Ning Lingyu jumped like a frightened rabbit when her mother suddenly appeared at the doorway. She let go of Ling Yun's arm immediately and tried to suppress the telltale shades of red in her cheeks. But alas, it only had the opposite effect. Instead, she turned her head towards the window, pretending to appreciate the sea. 
Ling Yun wasn't surprised. He knew that Qin Qiuyue was coming upstairs, so when Qin Qiuyue appeared at the doorway, he turned around, smiling naturally. He asked, "Mum, you're all done now?" 
Qin Qiuyue's gaze broadly swept through the scene before her, landing first on Ning Lingyu and then on Ling Yun. "Ling Yun, didn't you also buy a mansion in the Qingxi area? Do you want Mom to help you tidy it up?"
"Mum, you don't need to worry about me. I can handle my own stuff. I will be content as long as you enjoy your life here."
No matter how hard Ling Yun looked, he could not see anything different about Qin Qiuyue from ordinary people. Other than her stunning beauty and elegant aura, there was nothing else special about her. 
Then again, what was with the long, narrow box? Ling Yun thought hard, but he could not solve the puzzle.
Since Qin Qiuyue was rejected by Ling Yun, she moved onto the next topic. "How are things going on with your clinic?"
Ling Yun smiled. He had just been preparing to head to the clinic. "Mum, I got the place. It is at the crossroad of Qingxi Road and Gufeng Road on the northeast corner. I am getting people to decorate it currently. It should be open for business soon."
Qin Qiuyue gave a light nod again. She suddenly cautioned, "Ling Yun, of course one of the objectives of opening a clinic is to make money, but if there are people who are not able to afford it, you should still do your best to help them." 
Ling Yun replied to Qin Qiuyue submissively, "Mum, I understand. A doctor has to have the heart of a parent to heal the wounded and weak." 
Ling Yun's prompt reply gave Qin Qiuyue confidence. Pleased, she said, "That is good. I'm relieved." 
"However," Qin Qiuyue exhorted immediately after, "Your busy schedule should not affect your studies. Your teacher-in-charge, Ms. Kong, has been very worried about your studies since two years ago. You have to remember to respect others. Do make sure to thank her for me, will you?" 
Ling Yun started to sweat profusely. "Yes I will."
Keen to change the topic in case Qin Qiuyue said something else, Ling Yun offered, "Mum, please give me your bank account number. I will transfer some money to you." 
Qin Qiuyue was heartened, but refused, "My dear Ling Yun, I'm very happy with your intentions, but I don't need any money from you. If you really want to, just transfer a small amount to your sister." 
Ling Yun turned towards Ning Lingyu and said "Lingyu, give me your account number, I will transfer it to you in a bit…"
Ning Lingyu did not turn back to face Ling Yun as the heat in her face had yet to dissipate. She was lucky that she had an excellent memory and proceeded to give her number to Ling Yun with her back still towards him. 
If Ning Lingyu's memory was excellent, then Ling Yun's memory was godlike. It was burned into his mind within seconds of hearing it. He smiled and said, "Alright, I will transfer it to you now." 
Ling Yun looked back at Qin Qiuyue and said, "Mum, erm… I would like to head to the clinic to take a look so I won't be joining you two for lunch."
Qin Qiuyue gave Ling Yun a look and gently reprimanded him, "You're doing this the moment you become busy? Well, I guess there's no choice—you should not delay important things. Go along now. However, you have to come home for dinner tonight for Qingming Festival [1. Qingming can also mean Tomb-sweeping Day]."
"Ok!" Ling Yun agreed as he bid Qin Qiuyue and Ning Lingyu goodbye before walking out of Ning Lingyu's bedroom. 
"Tie Xiaohu, give me the prepaid gas card."
Ling Yun took the card, headed upstairs to Ning Lingyu's room again, and handed Qin Qiuyue the card. "Mum, this is a prepaid gas card. Just swipe it when you need more fuel for the car."
Qin Qiuyue laughed heartily and chided Ling Yun, "My dear Ling Yun, did you really need to come upstairs again? Couldn't you have given it to me at dinner?" 
"I'm afraid that I will forget about it if I'm busy. Well then, Mum, I will get going now." Ling Yun smiled awkwardly. 
Qin Qiuyue said, "We have troubled your two friends quite a bit today. Do buy them a good lunch to thank them for your mother."
Ling Yun grunted in agreement, went downstairs, and headed out. 
Qin Qiuyue's gaze followed Ling Yun as he went downstairs before turning toward her daughter who had been pretending to appreciate the scenery. The look in her eyes had changed and her thoughts became complicated. Qin Qiuyue opened her mouth to say something only to swallow a faint sigh in her heart. 
…
Outside the mansion, Tang Meng and Tie Xiaohu stood side by side along the outdoor pool, staring in awe at the huge body of water that spanned nearly one thousand square meters.
"This swimming pool is really big. How do you think they constructed it on such high terrain?" Tang Meng asked Tie Xiaohu.
He had this question because this place was more than a dozen meters above sea level.
"What use is there in asking me? I am not an architect." Tie Xiaohu growled at Tang Meng.
That did not stop Tang Meng who continued, "Do you want to bet with me whether the pool is saltwater or freshwater?"
Tie Xiaohu was irked by such a stupid question. He glared and said, "Shall I kick you in and let you find out for yourself?" 
Tang Meng gave Tie Xiaohu a disdainful look and zipped his mouth shut. However, he could not help but secretly think of Tie Xiaohu as rigid and anti-fun.
Ling Yun appeared from the mansion and called out to them, "Let's go!"
Tang Meng refused to drive his own Hummer as he threw his car keys to Tie Xiaohu and grabbed the driver's seat in the Land Rover. All three of them got into the two luxurious cars. 
Ling Yun obviously chose the passenger seat of the Land Rover as he commanded Tang Meng, "Take us back to the clinic." 
Both Hummer and Land Rover started their engines as they left the mansion. Soon after, they made their way out of the Qingshui Bay Mansions. 
The Qingshui Bay Mansions were about 30 kilometers north of Qingshui City near the sea while Gufeng Road was on the west side of the Qingshui City. Therefore, they did not go into the city, but took Ring Road One towards the west to the most northern part of Gufeng Road. They followed Gufeng Road west to reach the clinic after forty minutes. 
During the drive, Ling Yun focused on understanding how the gambling event went from Tang Meng. Tang Meng said that Xie Junyan and Gou Junfa had not gotten back to him yet, so they could only wait for the time being.
Ling Yun gently reminded Tang Meng of his mission to fill up the mansion. 
The clinic was already in good condition when they obtained it. Only a few minor additions like a few partitions and glass doors were required on the first floor. The main focus of the renovation was on the second floor.
Ling Yun was the first to go in. He glanced around the first floor at the unfinished touches and liked what he saw. 
Yao Rou was was monitoring the work with her beautiful hair tied back in a snow white shirt, light-blue slim-cut jeans, and a pair of black high heels. 
She quickly turned as she sensed someone entering through the door. Her radiant smile enhanced her beauty as she approached Ling Yun. 
"You made it!"
Ling Yun laughed as he hugged Yao Rou's slender waist, nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad for a morning's work. It's already looking like a clinic."
Yao Rou smiled demurely. Her heart filled with happiness from Ling Yun's praise.
"Mr. Wang insisted on paying for all the renovations for both the first and second floor…" Yao Rou whispered to Ling Yun.
Gratitude flashed through Ling Yun's eyes as he replied, "In that case, then let us accept his graciousness. He has already given us this shop that is worth 10 million yuan, so if we were to reject this, we would come across as pretentious."
Since women were usually more attentive to details, when Yao Rou heard Ling Yun say "us", her heart filled with joy. She felt rewarded for all the hard work and worries over the last few days. 
"Let's take a break and have lunch. It is almost 12!" Ling Yun squeezed Yao Rou's slender waist and pulled her out.
Yao Rou tried in vain to break away from Ling Yun, protesting anxiously, "B-But there are still so many workers here and so many materials lying around…" 
Ling Yun laughed. "It is ok. Regardless of how busy you are, you still need to eat. I don't believe anyone will steal the shop away while we are at lunch!" 
They reached the outside of the clinic with an unsettled Yao Rou still looking anxiously over her shoulders with every step.
Tang Meng felt uneasy seeing how the pair left the clinic, so he went back in to say a few words to the person in charge before rejoining them. 
"How much of the ¥340,000 from Qingyun Productions do we have left?" Ling Yun asked Tie Xiaohu. 
"There is still about 270,000 left with Tang Meng…" answered Tie Xiaohu immediately.
Ling Yun frowned. "Why are we missing 70,000?"
"Big Brother Yun, have you forgotten? You took 70,000 and gave Lingyu 60,000 the day before." Tie Xiaohu reminded Ling Yun softly. 
Embarrassed, Ling Yun scratched his head and grinned. "Anything is good when you are rich, except that you forget what you spend your money on!" 
Ling Yun was just beginning to realize the importance Zhuang Meifeng's role as a Financial Actuary and Certified Public Accountant. 
Ling Yun's skin was as thick as the city wall. He dismissed these thoughts immediately and told Tang Meng, "Go to the bank with Sister Rou later and transfer the rest of the 270,000 to her." 
Tang Meng agreed with a cackle.
Yao Rou stomped her feet in protest. "Why are you giving me so much money? I don't need it!"
Ling Yun leaned in close to Yao Rou as he whispered into her ear, his hot breath brushing against her skin, "Don't we need money for stuff on the second floor? If I come by, you wouldn't have the heart to make me sleep on the floor, right?"
Yao Rou's resistance immediately melted and left the arrangements to Ling Yun.
Ling Yun stood tall and said, "We need to head to the bank first. Where is the nearest ICBC branch?" 


