tension? Of course.Tension that could melt steel?Absolutely.Smut?? Wanna find out?Welcome to corporate romance warfare. There’s no escaping this contract.

A mysterious car accident caused her to be bedridden for three years.

After Ning Qing woke up, she learned two things.

One was that her elder twin sister had died in a car accident three years ago.

The other was that she had already married someone.

Her husband was Nian Lie, the eldest son of the Yan family who owned the biggest conglomerate in Yan City.

He treated her as a substitute for her elder sister. While he put her through torture, he would tell her that he loved her with reddened eyes.

Initially, Ning Qing wanted to divorce him, but later on, she indulged in his ambiguous love.

Until she stood outside the wedding venue where he was about to marry another woman.

Her heart was dead. Nothing was worth holding back anymore.

She wanted to escape, but she was unwilling to let him live the rest of his life peacefully.

Hence, under the reporters’ flashing lights, she stepped onto the bridge and jumped off with her nearly due baby…

What comes after death?

Val has a definite answer.

It's reincarnation!

After dying on modern-day Earth, he found himself waking up in a strange world!

The world was so strange that after death, humans would turn into zombies.

Negativity could give birth to devils.

There were also dungeons that, if left unchecked, could spell disaster!

This strange world was called Eldrich.

In this strange world, Val gained a chance at life when he acquired the Devil system!

[You have gained ownership of the Devil System!]

[Please choose the type of devil you would like to become.]

[Option 1: Shadow Devil.]

[Option 2: Blood Devil.]

That night, he grinned and the world witnessed the birth of a devil!

...

A scene from the novel:-

The Anthrolisk's antennae twitched violently, its bloodshot eyes narrowed, and it gritted its mandibles. Rage bubbled up within it like boiling tar, yet it kept its fury in check.

“I admit,” it managed to grind out through clenched teeth, “you're stronger than me. On my own, I might not be enough to defeat you. But when my children come into the picture, everything changes.”

Val's eyebrow raised, “What children?”

The Anthrolisk responded by clapping its hands elegantly. Suddenly, the ceiling overhead split open, and gigantic cockroaches, each half the size of a human, crawled out. Their shiny exoskeletons gleamed ominously under the faint light of the chamber.

“Shocked, aren't you?” The Anthrolisk gloated, a wicked grin stretching across its monstrous face. “Let's see how you fare against my children! Little ones, get him!”

With the command given, the cockroaches crawled down the wall in an eerie synchronicity, their multitude of tiny legs clicking against the stone walls of the chamber as they closed in on Val.

Val, however, merely smirked, causing an ominous chill to creep down the Anthrolisk's spine. It could feel that something wasn't right.

“You're not the only one with henchmen,” Val retorted casually, his smirk broadening into a wicked grin that mirrored the Anthrolisk's earlier expression.

A sense of foreboding filled Anthrolisk and it moved to stop Val from doing whatever he was planning to do.

However, it was too late.

“Descend to the living realm, my horde of the undead!” he commanded.

Suddenly, reality seemed to bend and ripple around Val, as if it was a mere illusion.

Out of these distortions, countless undead emerged, tearing through the very fabric of space itself to answer their master's call. Their hollow eyes burned with a spectral fire, their skeletal forms imposing and dreadful. It was a sight to behold, a haunting spectacle that sent chills down the spine of the Anthrolisk and its children.

A little about Val:- Val is not good or evil. Ask long as it benefits him, he can be a saint or a devil, or both!

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