The Strange Groom's Cursed Bride - Chapter 11: And the story begins...

Ten years ago, Joseph Cassian was thrown into a maximum-security prison for crimes he didn’t commit framed by the very family whose blood runs through his veins.Now, at twenty-eight, he walks free into a world where the city’s mafia empires have mysteriously crumbled. Their leaders, slaughtered. Their empires, burned.All while Joseph sat in silence behind bars... no one can prove he did anything and yet it all happened as if he planned it.Was he just a wrongfully imprisoned scapegoat, a man who survived injustice?Or is he a mastermind a Don who orchestrated revenge so flawlessly that not even he had to lift a finger?Now that he’s free, Joseph stands at a crossroads.He can leave the blood behind, walk away from the ashes of an empire that once owned the city.Or he can claim what’s left of his legacy and become the very Don the world has feared all along.

“Congratulations, you're now a Handler. You'll serve the state with utmost loyalty and pledge your life to its causes.”That was what Trent heard just before being handed an envelope—and a whole lot of disrespect.Mocked for his poor combat performance and labeled pathetic by his superiors, Trent finishes Handler training humiliated and underestimated. But they made one mistake: they judged him by his strength, not his mind.What Trent lacks in brute force, he makes up for with a rare genius in finance.So when a mysterious voice speaks to him in the bathroom—“Hello, Host. This is Ave-511e69.”His world flips upside down.Now equipped with Ave, a mysterious financial system that seems to know everything, Trent is about to rise through the ranks in a way no Handler ever has.Through stock markets, black-market missions, and calculated chaos, he will prove that money is the greatest weapon of all.They looked down on him. Now, they’ll look up in fear.

Yuan Xi had been the secretary for Gu Hanchen for five years, working tirelessly without a single day off. Not only was she overworked like a horse, but she was also slandered by Gu Hanchen's fiancee and her friend, Miss Chu, who accused Secretary Yuan of delusionally hoping to turn from a sparrow into a phoenix and become the wife of President Gu. No longer able to tolerate the treatment, Yuan Xi handed in her resignation letter. After resigning, the once overburdened secretary surprisingly turned out to be the legitimate heiress of the wealthiest family in Jiangcheng, the Chu family! Back at the Chu household, Yuan Xi discovered that the family had taken in an adopted daughter, Chu Yan, who had been standing in for her. The false heiress was bright and unrestrained, rightfully considered the unrivaled young mistress of Jiangcheng. Even after the return of the true heiress, Chu Yan remained the celebrated young mistress while Yuan Xi was invariably seen as a mere shadow when compared to Chu Yan's splendid life. Yuan Xi's husband did not even own a house in the center of Jiangcheng. In contrast, the impostor Chu Yan was set to marry into one of Jiangcheng's top four wealthy families, the Bo family. Everyone in Jiangcheng ridiculed Yuan Xi for not having a life as fortunate as the false heiress, nor a discerning eye. That was until the day when Mi Chen was listed on the stock market, and Yuan Xi swiftly rose above her own father to become the new wealthiest person in Jiangcheng. On the day Yuan Xi's child was born, the established noble Huo family from A City announced with great fanfare the joy of welcoming a new grandson... Yuan Xi had always thought that her marriage to Huo Shiyen was merely a shotgun wedding, and that Huo Shiyen had someone else he considered his childhood sweetheart and sweetheart under the moonlight. Only later did she realize that she was, in fact, his cherished childhood love.

[Matured Content]Isadora Skaldwood was born a fae of impure blood “mannfae” deemed an inferior creation of the olden gods. However, at birth she was kissed by the goddess of light and blessed with the ability of a skin weaver, capable of healing any wound or affliction.Betrayed by her family, she's sold for gain and shipped across the world to a brothel, into the hands of a selfish businessman who exploited her abilities for years. Travelers come to this brothel not to lay with the rumored mannfae but to seek her abilities—the star price of the famous brothel in the countryside.But then everything changed when “He” appeared…Kraven Val Thrond “The Reaper” of the Raven Court, a terrifying warrior feared by those who dared to speak his name. Dangerously handsome with looks identical to a god, silver eyes like the crescent moon—but a mind dipped in madness.Isadora despised him, not just for stealing her away, but for thrusting her into his world of blood and chaos—taking her freedom just like everyone else does. He’s insane! But that’s only the cherry on top, his obsession is wicked.(Excerpt)“You want to kill me and at the same time, you do not” Isadora’s features were stern and the cold look in her eyes almost forced a laugh out of him.She got more frustrated by his silence, choosing to insult him and be done with it. “Does a madman not know what to do with a mannfae?”“I can think of a thousand ways to kill you,” Kraven replied in a velvety voice. “Like first throwing you off-board”Isadora's angry expression morphed into one of horror.“But that would be terrifying, wouldn’t it? Drowning in the dark sea, unable to breathe” he voiced as if he could vividly picture it—and him on board watching. “Tell me, Isadora”A cold chill crawled down her spine.“If I let you go, where would you run to, hm? I told you already this realm isn't kind to outcasts like us”“I'm not like you!”He chuckled lightly. “We're alike. What use could you be to this forsaken realm?”“What use could you have of me?” she asked shakily.“Oh love, I can think of many things but I’m not sure you’re ready… yet”