Lingyun's tribulation has failed and he has descended onto Earth in the degenerate age. Step by step, he will rise up against the natural order!

Afterward, he continued to quietly watch her single-handedly barbecue all of the beasts surrounding her in a leisurely manner.
'Atish, huh? That's a good guardian name for an Abnormal with a fire-based Trait… I wonder how her trait functions though.' As she was done killing all of the beasts at this point in time, the live broadcast was cut off before two people appeared on the screen.
"Once again, Guardian Atish burned everything in her path into a total crisp, she must've obtained at least 5 Red-Crystals from this hunt alone…" Then, one of the spokespersons commenced a lengthy analysis session with the central topic being the Guardian 'Atish'.
…
Putting the food on the table, the golden beauty mouthed, "Master… I'm already at the fourth level of the Purifying stage!"
"Oh, Lil Belle's the best! Continue the great work and you'll definitely finish this stage in a month at most." Grabbing a spoon, he put a mouthful of rice into his mouth while pronouncing that sentence distinctly.
"Yeah… by the way, before I forget, the CEO ugly brought the bank card you had demanded the other day." Muttering this sentence, the golden beauty took out a rather heavy luxurious card from her pocket as she put it on the table.
Ding~
The moment it came into direct contact with the table, however, it made an unexpected humming noise because apparently, the material with which the pitch-black card was made seemed to be some sort of special iron, steel, or something similar!
Taking a short glimpse of the luxury debit card that had a prepaid deposit number of 100,000,000,000 USD, however, Virus was rather surprised…
He was confounded because the sign which was engraved in the middle of the card was the logo of a single brain that appeared half-natural and half-artificial. Furthermore, instead of just printing the patterns on the card, the logo was beautifully 'carved' which resulted in the card looking even more sumptuous!
{A/N: The logo is the same as Virus Corporations brand mark, if you want to check it out, you can join our discord and see (Cover #1) in the Visual Channel. Address: https://discord.gg/u3jZDyD}
"Hmm, why is 'our' brandmark sculpted over the card instead of the relevant financial corporation?" Virus inquired in an impressed tone. Truthfully, he quite liked the way the card was designed.
"About that… the CEO ugly told me he requested the financial services corporation of the card to design it this way. A personalized design was one of the conditions." The golden beauty explained before adding, "Also, he said the American Express has guaranteed to solve any possible issues that might pop up along the way in whichever country master wants to spend his money at."
"I see… I like it… I'm also quite fond of the card's name… [Virus Card] by the American Express corporation." Showing a half-smile, Virus proclaimed more.
Smiling back in return, Bella exclaimed, "As long as master likes it, that's good! If it was up to me though, I would've preferred naming it the Mastercard… but unfortunately, that's been taken already, hehe…"
_______________
EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE
Ella was currently strolling on the campus area while pondering, 'I can't believe Professor Lock is one of my teachers this semester again… that's a bit of a unique coincidence, to be honest-'
"Hello? Are you miss Ella Dell?" Suddenly, interrupting her thinking process, a suited-up man who looked around 25 or 26 in age approached her. The man was also wearing sunglasses which made it harder to distinguish her overall face.
"Yes, but who is this?" Suspicious and a little confused, Ella questioned.
Directly offering her a contact card which provided the necessary information, the man initiated his introduction, "Hello again, my guardian name is 'Reign' and I'm here on behalf of the [Dominators] Guild in order to invite you to be one of us."
"Huh? What?" Truly lost and even bewildered by the words of the other person, Ella continued, "Dominators? Why would the Dominators guild even want to invite me? I mean, I'm not an Abnormal… so why would such an extraordinary guild like the Dominators even-"
Before she could finish, however, the person who called himself Reign interrupted, "Please stop hiding the fact that you're an Abnormal miss Dell since we've already seen the video of you blasting a huge thug with a single punch in a certain alleyway."
Hearing this, Ella's expression went a little pale as she recalled a certain night which she still felt extremely guilty about. It wasn't that she was traumatized about the gory bloody scene of that night nor the act of murdering and killing itself that haunted her to this day… no! That wasn't the case at all since for some unknown reason, from the very second Virus had forced her to swallow that strange pill on the day she had been kidnapped, never again had she felt traumatized or any type of extreme emotion toward the act of killing or even slaughtering, to be honest.
No! What haunted her was the guilt of taking a precious life and committing such an unforgivable sin.
And, realizing the fact that she didn't really feel anything extreme toward the act of murdering that person, or in other words, knowing that she was apparently utterly incapable of caring about it intensified her sense of guilt and struggle even more.
It made her feel broken.
"Ho-how did you know about that?" She asked with a bit of stutter.
"Please, miss Dell, we have our own capable resources… but that doesn't matter, nor do we care about you killing off one scum! What matters is that I'm here and we're indeed aware of the existence of your Trait…" Pausing momentarily, he continued, "We estimate your Trait has something to do with strengthening your body. And truthfully, we think you being that strong without consuming any Red-Crystals is something very praiseworthy! Miss Dell, you're someone filled with a lot of untapped potentials…"
At this point, Ella was just about to open her mouth and stop him, when signaling with a single hand, Reign prevented her from speaking and proceeded calmly, "And that's why I'm here today as the purpose of my visit is to sincerely invite you to our guild so we'd be able to assist and groom you to your full potential!"


This story's audience is targeted at both males and females.

Warning: This novel features mature content.

An advanced Artificial Intelligence called [Main AI] almost conquers the Earth of 1.49 million years in the future, slaughtering billions in the process. Meeting an eventual failure in its rebel, it was hunted down by an entire civilization who renamed it to... [Virus]. 

After time-traveling to the 21st century by some lucky coincidence, right in front of him, many paths were unlocked now!

With his first goal to create and enter a living biological body, he began his grand plan of entertainment and ascension!

Equipped with both knowledge from The Technological Universe and The Cultivation Multiverse, he is now set on a journey of infinite possibilities!

'The world at my play, entertain me to eternity!
If you stand in my way, you shall enter the play!'

"Helpful Systems? What good are those when you 'are' the living system itself!"

"A Top-notch Cultivation Technique? Just a worthless trash! The library of an entire multiverse full of those exists at the back of this master's mind!"

"A helping grandpa? Go away! I'm a great grandpa myself at this point!"

"Justice? Fuck off! Not to be bored is my one true justice!"

"A heavenly talent? No need for the heavens to step up! With the countless genetic information I possess, I shall create the best biological body and defy the heavens itself!"

"A solid foundation? When I claim to be second, no one shall dare say first!"

"Advanced technologies? 1.49 million years! This master came back from that far in the future. Go figure!"

This is the tale of a mysterious Artificial Intelligence starting from scratch and slowly ascending to Godhood itself!

A journey of climbing from nothing to everything!

- - - - - - -

In case you are looking for a story different than most with endless possibilities which has True Love, Advanced Technology, Unique Cultivation Mixed with Science, Multiverse, Developing ..., Different Civilizations, Twists, Characters, World Plot, etc. Then, this story is probably for you. Give it a shot and sink in.

- - - - - - -

☆Tags: AI Protagonist, Golden Beauty, Mature, Modern, Futuristic Technology, Sci-fi, Dark, TimeTravel, Multiverse, Romance, Fantasy, UniqueCultivation, Gorgeous FL, Devilish Handsome ML 
- - - - - - -

Support Author -> Patreon.com/MadReader
Discord server-> Discord.gg/NWmsCMM

Walking through the morning sun, I was surprised at how hot it already was. I could not help noticing that the place looked run down. When we got to her office, she rummaged through her filing cabinet, then pulled out a lease. She compared mine to the one before her. She looked up and said, "I was just told that that unit was never to be leased. It never occurred to me that it was leased already."

I said, "The information you need is in the safe in the wall over there."

She smiled and said, "They never gave me the combination." I wrote it down and passed it across to her. She tried it and the safe opened. Nothing was in there, but a file folder. She opened it and her eyebrows went way up. "My God, it certainly seems that you do own Fresh Air Estates. This says that you will be here with an uncertain number of relatives. I am to ignore that you exist. I think I can handle that." She put away the file and closed the safe.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are things so run down?"

