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Chapter 1: The Debt and the Sale (Part 1) Emma Craven discovered that her life was over at exactly 2:37 p.m. on a rainy Tuesday, while trying to untie an impossible knot in her shoelace. The kitchen p...

After hanging up, Xiao Wang sent over all the files at once. On the personal file, Zhou Xun lingered longer than once: Li Tan had served three years in prison, and not for anything dignified—petty the...

Yan Yu's pale eyes flew wide open in shock. He couldn't understand why Gu Huaizhi would say that. Before he could ask, the man closed in and closed a hand around his throat. “I don't need your explana...

The alarm went off at 6:12 a.m. Not 6:15, as Fábio had intended, because he’d set it incorrectly the night before—too nervous to get anything right, including his own fingers. He sat up in bed and sta...

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and nothing happened. Things were so peaceful that even Shen Li's separation anxiety was improving. The ship cruised along smoothly, and through the viewport a bl...

Triumph Day was one of the Federation's great holidays. The war between humanity and the swarm had dragged on for generations. Early on, humanity held the losing side—more defeats than victories—and t...

"Aria? She's nothing but a bit of fun." The words stopped me cold in the hallway, two chilled bottles of champagne in my arms and a bag of ice pressed against my ribs. Three years. Three years of comi...

The anonymous message sat in the middle of my screen like a medical examiner's scalpel, peeling the Fu family's festered sore skin and bone into the open in front of me. Around eleven, I changed into ...

The Old Apartment, Night Emily tapped the tip of her chopsticks against the table. "The Valdieri family has deep mafia roots. There are plenty of stories online about their early business: harbor smug...

Qin Zheng glanced at the rabbit lantern, then at Shen Ci's fleeing back, and shook his head, laughing. He'd likely provoked some young miss again. Setting the lantern aside, he took up his brush and w...

Fu Jingchen seized my wrist with crushing force, as if he meant to snap the bones. His knuckles had gone a cold white, and the killing intent in his eyes nearly overpowered the sandalwood in the room....

As the drowsiness drained away, Lu Nan took in his surroundings and slowly came back to himself. So they were all café cats—fellow workers, brothers and sisters in fur. He stretched, then tilted his h...

By the time Liang Zhecheng and Lu Nan were both cleaned up and ready, it was already late in the morning. Liang Zhecheng picked up his phone and called Yan Anqing. "Well, well, my young master. So you...

She'd braced for a long wait before catching Qin Zheng. Instead, the moment Li Funing went to bed, the ghost delivered himself. Ling Wu went on high alert, yellow talisman clutched in her hand. What w...

"A kiss? And here I thought you had grander ambitions... That first time we met, you were threatening all sorts of..." "I said a kiss, so a kiss. Nothing more." Gong Si said it word by word, watching ...

Gong Si left, and only Gong Shiwen and Gong Zheng remained in the office. Gong Shiwen walked over slowly and reached out, stroking the sharp line of Gong Zheng's cheek with unexpected tenderness. "The...

Elara's Pov The night everything changed started like any other Tuesday in hell. I was standing in my kitchen—my father’s kitchen, really, though he’d been dead six months and the ghost of him still l...

The Heaven-class private room of Taibai Tower was the most extravagant gold-burning den in the whole capital. By now the table was laden with delicacies beyond counting: minced fish dressed in golden ...

Chapter 7: First Day on the Job (Part 1) Emma Craven’s imaginary alarm clock went off at six-thirty in the morning in the form of a persistent bird that had decided to sing right outside her bedroom w...

Love breeds worry; love breeds fear; and love that cannot be had breeds a darkness all its own. Qin Zheng had become a ghost—so his love could never be. Shen Ci had fallen one step short—so his love c...

The first day of the fifth month, outside the Hanlin Academy of Great Qi. The new second-place scholar Xie Wei reported for his first day of morning roll call. He had risen at cockcrow, dressed with m...

"I'm begging you. Give me something to eat. At least—at least let the child eat her fill." A-Lan knelt on the ground, pleading with the man. The man sat on a bench smoking opium, the white smoke of ch...

As his fingertip roughed across the yellowed edge of the photograph, the whole slapdash, glib, don't-give-a-damn act on Chi Xingran's face wiped itself clean. On the front of the photo was a mud-cover...

A chill shot up Chi Xingran's spine, but the moment his eyes landed on that handsome face inches away, he froze all over again. The heavy bruise-dark circles under Zong Wen's eyes had faded by more th...

Sixth Senior Brother had barely returned when Eldest Senior Brother left again. Ling Wu's days turned miserable. With Eldest Senior Brother around, she'd at least had someone to chat with. He knew so ...

Ling Wu had meant to reform this Qin Zheng. As it turned out, the man took neither the carrot nor the stick. Looked the picture of a well-read gentleman, yet petty to the bone. No wonder he died young...

Since Yunshu had only meant to help the scholar, and no real harm had come of it, Ling Wu was prepared to let her go. But Yunshu refused to leave. She wanted to tag along to the Li residence and see t...

Victor had barely stepped through his own front door when his mother’s call came in. He stared at the caller ID, brow knitting, and only answered after a few seconds. Mida’s voice came through. “Victo...

The watch didn't have to run long. Around three or four in the afternoon, a taxi pulled up sharp at the plaza's entrance and a man got out carrying a heavy bag—something weighty inside, by the look of...

Chapter 4: The Debt and the Sale (Part 4) Emma adjusted her posture, squared her shoulders, and took her first real step down the ground-floor corridor. The black-and-white marble beneath her sneakers...

The streets at night were nearly empty. Ling Wu trailed behind Qingchen, ambling along at half speed. She had so many questions. Why had Master come back early? Why had he happened to turn up in this ...

Gu Qingbai's furious questioning left her with nothing to answer back. "I've told you — your big brother is not a good person. Staying with him will ruin you!" "That's not how I see it." What Gu Qingb...

Chapter 28: Acting on His Own The moment his teeth closed on Tang Yu’s arm, the pain in Ji Qian’ang’s body truly did ease—and he no longer had to guess whether the concern was real or feigned. Just as...

When it came to Gu Zai'an and Gu Qingbai, Qin Shaofen was two entirely different people. With Gu Qingbai she was gentle and attentive, patting his head and comforting him: "Qingbai, keep your distance...

Shen Yueji sighed. She hadn't wanted to dig all this up again, but since Lin Ting had asked, staying silent would only let the others dig out most of it anyway — better to say it herself. "Cheng Chi c...

That night, after they got home, Lin Ting did indeed ask about Shen Yueji and Cheng Chi's history, her gaze curious, sizing her up. "You and Cheng Chi — were you two a couple?" Shen Yueji thought for ...

After they left the infirmary, Xu Xingye didn't head straight back to the classroom. He drifted slowly down the corridor toward the stairwell. The teaching building emptied quickly after the final bel...

Lu Siting didn't stay seated for long. He got up, walked over to the water dispenser, took a paper cup, filled it halfway with warm water, and set it down on the small table by the bed. When he was do...

Xue Wenbin had not gone far down the path toward the back courtyard when he stopped. Autumn darkened early. Just past the you hour, the sky had already deepened to dark indigo. No lamps were lit in th...

The man at the door stood against the light, tall and broad-shouldered, in an indigo-dyed rough-cloth working outfit, a short knife at his waist, his boot tops caked with yellow loess - he had plainly...