Finding light in the darkest places—through love - Chapter 24 – The Showcase Begins

Ethan's head throbbed violently as he opened his eyes, his vision hazy and unfocused. A dull ringing filled his ears, drowning out his thoughts.“What’s happening…?” he thought, his mind sluggish, struggling to catch up with reality. One moment, he was asleep—or at least, he thought he was—and the next, searing pain forced him awake.His vision swam, shapes blurring together in a disorienting mess. But then, muffled noises filtered through the haze—frantic, panicked sounds. Someone was trying to scream, their voice smothered, choked by something.A cold shiver ran down his spine.As his sight gradually sharpened, Ethan's breath hitched.He was on all fours, looming over someone. A girl.Her body twisted and writhed beneath him, ropes biting into her wrists and ankles. Her mouth was gagged, muffling her cries. Her wide brown eyes, brimming with fear and fury, glared up at him.Ethan's body locked in place, his blood running cold.“What the…?” His mind reeled, thoughts slamming into each other in chaotic disarray. “What kind of bizarre dream is this?”Panic clawed at his chest. His breath came in ragged, uneven gasps as he scrambled backward, only to realize his limbs felt sluggish, uncooperative, like they didn’t belong to him.“Is this… is this some kind of twisted fantasy I never knew I had?” A sickening thought slithered through his mind, making his stomach churn.The girl's frantic squirming slowed for a moment, her gaze flickering with confusion as she took in his expression—his trembling hands, his wide, horrified eyes. But the fear returned just as quickly. She struggled harder, her body arching, her muffled screams rising in pitch.Ethan wanted to speak, to say something, anything, but before he could force out a word, a glowing blue window materialized before his eyes.His breath caught.A translucent, hovering screen?“What…?”Lines of glowing text scrolled across its surface.---[System Activated…][Host Confirmed.][Simulating Previous Data…]Ethan awakens in a mysterious world, shackled by a curse that clouds his judgment and drives him toward choices he never wished to make. Burdened by guilt and responsibility, he must navigate the fallout of his actions while unraveling the truth behind the curse—and his place in this enigmatic new reality.

Original name: Prince Charming's Next Door, finished. One day, she slept with him accidentally. Two month later, she found herself pregnant, so they got married with baby. “Mr. Gu, I like the dishes of this restaurant.” Then the chef of that restaurant was hired as theirs. “Mr. Gu, I like the bags of that brand.” Then the designer of that brand was employed exclusively for her. She thought of herself as a stranger to him after marriage as she had always been, but in fact he doted on her totally beyond her imagination. He would satisfy all her demands, except letting her find a job. She kind of got anxiously bored at home, so she sneaked out to find herself a job. However, whichever company she was hired by would go bankrupt somehow or other. Finally, she got to know it had been always him who had done mischief surreptitiously. She went to question him angrily, but he gave her a job with a smirky smile. The next day when she went to take the office with delight, she found her employee ID card on the desk said ‘Name: Qin Zhi’ai, Position: Wife of Gu Yusheng’.

Song Yu, an up and coming architect was supposed to be the fiancée to the second son of the Qi Family… until her family went bankrupt. The engagement was called off and she finally has the freedom to love whoever she wants to! Years later, a twist of fate made her cross paths with the Qi family again. In order to land a prestigious architect role in an upcoming hotel construction project, she had to impress the director of Qilin. Follow Song Yu as she navigates through life and love!

- Description from Novelupdates

********(WARNING: This novel’s MC is Laurence’s disciple, since both of them love to cuss at everyone’s faces…. Just kidding! xD xD. Just like my other work that has a warning at the top… So, please read at your own risk! ^_^)*********Not all villains are evil. Sometimes, their experiences and how others treated them shaped them into what they are today.*********“How amusing! Do you really think that being labeled as a [tyrant], a [bully], and a [villain] would be that outstanding?! Why don’t you come here right now and let me punch you in the face so that you can wake up from your f*cking delusional sh*t!”*********In his first life, for some unknown reason, he was betrayed, framed, and stripped of his status as a noble and labeled him as a “traitor” or in the worst case, a “villain”.Now, as he faced execution and prepared to die when suddenly an unknown entity called [system] offered him a chance to be a world-hopper and complete various tasks in different worldlines. The system also promised him to grant his greatest desire should he ever consent to be bound by the [system].With no other choice, he accepted the entity’s offer and after millennium years’ worth of transmigration, for some unknown reason, the system prompted him to be reincarnated back to his first life that he had forsaken….As the “villainous” Third Young Master of Marquis Chevalier Household from Stellarus Empire.