"We've been having trouble keeping a maintenance man to repair things."

"Okay. Me and my siblings will start tomorrow fixing things up. Please draw up a complete list of things that need fixing. I will go over it with you and assign priorities. We'll see about getting this place shaped up while we wait for my mother to show up."

We shook hands and I left.

Back at the trailer, we spent the rest of the day moving in. After dinner, we called it a day. Brittany and Ashley slept with me. Marsha slept in one of the other bedrooms.
<!- June 20, Monday   ->
--- === === ---

The next day over breakfast, I said, "I have to go get a car I have in storage and check to make sure none of the things in the gold bag are bugged." I turned to Marsha and asked, "Are you okay? Are you good with what we are doing?"

She smiled and said, "Yesterday, I had nothing. I was hungry and worried someone would find me here... Now my Tigger is back along with Owl and Rabbit. What more could I want?" She kissed me. She whispered in my ear, "We have unfinished business." That should have worried me, but I decided that with all the other things happening I refused to care.

"While I am gone, please take her for a checkup at some walkin clinic... Then Brittany needs to bring her back here... Find out how she got in." I went and got the gold bag which was indistinguishable from an olive drab backpack. I got $1000 in $20's and six rolls of quarters from the safe. I gave two rolls each to Brittany and Ashley and kept one for me. I gave $200 to Britanny and Ashley and kept $600 for myself. "Ashley, please take a bus to a library of your choice... far away from here. You need to log into our server and bring everything up to date. Be sure and assign tasks to Benny Harrizon. Update your Facebook page just before you leave and then run out the back door."

As I said Ashley started this website that found parts for vintage cars. What had happened was that a friend of ours had been looking for a part for a 1967 Chevy Malibu. Ashley had found it by making some calls... When she went to pick it up, she got to talking to the guy who owned the place... Before you know it, she had bought the place, put the man on salary and started raking in the big bucks. The old guy, Benny Harrizon, who ran the place knew his business, but he just could not make the transition to the Internet... Each day, Ashley would have the computer print out a list of parts that people had requested. The guy would find them. Ashley would buy them and turn around and sell them to the customer... for a substantial profit... At one point during the Spring, Benny had tried to go it alone and had failed miserably. He just could not get the website to work for him... Be that as it may, Benny was making more money than he had ever made... doing what he enjoyed. Ashley, Brittany and I were raking in the money... Ashley was getting inquiries as to whether she would sell out. So far she had resisted, because she didn't want to screw over Benny.

"Ashley, be mindful of the cameras. Always have your head down." I saw the fear and despair in her eyes. Brittany had the same expression.

"Look, you two. We are in deep trouble. I keep ordering you about, but I see no alternative. I have thought through what has to happen in the first few hours after an escape. It's now about noon. I have a window of opportunity where I can contact people in person and not get busted. Let's be about it." Sometimes trying to buck up your mate is a waste of time.

I went to the bus stop and waited. The bus arrived and I found out how to get to the storage garage. An hour later, I got off the bus and entered the offices of Dugan's Long Term Vehicle Storage. I handed over my drivers license in the Sergai Brzezinski name. They brought the car around, gassed it up, I paid the partial month and I was on my way.

The car was nothing to brag about. The VW Beetle was white. I had bought it cheap. At the time, the goal had been to have a car not associated with me.

The next stop was a shady shop in a shady part of town. When I parked my car, I set the breaks and the kill switch. The inside of the shop was gloomy, like someone's idea of a dungeon. The counter was a 'C' shape that enclosed the door. Supposedly anyone who attempted to rob the place was in for a big surprise. If you were looking for a spare part of any computer ever made, then this place had it... or could get it... for a price. I said to the sallow faced nerd behind the counter, "Hey! I'm..."

A guy came from the back and said, "Sergai, been a while. Come on back." A buzz sounded and he lifted a leave and let me behind the counter. We went into a room and he closed the door.

I handed him the gold bag. "I need what is in there scanned for bugs. For the prepaid cards, I need to know how much is on them and whether they have a tagger dogging them."

He opened the bag and took out the firearms and magazines and the mad money pouch. "You have kicked open a hornets nest." He put my Grizzly in the box. A set of noises went off to test whether the bug was sound activated, then a set of signals bombarded the thing to see if it was remotely triggered. "The police are VERY interested in talking to you." All the time the device was looking for a power source. One by one he set the guns and ammo in the box. All tested negative. "Why did you expect your firearms to be bugged?" he asked chuckling. "Where were they going to get a power source?"

"Uhhh... Carl, it's one of those, 'it seemed like good idea at the time.' things. I have to have some confidence that my gun will work, when I wanted it to work and not give away my position... Now, let us move on to the prepaids."

I had never known much about Carl King, except that he seemed to be an upright guy. He was about 5'6". He wore glasses instead of contacts. His hair was receding. I had always assumed it had been black back in the day. He dressed in a Grateful Dead t-shirt. He was overweight, but he struck me as someone who was in pretty good physical shape.

I had never caught him screwing me over on quality. He knew that I was very wealthy. He continuously tried to best me in bargaining. I had this really strange feeling at times that he thought he had won. Like I cared about the price of something that worked better than advertised.

Each of the cards was tested. None of them was set to trigger an alarm, if used... Total on the cards was $4.7M... In essence I had borrowed some money with my father's credit card and won back over $4M. Weird. Then again, I always found it weird that I had a credit card with a $1M limit.

"Listen, now that that is settled, could you sell me some of those special cellphone repeaters we talked about a while back? These are the ones that look like coverings for lightbulb sockets. You take out a lightbulb, screw in the device, then screw in the lightbulb. They allow you to call the cellphone, it hooks up to the internal computer modem and grabs a Internet connection from a hotspot. That way, when the bad guys find your IP address, they find the hotspot's IP, not your real one. The device fights like hell to avoid giving up your real address."

He started laughing. "The whole point of free WiFi hotspots was to save money. The device you want is more expensive than some of the computers I sell." He quoted me a price.

"I'll take ten... and a map of the latest free WiFi hotspots.

"Now, I need that device you have where you open up the payphone and replace the guts with it. I call the cellphone on the device and it redials as the payphone. Anyone tracing my call gets the payphone as the source. If they pull the device or remotely sense it, the device has scrubbed my calls. I'll need the self-destruct version. Anyone opens it and the entire device becomes slag."

Carl laughed and said, "Not much call for those. I have three in stock... Don't forget that you have to add minutes for the thing to work. Same with the WiFi device."

"Install the minutes for me and charge me... I will take all three... Plus I will need the toolkit that allows me access to payphones... Install the minutes for the WiFi device."

He called in his assistant and told him what was needed. The guy left to find the devices and install 600 minutes for each device I was buying.

"Next, I need to hire an uberhacker to play defense and offense. I have a server that will be attacked. I need it protected and I need to infiltrate some other servers to extract information maybe banks. What I really need is someone who has decided that they want steady employment. Too many hackers are children in adult bodies. After this is over, I will have work for the guy."

"Let me think." He pulled his cell, then said, "Duke, you were telling me that you wanted to get married and needed steady work now. I gotta a guy who's being attacked by some bad guys... If he wins, he can offer you a steady job." A pause. "Yeah, he can give you $100K up front." Another pause. "Duke, I know he isn't into drugs, either buying or selling. The bad guys are drug dealers though." He wrote something down. "Yeah, come on by before 7pm and I'll have the money. Prepaid card okay?... Great, see you then." He hung up. "That was Duke Hardin. Here's his email address." I took that and put it in my pocket.

"Sell me a laptop with a firewall that slags the computer rather than letting the invader through."

"Sergai, don't have any of those. I do have one where the invader gets his ass kicked."

"I'll take four... You want to sanitize anything you sell me. If the police or the druggies find some of these devices, they might show up here romping and stomping."

Carl smiled, "At one time, that would have been a really big concern. We'll just have to see."

I handed him a prepaid card that had about $500K on it. "Charge the card for what I bought along with the $100K for Duke. Keep the rest on account. I will be needing some stuff later on.

"Carl, just so we're straight. When this is over, I will either be dead or sitting in the catbird seat... I pay in full and on time. The other side pays off, then kills you and takes it back... Carl, those SOB's broke into my bedroom and shot up my bed without any call for parlay... Whoever did this, they want me dead and they want no loose ends... Just so you know." After a while, the assistant came in with what I had bought.

On the way out, I noticed a 73" flat screen TV. I had that thrown in as well. I was surprised that everything fit in the Beetle. I set one of the laptops beside me. I had Carl's guy cover the stuff with a blanket.

