12 Miles Below - Chapter 14Book 7. : In which To’Orda bullies everyone

Chen Shiping, a Qi training monk from the Foundation Establishment family, is struggling in the world of cultivating immortals

- Description from novelbuddy

I put all the warning tags to give myself creative freedom, but the story isn't filled with excessive gore or swearing.This is my first time writing other than for school projects. The gender-bender tag is only for the beginning because I wanted to try writing from a female's perspective and needed an excuse for why my MC reads a little tomboyish. The gender-bender fades into the background over the first few chapters; please don't let the tag keep you from trying out my story.Synopsis:Second chances are rarely earned and even rarer given. Follow a new life in a new world where anything is possible. Our MC wakes up, stuck as a baby, needing to decide how she will live her new life. Let's see what future she can forge when hard work rewards her with status points and skill levels.Author's Note: I'm currently slowly going back and rewriting my earlier chapters, so if you're starting to read this for the first time, try not to be alarmed if the quality suddenly goes down after reading a few chapters. I started writing this story almost three years ago, and I think I've improved as a writer since then. I appreciate your understanding; enjoy.

At the age of 16, Bian Yue became an orphan, inheriting a massive fortune from her family and becoming the wealthiest young heiress in Xiangjiang. The Li family, close friends with the Bian family, took pity on her and brought her to their home. Upon first meeting Li Siheng, he approached her past rows of black-suited bodyguards and tenderly offered to take her home, a gesture that would captivate her heart for a lifetime. At 22, Bian Yue managed to marry Li Siheng, but under the dim lights, he, with an indifferent tone, confessed his change of heart. Determined to part gracefully, Bian Yue resolved to give Li Siheng a decent break-up.Xiangjiang's newspapers headline the daily news, reporting that Shen Jin, the head of the Shen family, frequently visits temples due to a terminal illness and is on his deathbed. People applaud behind closed doors, citing his ruthless actions as karma. Seeing this, Bian Yue devises a plan. During a continuous downpour in Xiangjiang, Bian Yue sits in the Shen residence, drenched. In the dim light, she sees the distinctly elegant and captivating Shen Jin and hesitantly proposes marriage, to which he coldly agrees. Their marriage is hastily arranged, stirring public uproar.Meeting Li Siheng again after her marriage, Bian Yue takes shelter from the rain. Li Siheng rushes out of his car and runs to her, desperately holding her hand and pleading for a divorce so he could marry her. That night, Shen Jin, who was abroad, returns instantly upon hearing the news and confronts Bian Yue, who had just come home. Lighting a cigarette, he casts a more enchanting silhouette against the night, kissing her fiercely. He promises that the rainy season in the harbour city will end, and he will also wait for her return home.

I never expected my life to change so drastically. One moment, I was a woman with dreams, deeply in love with a man I thought I’d spend my life with. The next, I was betrayed and heartbroken, walking in on him cheating without a hint of remorse.That night, overwhelmed with pain and too much alcohol, I made a reckless decision, a one-night stand with a stranger who, to my shock, turned out to be my new boss.Arec, the vice president of Denco Groups, was desperate. To secure his future as CEO, he needed a wife, and in a twist of fate, he offered me a contract marriage. It sounded absurd, but his desperation mirrored my own need to escape the wreckage of my life.It was supposed to be simple: no emotions, no strings attached. A business arrangement, nothing more. I thought I could handle it, that I could keep my heart out of it.I was wrong.What started as a deal quickly spiraled into something far more complicated. As our fake marriage blurred into real feelings, the world around us began to close in. Disapproving family, old enemies, buried secrets, scheming rivals, and even an attempt on my life threatened to tear us apart.This is my story, a journey of heartbreak, unexpected love, and a fight to protect what we built together. In a world filled with lies and deceit, can a marriage born out of necessity become something real?---