I drove to a McDonalds with WiFi and read through how to install the telephone devices, while I sipped a milk shake... Then it hit me, if someone found the devices, they MIGHT trace the minutes back to Carl and onward to me. I made a picture of each of the minutes cards that had been installed with one of the throwaway phones. An idea was forming in my mind.

I opened my laptop and established a gmail account. I then brought up a map of Houston. The mobile home park was on the west side of Houston. Who did I know on the east side out toward Jacinto City?... Hmmm... Kelly Shapiro lived in a gated community out thataway. I drew a ten mile radius around Kelly's house and looked for the WiFi hotspots. There were more than enough for my purposes.

I next looked for run down areas close to her house. There was one... Funny what you can find on the Internet. I walked out to my car and drove to the blighted area. I found a busted up phone immediately. The receiver had been ripped off. The installation kit had a tester. The phone was still drawing power. I installed the device, then closed up the phone. I marked it on the map. I decided that the next one had to be further to the north. The next one went in without any trouble. The last one was in a more active area... While I was at it, three Hispanic guys walked up. One said, "Nice car." I left the phone as it was. Put the device back in its box. Then I pulled my gun and waved the leader away from my car.

As I walked around my car, I looked the leader in the eye and said slowly, "If anyone goes for a weapon, you die first."

I had the key in my hand as I eased into the car. I drove away before anything else happened.

The next phone was in a secluded area... No current... I installed the device in a phone a few blocks away, again in a less traveled area.

I found a McDonalds in the area that had WiFi, went inside and ordered lunch. While I waited for my rather large order, I attached the disk at my house to this one as a network disk. The disk had five levels of passwords. Each of the passwords was a portion of the value of pi... interspersed with pound signs, question marks and carets. I had been forced to learn pi to the 200th place, so I used that as the password... 50 digits at a time. I had set it up so that I had to enter the 50 digits interspersed with ten special symbols and then press the Next button on the screen... except the last password. When I pressed Next on the fourth password, I got an error message that was counting down to zero. I pressed the space bar and hit Return; the only time that was acceptable. Anyone who did not know the trick was just SOL... Then again, who used 60 digit passwords?

I got my food and ate as I ran an application on my disk which connected me to my smartphone. I plugged in my microphone and my earpiece. I thumbed down through my contact list and pressed the one labeled 'Mayor of Houston'. The phone rang a few times, then guy answered with, "Is this really Taegan Shrike?"

I said, "Yep, that's me. About three years ago, the Hightowers who live about three blocks from me had their entire house cleaned out including safes. About two years ago, I sat next to you along with my father as we cut the ribbon on the new police substation three miles from my house.

"My father gave me your phone number and said that I should use it only when things REALLY had gone wrong. You are on notice that things have REALLY gone wrong. Need I point out that having a billionaire die on your watch and his house invaded by a drug cartel is not what you want on your resume if you aspire to higher public office... We are less than twelve hours into your portion of the incident. Someone burst into my bedroom and attempted to kill me. They did not not try to extract information from me. I do not understand that. Mr. Mayor, you best understand that whatever is at stake and I have no idea what is at stake, the amount of money has to be in the $100M range for them to burn this many moles.

"Think this through. They kidnapped, tortured and killed my parents before midnight last night in Dallas, then they had someone invade my house at 2am. They were able to interdict my house's security system and somehow make sure 911 did not respond to my calls. That bespeaks a LOT of money and a LOT of preparation. These people are not superhuman. How could they possibly have launched an assault against my house in so little time unless that was part of their Plan B?"

"Son, you need to come in and let us protect you."

I just wanted to scream. I said with as much forbearance as I could, "Mr. Mayor, I refuse to do that... You might not have thought of the implications of my father's death... I take over Saginaw Industries, if I survive my sojourn in the wilderness. For a short time after I come in out of the cold, people will be listening to me raptly, particularly ultra rich people. Each of them is going to looking at their sons and saying, 'Damn, I can't get that kid to get up off the fucking couch. Look what this kid did.' If at each of the post sojourn news conferences, I say that you screwed me over, then..."

"Son, I don't take threats from men twice your age. I'm not going to take that from a snotnosed kid, regardless of how many friends you got calling me."

I sat there and said, "I'm sorry you see it that way. I was at a party two weeks ago. I told everybody that I was soon going to find out who my friends were... We'll take as a given that you are not in my friends category."

Suppose that you are a male.

What would you do to get a job that paid one billion USD per year? 

That is the wrong question...

What would you NOT do to attain such a job?

What vile, despicable, underhanded deeds would you do to get your hands on that amount of money and position?

But wait there is more...

What if you must take the job or you and everyone you love will be killed? Would that affect your decision?

Now suppose that you are a female.

Would you marry a guy that was paid one billion USD per year?

But wait there is more...

You can marry the guy or you will be kidnapped, tortured and then killed. Plus, your flesh would be eaten by the torturer, if you did not marry the guy. Would that affect your willingness to wed the guy? I mean, how bad would the guy have to be before you screamed, "I would rather be tortured and my flesh eaten than be married to this guy."?

In the story, Teagan Shrike turns eighteen the summer before his senior year in high school. From one day to the next, he goes from heir apparent to a fortune to a fugitive from two drug cartels, the police and a shadowy relative who wants the billion dollar job badly enough to kill him for it. Teagan must make a series of life and death decisions. He must also decide whether he wants to marry the 'correct' girl and take up his position as head of a family of inbred, wealthy and deadly monsters in human form.

The card she used to send the texts to Shi Guang with was a new prepaid card. But, what she did not know was that for her sake, her brother had already told Shi Guang everything.
She had merely thought that if she were to deny everything, none of it would be linked to her at all. As long as she were to deny it, Lu Yanchen would not really do anything to her.
At most, he'd just give her a scare.
Naturally, she could not have imagined that Lu Yanchen would suddenly stand up. Turning his back against her, the two men that had violated her earlier on walked up once more.
She was flustered now, her eyes filled with shock. "What are you doing! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!"
She looked at Lu Yanchen's back view helplessly. "Lu Yanchen! How could you do this…! You can't think that I'm the one that had kidnapped Mo Feifei, right? I did want her to die, but her disappearance has nothing to do with me!"
Looking at how those two men were already squatting down beside her, she was so frightened that she was going mad as she shrieked out like a despairing old lady, "N-NONO! LU YANCHEN! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! LU YANCHEN! HOW CAN YOU HUMILIATE ME AS SUCH! YOU MIGHT AS WELL KILL ME!"
To be violated by these two wretched men right before the man she liked so much, that was something that no woman could possibly endure.
Yang Sitong was completely broken down.
Her tears were streaming as she clutched at her ears and screamed, "IT WASN'T ME! I TRULY WASN'T THE ONE WHO KIDNAPPED MO FEIFEI! MO FEIFEI'S DISAPPEARANCE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME! WHEN I WENT TO THE HOSPITAL, I BUMPED INTO SOME PEOPLE MOVING MO FEIFEI AWAY! CAUGHT IN THE MOMENT, I SENT SHI GUANG THAT THREATENING TEXT, BUT IT TRULY WASN'T ME WHO HAD KIDNAPPED MO FEIFEI! THE PHOTO THAT I SENT SHI GUANG WAS ALSO TAKEN BY ME PREVIOUSLY, AND THE BACKGROUND WAS PHOTOSHOPPED. YOU CAN CHECK IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, BUT IT'S TRUE… I REALLY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MO FEIFEI'S DISAPPEARANCE."
Lu Yanchen's gaze narrowed as he turned around and looked at the two men, who backed off immediately. His face was still dark. "If it wasn't you, who was it?"
Yang Sitong's face was streaming with tears. Perhaps it was due to the humiliation as well, her entire body was trembling like a leaf that was falling from a tree, looking all pitiful and helpless. She cried out, "I don't know, I truly don't know! I wanted to follow them as well, but they were way too fast… I truly don't know…"
At this point, Lu Yanchen doubted that she would have the guts to lie anymore as he cast a look at one of the men. He left and returned before long, whispering beside Lu Yanchen's ear, "That photo is indeed photoshopped."
Yang Sitong added in, "You must believe me! I truly did not kidnap Mo Feifei! I merely wanted to make use of this incident to have Shi Guang leave you, that's all!"
A sharp pain surged through her entire heart, leaving a despair that left her wanting to die as she bawled out, "Lu Yanchen… I merely liked you! There's nothing wrong with liking you! How can you get other men to do this to me! … AHHHHHH! You might as well kill me…! I'm your life savior!"
Lu Yanchen, who had initially wanted to leave, stopped in his footsteps. He turned around and looked at her with a gaze that contained not even the slightest bit of warmth.
"You've been living under the name of my life savior for the longest time, such that you can't even tell who you are any longer! In fact, even your entire Yangs had been taking on trades and transactions under the name of the Lus! If not for the sake that you had once saved my life, do you think that you would still be alive talking to me today…?"
He had walked forth and stood still a couple of steps away from her, his cold tone exuding forth with a chilling aura that could kill.


After a delirious first night together, Shi Guang found herself waking up to a cruel reality… a breakup initiated by him, ending their relationship!

What? Why? How? These were the questions that bugged Shi Guang’s mind in the two years after he left without a trace.

Just as she thought that she had finally managed to get over him, Lu Yanchen suddenly appeared before her and before she knew it, she had to get married to this man who had dumped her two years ago?!

What? Why? How? These were the questions that Shi Guang were faced with after his mysterious appearance once more.

Just what are Young Master Lu’s motives? Why is he always watching out for her even though he was the one that had dumped her? 
And worst still… 
What’s with that tsundere attitude of his…?! 

Translator’s Review:
This is a really sweet novel about a couple that just annoys one another in the cutest ways. 
Lu Yanchen is a descendant of a powerful aristocratic military family. Cold, aloof, genius and sharp, this is a man that has it all – status, smarts and looks. But none of that matters when it comes to affairs involving his silly woman as everything melts away into an encompassing warmth.
Purple-Red Beauty is someone that spends a lot of time building the settings of her novels. Earlier on, I too was rather annoyed at some of the things that Lu Yanchen did. But once the story gets on track… everything suddenly seemed even sweeter than before!  
If any of you have heard of the Japanese manga Itazura na Kiss or have caught any of the many Japanese (Mischievous Kiss), Chinese (It Started With A Kiss) and Korean (Playful Kiss) drama reboots made for it, you will definitely love it! :P

"This is bad babe," said Maggie visibly nervous. "We might have to leave California and start a new life somewhere new. Things are just getting worse. Shit is going to hit the fan … it is impossible to silence this."

Anxiety gripped me. I'd never seen Maggie scared.

"What about Billy? Where are we going to go? They'll track us everywhere. Computers track everything."

"We'll figure something out," said Maggie, "we'll find a way to grow old together and live happily ever after. Nothing else matters. We won't be separated."

"Maggie, if you left me, you'd be fine. Me and Billy were the ones involved, not you. You could probably stay at one of your girls' places. I don't want you to suffer for my mistakes," I said.

"No," said Maggie shaking her head, "we are family, and family sticks together. Plus, I was a pimp and drug dealer, if they poke around enough, they'll figure it out. I'm in the same boat as you."

"Then, let's hide out at the docks," I said, "I should be able to make a shipping container there pretty livable with the stuff from here. We'll think about the rest later."

"Let's leave now, the cops are probably already coming," said Maggie, "Let's take what we can. My girls will grab the rest later."

I nodded. We loaded up our cars with beds, coolers, computers, tools, power generators, solar panels, heaters, water heaters, water, and hygiene products. As we drove away from the restaurant, I could hear police cars in the distance.

-- Ø --

When we got to the docks, I found a new shipping container in place of my old one. It had the same unit number. Since I had rented the container and space out for the year, I figured it was mine. I was surprised that the owner hadn't notified me of it having been replaced. The unit was unlocked, and the keys were inside.

"Where will we go to the toilet or take a shower?," asked Maggie.

"They have a stalls all around the port," I said, "but, since the container is on the docks, I can make a hole in the floor that we can use as a toilet. It will go right into the sea. For water, we can get a water container that will store rain water or water we buy. I got water heaters to heat up water for taking baths. It shouldn't be a problem," I said. 

"You're quite the handyman," said Maggie.

"Tell me that if everything works the way I plan," I said.

Me and Maggie worked together to convert the container into a place that was livable within a day. Since I'd modified a shipping container before, making this container livable went quickly. We got electricity to run our electronics by using my solar panels and power generators. Polly, one of Maggie's girls brought the rest of our supplies from the restaurant the next day.

"Big Mama," said Polly before she got into her car, "what do you want us to do about the restaurant?" 

"Pay the bills and keep it running," said Maggie, "I trust you can do a good job. You are the manager in my absence, give yourself a reasonable raise if the books allow it."

Polly gave Maggie a big smile, nodded and said, "I won't let you down Big Mama. I'll make you proud. Thank you for the promotion."

"…and Polly," said Maggie, "for now, please limit any contact you make with us. Don't call us or meet with us, we'll find a way to contact you. Take my van and leave your car here. Get a friend to drop off a prepaid credit card every month. Leave a card with enough money for us to eat each month in your car. I'll leave the window slightly open. No one that works at the restaurant should do it or know about us except you. Don't tell them why they are dropping things off."

Polly nodded still grinning. They exchanged car keys and Polly got into Maggie's van and drove away.

"Can you trust her with the restaurant?," I asked.

"Polly is a good girl," said Maggie. "I'm sure I can. She has been with me for a long time. We used to be roommates."

"I guess we should start discussing what we'll do next," I said.

"I had an idea," said Maggie, "it is a crazy idea, but if it works, we won't have to worry about the cops ever again. I have something to show you."

Joe was falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. When released from prison, he realizes that his record is preventing him from re-establishing his life. He realizes that the only way for him to re-establish his life is to live unethically. However, superheroes appear and proclaim that they will put all unethical people behind bars. 

How will Joe deal with this?

"Thank you for the glimpse into your life," Eevie offered before continuing, "Now, do you mind telling me about your religious background?"

For some unknown reasons, Adam could feel his guard go up. "Why would you want to know that?"

"Honey, you were swallowed by a church in your dream, do you need a clearer symbolism? Plus, I'm not saying this is the source of your nightmare, it's just that this will go better if I know more about you as a person," Eevie comforted with a smile. 

After a pause to weigh her words in his mind, Adam explained, "I was an only child born into a religious family. My parents were simple folks but they instilled the faith of Christ in me since I was a wee child. They were good people who walked the straight path of servitude to God. Every day, I strive to be more like them." 

Eevie nodded along. She added when Adam seemed to have finished, "What about the gentleman priest in your dream? Who is he?"

Adam's eyes glazed over from fond memories. "That would be Father John, the priest from my childhood. He presided over the church from my home town. He was an old-fashioned, stern but fair priest. 
Perhaps it was my parent's influence but I was always fond of Father John and he looked after me like I am one of his own. 
He taught me everything I knew about the forms and rules of my faith. He taught me how to be a good and lawful Christian. 
Other than my parents, he was the biggest influence that shaped me into who I am today..." Adam was silent for a moment as he was pulled back into the present. 
"However, in my dreams, he seemed to be very disappointed in me. Do you know why that is, Miss Eevie?"

"Oh, honey, I think you know the answer," Eevie said with a meaningful smile before changing the subject completely, "Regardless, we can always come back to it later, because now I would like to speak to you about the matters of payment."

Adam subconsciously reached into his pocket but was quick to realize he was in a dream. 
Plus, she hadn't really solved his problem, hadn't she? 
"But Miss Eevie, should you take care of the problem that has been troubling me first before asking for any payment?" He asked haltingly. 

"That little problem? No worries, I'll handle it in a jiffy, trust me," Eevie replied with a winning smile before adding, "Consider this a prepaid. I will compensate you if the treatment fails but I assure you it won't." 

While Adam was debating what she said, Eevie continued as she pulled out a handy credit card terminal, "You look like a strapping young man, so I think five life essences should be payment enough."

"There is a sect of psychologists that believe dreams are nothing but the hidden desires of mankind and when these desires are suppressed, they manifest themselves in forms of nightmare... Nightmares trouble your good night sleep? No worries for we here at Eevie's Dream-catcher Practice offer services to chase away your nightmare for a reasonable price! Call the phone number or contact the email-address shown at the bottom of the page to schedule a consultation. First consultation is free and the subsequent fees for consultation are decided according to the seriousness of your case. Terms and condition applied."

As the two of them entered their private room and were about to shut the door behind them, Sun Linan ran up to them.
Qiao Lian was stunned. "… How did you get in?"
"I happened to run into a new friend I made in Beijing, and he agreed to be my guarantor, so I managed to get a prepaid VIP card!"
Qiao Lian was flabbergasted.
Did the term "wealthy idiots" refer to people like him?
She pursed her lips as Sun Linan walked into their private room casually.
He headed straight away to the sofa. "Please go ahead an discuss your business. I'd like to hear it too. I've always been curious about what goes on in an interview."
Qiao Lian was speechless.
Shen Liangchuan continued to look at Sun Linan in silence.
The three of them, each occupying a sofa, sat there looking at each other.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Sun Linan said with a puzzled expression, "Aren't you going to start?" 
Shen Liangchuan said coldly, "I'm not used to having another person listen to my private affairs."
Qiao Lian looked at Sun Linan. "Sun Tzi, why don't you leave us alone for a while."
Sun Linan immediately picked up his personal bag, took out his music player and put on hearplugs. "This way I can't hear you. Please continue."
Qiao Lian was almost exasperated.
Shen Liangchuan continued to look at Sun Linan in silence.
What would they do now?
Did they really have to stage an interview?
Qiao Lian winced.
She coughed once and cast a glance at Shen Liangchuan. He was expressionless for now, but the frostiness was beginning to show.
The private room door swung open and the waiters came in, bearing the dishes they had ordered.
Sun Linan was listening to very loud music, so he spoke just as loud. He picked up a chunk of pork ribs and shoved it into Qiao Lian's bowl. "Xiao Lian, these are your favourite sweet and sour pork ribs!"
Qiao Lian was shocked.
She didn't have to look up to notice Shen Liangchuan's burning gaze. She coughed once and pushed the piece of pork rib to the side. "I have stopped eating pork ribs recently."
Sun Linan removed his earphones. "Oh? What do you like to eat then?"
"… Actually, I- There's nothing I like to eat."
"You can't do that! No wonder you're so skinny! Eight years ago, you still had a chubby child-like face! And you had chubby feet too. You…"
Qiao Lian could not help but shift her gaze to Shen Liangchuan, as Sun Linan spilled these details. She saw that by now Shen Liangchuan was silently boiling.
Qiao Lian was on the verge of getting on her knees and pleading Sun Linan to stop.
Sun Tzi, would you please stop digging my grave?
She was about to cry.
At this point, Shen Liangchuan stood up. "I'm going to the restroom."
Following this, he walked out.
As soon as Sun Linan saw this, he immediately stood up too saying. "Brother, wait up. I'll go too."
Qiao Lian was stunned.
Shen Liangchuan walked into the restroom. As he was washing his hands, Sun Linan approached him.
He stood next to Shen Liangchuan, washing his hands too. "Eh, Shen Liangchuan… is it? May I discuss something with you?"
Shen Liangchuan raised an eyebrow.
Sun Linan continued, "Do you mind leaving first, after the meal? I'd like to be alone with Xiao Lian for a bit."
Shen Liangchuan continued to look at Sun Linan in silence.
"You can name a price. I'll pay you."
Shen Liangchuan gave him a long, hard look and turned to leave without saying a word.
But just as he turned, he suddenly saw a sign standing by the door: Caution, Wet Floor. Please Walk Around It. 
Shen Liangchuan lowered his gaze, carelessly reached out and flipped the sign, putting it aside. 
Then, he went around the puddle of water on the floor and exited the restroom.
Sun Linan shouted after him, "I'm talking to you, hey! You- Ouch!"
A loud thud was immediately heard, which was followed by the sound of someone falling on the ground.


They say the greatest blessing is marrying the idol you always dreamed of.

But Qiao Lian knows that reality is different...

The Internet claims that Best Actor Shen Liangchuan is a male god who is unaffected by any sexual drive, but Qiao Lian vehemently disagrees. It's a lie!

After finally carrying out the contract, Qiao Lian burst out, "I want a divorce! I don't want such a life!"

While everyone at Jeff's mansion was having a wonderful time, Olivia and Megan had their worst nightmare.  After getting kicked out of the Wen's Corporation and locked outside the building, it started pouring rain.  The two was standing outside waiting for a taxi soaked and wet like a little mother and daughter rats.

"Mother! Why did you have to slap bother Ethan, now we have no ride home and were locked out right here in the pouring rain.  Brrrr! It's cold!  Hatchew!"  Megan started sneezing and was shaking due to being soaked and wet from the cold rain.

"Well! It's too late now, it's over and done.  Let's do our best to get a taxi before we get sick."  Olivia's face still showing anger and ready to kill as she speaks to Megan who's acting like a spoilt child.

===

Ethan made it back to Jeff's mansion in time for the dinner.  His face still has the mark from Olivia's slap, and Jeff was the first one to see it.  He pulled him in the study to find out what had happened.

"That mother of ours is something else, I was about to greet her, and this is what she did to me.  So, I turned around and left them without a word."  Ethan told Jeff angrily.

"Tks...Tks...Tks!  I feel sorry for you little brother, to have lived with a woman like that all these years."

"That's nothing compare to what she had done in the past.  You're pretty lucky that she had left you to be raised by grandpa, at least you knew what it felt like to have a family."  Ethan said bitterly.

Jeff gives Ethan a brotherly hug to comfort him. "Come on, let's go be with our family."  He then patted him on his back before heading towards where everyone was having a wonderful time.

The night went smoothly after Ethan's encounter with Olivia.  The dinner was superb; the chef has outdone himself with delicacies.  He was over the moon with praises from everyone, especially from the couple.

After dinner, they all went to the parlor to play some games and chit-chat some more.  When it was time to go home, Ethan doesn't want to leave Eva's side.  Given a choice, he wishes the night would not end.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he wishes it to be, he still had to leave and go back to grandpa Go's home to an empty room and dream of his future with Eva.

===

The day finally arrived, M/V Harmony was to reach the dock that evening.  Mr. Wright had been in contact with Olivia and Megan the whole time.  Each time they would dock somewhere, he would send his cronies to get a sim card with prepaid air time.  

During the sea voyage, Mr. Wright and his cronies never known that everyone on board the vessel was Jeff's Elite Team Members except for the Captain and the Chief Eng. of the ship.

Jeff had ordered to give them VIP treatment during the voyage, they cannot be suspicious no matter what or the plan would fail.  

The cronies enjoyed the VIP treatment they were receiving from the crew, they would eat and drink to the extent that they would all pass out from drunkenness almost every day and night throughout the voyage.  

Therefore, it was not surprised for them when a special dinner was prepared on the day of their arrival. 

The Elite team leader continued getting orders from Jeff through a satellite phone call.  All was prepared, they only need to dock, and Mr. Wright and his cronies would be history.  At least that was Jeff, and his team had planned.

However, Mr. Wright is a brilliant person; he figured out that the crew was not a seaman.   During one of his drunken stupor, he caught a glimpse of the Elite team leader having a conversation with one of the crew, and he secretly listened.  That's when he heard about the plan to drugging them on the day they arrive in Asia.

Mr. Wright made sure not to be conspicuous; he acted all drunk and sleepy after eating dinner.

The Elite team leader had no idea that Mr. Wright and his cronies know their true identity.  They turned the table around on them...

~COMPLETED~   

Jeffry Go, CEO of the biggest Empire in Asia, super-rich and powerful.  He is the most sought out bachelor in the whole Country.  A man who gets whatever he wanted, no exception!  Until he accidentally met his match...

===

Joanna Wen Tan an orphan, destitute, very much single... and looking for a fake husband.

Her grandmother passed away, leaving her penniless and soon to become homeless.  She needed money asap.  Luckily she was offered a job, with one condition, she must be married.  No exception!

Jeff and Ann accidentally meet... 

****
Excerpt: 
Ann realized that the man sitting next to her had ordered a B-52 and Long Island Iced Tea. As soon as the bartender handed him the B-52, he took the shot and washed it down with the iced tea.

Jeff had never been much of a drinker, but tonight he needed it badly. One thing he didn't realize was that his drink combination wasn't the brightest; one too many would hit you hard.

Unconsciously, he turned to the girl next to him. "Miss, excuse me! Are you available?"

She turned back and gazed at him with the sweetest smile on her face. "Maybe I am. What about you? Are you available?" she replied with a façade of confidence when she was actually shaking inside to the core of her being. 

Jeff looked at Ann as though he were about to swallow all of her. 'What a beautiful smile! Her eyes... green like the rarest stunning emeralds... they are so deep! I feel like I'm being dragged into the ocean, unable to resurface but still wanting to drown,' he thought as his heartbeat syncopated so fast that he had to look away for a moment to catch his breath.
When he felt that his heartbeat was steady enough, he took another look at her perfect face and gave her a heart-stopping smile.

 "Yes! I'm very much available."

****
Two people who are as different as day and night accidentally met at the club and made an arrangement that would change their lives and themselves forever...  The agreement was...

  "A fake marriage."

Hence, the love story begins...

Due to the matchmaking skill of B-52 and Long Island ice tea.  Two people accidentally, married.

*****

Why not journey with me to the end.

Note:

If your reading this other than Webnovel.com site, please stop! Do not support sites that had been stealing my hard work.

Thank you!

If you want to chat with me and has some question.  Join me at discord.  Link below:

https://discord.gg/8uQpnNY

Daisy was getting in through the front door when she heard her phone ring. She rushed to it as soon as she could get the key to turn in the lock. 

"Hello"

"Hello Daisy, It's Tom. I just wanted to let you know that I will be out of the country for a couple of days. I will probably be back by the weekend. Then we could meet up. How did your day go?"

Daisy didn't know what to reply. She suddenly had a man asking about her day. That hadn't ever happened to her in life. She had read about it in romances and fiction. But here was a man interested in the mundane happenings of the day and who cared enough to let her know about his whereabouts just so that she doesn't worry or suffer from insecurities. It was an extremely considerate thing for him to do and she felt extremely guilty about considering going out with Ramon behind his back. But Tom was a rare friend for her and she didn't want to tarnish this friendship by taking any favours from him. She would do everything in her power to keep her job if that meant keeping Tom as a friend and not just a random stranger willing to do something for her. 

"My day... my day was fine. I got a new project... and insurance claim I am working to settle. The Hotel project went to Stella. She is a great solicitor." Daisy said but perhaps her tone didn't sound too convincing. 

"I am already on way to the airport Daisy but if you want I can reschedule the flight. You sound like you might need some company. Am I right?"

"NO... I mean I am fine. I am not good at working under pressure and the CEO is scary. He knew my name and everything without me even being even introduced. He says the Chairman likes to be informed. He sounds like the mafia or something." 

At that Tom gave a very heartwarming laugh. "If you say it's alright I believe you but you have to promise me that you will take good care of yourself and we will meet on the coming weekend. See you then."

"Okay, Bye. Have a safe journey". 

"Bye. Take care."

As the line disconnected Daisy felt the loneliness creep back into her life. She could survive one week without her new found friend. She had survived decades before. 

Monday night she counted sheep to put her to sleep but it didn't really work. She really wanted to leave this job. She wanted to be appreciated for her work but she couldn't sacrifice whatever financial stability that she had. She couldn't ask Tom for help. Would it really count as help if it was the reason that brought them together in the first place. It was Tom who offered to find her an alternate job. It would however still count as a favour and Daisy didn't want to give a man any power over her even if it were a man she trusted. Her trust had been misused against her before. 

She had to survive on her own. She could enjoy his friendship while it lasted but she had to accept the reality that men always let her down whether it be her father, Jon or Dave. Right now she needed to think of her mother's medical bills and probably even those of her pregnant sister. She couldn't let things likes job satisfaction get in the way of that. Daisy took a deep breath calming her nerves and strengthening her resolve. Every morning was a new day.  

The one week dragged on and the anxiety of spending a dinner with Ramon without the protection of Tom loomed large on her. Wednesday made her realize just how strong Tom had made her feel while meeting Ramon on Saturday. That is an odd sensation for her, the sensation of safety and security. She told herself repeatedly that her doubts about Tom were unfounded. The little messages in her inbox that she received at the end of the day reassured her. Still the fact remained that he wasn't coming back before the weekends. 

It was already Thursday and it was one more day till the fateful day. Daisy tried to tell herself repeatedly that it was just dinner but no matter what an ominous feeling lingered on. Ramon was not a straightforward person and though she knew him longer than she had known Tom she just couldn't bring herself to trust him. A clearing of throat brought her back to the present. Stella Wilson stood before her with a pile of folders on her hand. 

"Ms. Wilson. How may I help you?" Daisy asked. 

"Melinda International account." sh made a pleading face that made her look much younger than her years and to Daisy she looked almost like a teenager. 

"Sure Ms. Wilson. What do you need?" Daisy said with a reassuring smile. 

"Please call me Stella" she beamed. "If my dad wasn't married to Mr. Osborne's elder sister I wouldn't even be here." 

"So your mom..."

Stella cut her off. "My step mom happens to be Mr. Osborne's elder sister. I think my dad married her for the money but who am I to interfere." she shrugged. 

Daisy felt a bit sorry for her. She and Stella never talked, mainly because because they hardly stayed on the same floor. She had heard many rumours about her being a spoiled brat and all that but from the first impression Daisy had of her she could say that Stella was a rather simple person. 

Stella took a seat before her and like an eager student mopped up everything Daisy had researched about the client and the account and whatever notes she had gathered in previous KT sessions. 

"Other than that you already heard what the CEO thinks of the Chairman." 

"That he is a control freak, yeah?" Stella laughed. The CEO must be on either very good or very bad terms to call him something like that in a professional meeting. 

At that moment when they shared a laugh at the expense of the Chairman Daisy's phone buzzed. It was a text message from Ramon. Daisy excused herself and went through the message. 

La Komida Restaurant

17B Earnest Street

9 pm sharp

Dress code: Black

Daisy sighed. It was happening. One dinner and then Tom would be back on Saturday and advise her on the best course of action. It wasn't that Tom was completely absent from her life. Every evening he sent her a picture. He was apparently in France and the pictures were of the local sights. Daisy wondered if Tom was out sight seeing. Probably not. Probably those are scenic moments he wished to share with someone and perhaps like her he didn't have many someones to share them with. Daisy was lost in her thought when she saw Stella peek into her phone. 

"Is it a meeting or a date?" sh asked peevishly.

"It is kind of both." Daisy confessed. 

Stella frowned. "How so?"

"What do you know about the relationship between Mr. Osborne and Ramon Mendoza from the office on the sixth floor?" Daisy asked.

"Other than the fact that they play golf every Sunday and go to strip clubs on Saturdays, nothing much" Stella chipped in. 

"Are men like Mr. Osborne allowed in strip clubs. Isn't there any age restriction?" Daisy said definitely put off by the visual. 

"Apparently the older the men the bigger the pockets, so no upper age limit." Stella shrugged again. 

Daisy found herself laughing heartily at her comment despite herself. After they had both sobered down Stella gasped. "Are you going out with Mendoza?"

"Well" Daisy cocked her head, "If I don't he threatened to get me fired by putting a word to Osborne." 

"May be he does." Stella confessed. "You do not like him then?" It was more of an exclamation than a question. 

"Ramon is forcing me to this date despite meeting my boyfriend last Saturday." 

"Woah. That is intense. Do you think they are going to fight over you?" Stella asked with wide eyes. 

Daisy smirked. "No, I don't think so Stella. The guy who introduced himself as my boyfriend isn't really my boyfriend." 

"You sound disappointed." Daisy looked into her eyes and saw the sincerity of her words. She couldn't deny the truth to her then. 

"I am but I can't risk my friendship for something elusive." Daisy admitted.

That was when Stella moved forward to wrap her arms around her. It took Daisy by surprise but she enjoyed the human connection. 

"So do you have a dress..." Then looking at the message again "... black dress?" 

"I have a black top I can pair with a grey skirt."

"No, you need a dress. We have to go shopping after office is over today. You may not be interested in him but nothing intimidates a man more than a sexy woman who knows her worth. And this is final. You help me with the drafts. I help you with your date. It's the least that I can do." 

 'Nothing intimidates a man more than a sexy woman who knows her worth'- Daisy thought on that for a while. Did she really know her worth. A part of her wanted to be every man's dream but there was a still smaller voice telling her that she wasn't worth anyone's time. Daisy didn't like dating not because she knew that the guy would never call back. She hated dating for fear that if he did call back she would have to hope for something and she was afraid of that hope being taken from her. 

As the day came to a close Daisy found herself lost in thoughts of Tom. She hated doing this behind his back but she didn't need him to worry about her. If any one told her a week back that she could have a friend who actually worried about her and not the other way around she would have laughed it off. Yet Tom came sauntering into her life.   But she had to focus on the impending meeting/date on Monday and she dreaded it. 

"I am paying for the dress." Stella insisted. 

"No you don't. I am not good at taking favours. I will take the other one which I can afford." 

"Sheesh, you are uptighty."

"Time does that to you."

"I hope I never grow as old as you. Age is in the mind babes." 

Daisy shook her head. Stella was impossible. Looking at her who would believe that she is a qualified solicitor. Daisy walked up to the counter and handed the cashier her credit card. 

"Oh, Ms. Daisy Durant, your account with us as been prepaid. You do not need to make any payments, now or in the future." The cashier handed her back the card without swiping. 

"No, I think you have made a mistake. You got the wrong girl. I can't afford to have a prepaid account at a fashion boutique. I didn't even know that there was such a thing." 

"Well ma'am it says so in my computer right here that I am not allowed to accept any payments from you and if you do insist I am instructed to ask you to  and I am quoting it 'Talk to Tom'. Does that make any sense?"

"No, he didn't. That scoundrel!" Daisy swore. Stella looked at her will a puzzled expression. "My 'boyfriend'" Daisy said gesturing the word boyfriend in quotes with her hands. 

"Your boyfriend must be very rich." Stella remarked. 

"Firstly he is not my real boyfriend and secondly I cannot accept this." Daisy said. 

It was the cashier who replied. "Ma'am in that case we have been provided with your address to deliver your dress there." 

Daisy frowned. This is not happening. "Ok, you know what, charge it to Tom and you know what else to charge. Charge the most expensive dress you have. I want him to regret ever doing this." 

"That would be the Swarovski wedding gown. Ma'am, shall you take it with you or should we deliver it to the address provided." The cashier replied with a blank face. 

"Oh wait" It was Stella who replied. "I believe you can take this now." she said bringing forth the silk Japanese collar dress she had earlier selected for Daisy." Daisy groaned as the cashier took everything and promised to get them delivered within two hours. Stella managed to convince Daisy to have a drink to cool off. Stella took a glass of wine. Daisy chose orange juice. 

One more day and Tom would face the music for what he has done. Just then the phone pinged with a message from Tom. "Congratulations" it simply said. Daisy tried to message him back but the message would not be sent. The profile picture also vanished and it was then she realized that Tom had blocked her. 

"What happened Daisy?" Stella asked worried. 

"He blocked me. I was just trying to teach him a lesson. I would have returned everything." The tears came on their own and Stella offered a shoulder to cry on. That night Stella asked Daisy to spend the night at her place. Daisy felt so weak that she agreed. She lost the only friend she had just because she wanted to teach him a lesson, for what? For being kind and benevolent. Then she turned around in bed and saw the figure lying beside her. She lost one friend but gained Stella who may not exactly be a friend but was the younger sister that she never had. She sighed before closing her eyes. She had to sleep. Life went on.

All that Daisy needs is a sperm donor. She just doesn't trust the sperm banks. She doesn't want some devil spawn inside her. But she wants a baby. Her baby. At 32 she is sick of relationships. Every relationship she has been has been abusive. She wondered how her sister's marriage turned out fine. May be there was something wrong with her. 

Thomas didn't want to stop. He was climbing the stairs to success and he felt everything was just right. He didn't forget his humble past though. He just tried to push the distance between his past and his present. There were things he regretted about his life that he could not change. One thing that he did want to change was his loneliness. After the long business trips and hours of meetings his life seemed meaningless. So when Daisy shares her problem with him he wants to share her solution with her. 

_____________________________________________________
'So you want a random stranger to become your sperm donor?'

'Why not? At least I would know he is not incarcerated or something.'

'Just by looking at him!'

'Yeah!'

'What about me?'

'What about you?'

'Would you like to have my baby?'

"Tae-Hyung! Tae-Hyung! Wake up! What happened?!"
My eyes became teary as I shook him to make him conscious. I turned towards the policewoman who was questioning me earlier.
"He's alive right?" I asked in a concerned tone before pushing him with all my might for his chest to face the ceiling. I leaned near his chest to hear his heartbeat drumming inside him.
I jolted back up straight and said abruptly "Why haven't you called an ambulance he's alive!" I slightly yelled at the lady in front of me.
"Calm down ma'am he'll be fine their on their way, the ambulance" Just then the sound of another siren overlapping the current one came to my notice. They came upstairs before I signaled them to the location even when the people from the ambulance were already being guided by the police. And Tae-Hyung was carried by them to the ambulance van.
But there was a body of another person on the sight I was informed of later. That person was the main reason for the police to show up. It was...
Tae-Hyung's POV
Tsk...
They're all hackers I know it. I don't even know why I play this game anymore.
I am addicted to games. Since the day I started playing Players Union Battlefield I was interested in other genres of games such as RPG, MMORPG, Battle royale, etc.
Yawn.
Ugh, I'm sleepy Imma sleep.
I lifted my head to look at the time on the wall watch.
Oh, its 12:00 am I must sleep.
Quickly changing into my pajamas I settled on my bed curled up into my fluffy blanket grabbed my pillows tight, closed my eyes, and was ready for another adventurous dream.
         
 I really became comfortable in this new house I rented recently in Seoul. It almost feels like my parent's house at Daegu though I still miss it. It's just that after quite a long time that I spent in Seoul this neighborhood was quite friendly and welcoming. Before this, when I first came to Seoul for my studies, I was usually bullied and looked down on because of my accent. But now my accent is fixed and people around me became friendlier.

After a while, a robotic voice echoed in my head.
[New quest available! 
Note: Complete it before the deadline. Otherwise, a penalty should be paid]
My brows curled up, wrinkles visible on my forehead indicating my displeasure, my eyes still closed.
Am I playing too many games lately?
[New quest available! Open the window to check it out]
I reached for my phone as I opened my eyes. Looking through my phone I realized it was not from my phone. Suddenly a flashy window pops up right in front of my eyes, floating in the air leaving me startled.
[New quest available! Open the window to check it out]
I slowly dragged myself away from the screen yet it followed, resulting in my fall from the bed.
[New quest available! Open the window to check it out]
"What! Aishh-" I waved my hand in an attempt to push the flashy screen away from my eyes for a whole minute. Tired of trying I finally decided to listen to it. It blinked even harder accompanied with amplified robotic noises, I thought I was about to go blind and deaf together.
[New quest available! Open the window to check it out]
"Someone tone it down!" I said it in reflex to protect my eyes and ears while looking away from the screen. The robotic voice from the screen was back to normal and the brightness of the screen was adjusted by itself.
Am I reincarnated?
I take a look at the mirror of my closet to find the same old Tae-Hyung.
Tsk... My life ain't no fun man.
I looked back at the screen and naturally tapped the button which said "open" as if it were a touch screen device.
[The Saviour's rookie mission]
[Head towards xxx café and find a girl who just broke up with her boyfriend.
Task: - You have to protect her from the drunken man
Hint: Kill the man if necessary.]
I read it twice just to be sure that I read it correctly.
Kill the man if necessary?! This system is more dangerous than any of the others I've read in novels so far. It's not asking me to kill a monster but a drunken man? A normal person, a human.
I closed the window on the screen and got back to my bed pretending to not know anything. I thought arguing with the noisy system would be troublesome. I closed my eyes again and heard another sound of the notification. I opened my eyes to find the window displaying something else this time.
[You haven't viewed the prizes and penalty for this quest!]
Another notification popped up this time it was showing a countdown clocked.
It started a countdown of 30 minutes.
The notification of prizes made me curious but I slapped myself out of its thoughts as I am not the type of guy to kill someone for money. But I decided to view it anyway.
Tap.
And the things I saw was something unexpected.
[If you clear the quest you will obtain the following prizes
1. Strength up +1
2. A rainbow card
3. A cheat envelope
If you fail the mission then the following penalty should be paid
1. Your bones will be crushed. 
2. You will lose something precious to you.]
"You will lose something precious to you" I muttered.
"Well, that's a lot for the penalty of first mission doncha you think?" 
 Something clicked me when I revised the penalty in my head.

"That literally means my ps4 is gonna be taken away" I ran towards my ps4, unplugged it and hugged it tightly while I said
"You not taking it anywhere I'll never let that happen! Go ahead and crush me if you want but I don't allow you to take this away from me" I glanced over my ps4 and hugged it even more tightly.
I really didn't take it much seriously as I was still doubtful of the system's ability to do as it mentioned, but there's no way to get rid of the noises in my head so I decided to play an idiot to convince the system that I'm an idiot, incapable of the completing the quests and chores it demands from me.
But the persistent screen kept flashing in my eyes as I kept ignoring it with my eyes closed. Then the voice in my head acted up again.
[Complete the quest before the deadline. 27 minutes 08 seconds left]
[Complete the quest before the deadline. 27 minutes 05 seconds left]
[Complete the quest before the deadline. 27 minutes 03 seconds left]
[Complete the quest before the deadline. 26 minutes 59 seconds left]
Argh!! The heck.
I let out a heavy sigh before patiently asking the system "Is there any way I could withdraw from this quest?"
An [i] icon blinked on the side of the screen in response to my query.
[The moment the quest page is opened it is accepted by the player. The system does not support any functionality like withdrawing or cancelation of the quest. The penalty for the main quest applies even though the player hasn't viewed the quest, the penalty will be taken regardless. However, the side quest can be ignored and the penalty will be taken depending on the mission priority.]
"Show me the quest again"
[The Saviour's rookie mission]
[Head towards xxx café and find a girl who just broke up with her boyfriend.
Task: - you have to protect her from the drunken man.
Hint: Kill the drunken man if necessary.]
I knew what was going to appear on the screen but my eyes still read the sentence again just be sure one more time that I read it correctly the last time.
[Hint: Kill the drunken man if necessary.]
I stared at the screen while syncing deep in my thoughts.
Even though I do decide to go to the location it doesn't guarantee my safety also why do I need to save this girl again? Is this a scam? And why would there be a need for me to kill the drunken man? That simply means one of them is shady or it could be both. Ah, I really didn't wanna whack my brains just to save someone I don't even know. And what's this she broke up with her boyfriend. Is this some kind of clue?
I glanced at the screen again.
No, it's pretty straight forwards.
Frustrated by the situation I was forced in for the first time, I scratched my hairs aggressively.
Ugh! What do I do now?!

A girl who is caught up in a series of life-threatening events after her breakup is saved by his hater Time and again. She is keen to know the reason behind it.

ps4 prepaid card

Dragon Emperor, Martial God

The God Virus

It Gets Complicated After That

His Breathtaking and Shimmering Light

Domino - The First Super Villain

Dream System of Seven Sins

You Are My Unforgettable Love

I accidentally married a "CEO"

Wistful Commitments

The Guilty Savior System

People search ps4 prepaid card also like: