《The Secrets She Kept》Chapter 26
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Antonio led me outside to a car that was waiting for us. I climbed in with him hoping once I did, that his men would follow and Leah would be safe. "Where are we going?" I asked once the car started moving. "Just for a ride." Antonio smiled at me. "Why?" I looked around watching every turn this car made.
"To give you a second option. To give you a choice."
"A choice?" He wasn't making any sense.
"I heard about your engagement to Luca." How was that possible? We only just got engaged.
"How did you-"
"Marry me instead Lana." Antonio cut me off.
"What?"
"I know you may not love me now, but you did feel something for me once. As you can see Luca can't protect you the way I can. If you choose me instead of Luca, I'll raise your children as my own. They'll be set to inherit millions, you and your children would never have to worry about anything ever again. Think about it Lana. What I'm offering you right now, is a guaranteed life filled with happiness and anything you could ever want. Name it and it's yours." I didn't understand, he could offer this to anyone.
"Why me?"
"I've always loved you Lana. I made a mistake five years ago that I can't take back, but maybe I could make it right, by being the man I couldn't back then, and put myself out there."
"You'd still kill Luca."
"Not if you accept my proposal. Once we are married, I'd give you anything you wanted, and if you wanted Luca alive then he would remain alive."
"I just. I don't know about this." I thought outloud.
"Lana, you'd be saving Luca's life, and giving your children one you never thought you could. You could have everything you ever wanted, I'd give you the world if that's what you wanted." What if Luca was all I ever wanted in this life? Antonio's proposal is tempting, I could protect Luca, but I promised I'd never take his children from him again. Would it be worth it, breaking a promise if it meant he'd live?
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"The truth is Lana, everything I've ever told you was nothing but the truth. Luca is still hiding things from you, and I bet he still hasn't told you about your birth mother. How well he actually knew her. Can he really love you if he's not even honest with you? I could never lie to you Lana, and I never will." Antonio reached for my hand, I quickly pulled away.
"Then tell me, why do you hate Luca so badly?"
"Because, he stole my life from me." Antonio did not hesitate to answer.
"What?"
"I'm Stefano Denzel's bastard." My heart dropped.
"I thought you were Luca's cousin."
"My biological mother abandoned me, leaving me with Stefano's sister. I was never her child, and Stefano knew. Stefano never wanted Kate to know he had an affair. Everything that Luca has should've been mine. I'm the eldest, I should've inherited it all."
"So you want to settle the score by killing him?" I scoffed.
"Only if he tries to kill me. I only want what I'm entitled to."
None of this sounded real. It couldn't be true. Stefano was crazy about Kate, Luca and I always wanted what they had. If Alexa is carrying Luca's child, would he give the baby his name? Or would he treat it the same as Antonio was treated.
"I've given you a lot to think about, I'll reach out soon. Go ahead, Luca and his men aren't far behind us." Antonio motioned towards the door. I hadn't realized we stopped. I turned and climbed out. Only Antonio quickly grabbed my hand to stop me. He lifted my hand to his lips and pressed them softly against my hand. "Really and truly think about it Lana." Antonio whispered. I turned and stepped out of the car. Once I was out safely, the car sped off. I watched as an SUV sped around the corner and past me. It slammed on the breaks, drove backwards in reverse, and Luca jumped out. "Lana!" He ran to me. "Luca! You're okay!" I wrapped my arms around him. "And you, are you okay? Did he touch you?" Luca scanned me up and down looking for any sign of abuse. "They're gone." Delilah interrupted. "Are you sure?" Luca scanned the area for himself. "Yes." Delilah rolled her eyes. "Call Carla, have her and Thomas do a sweep of the mansion, let's head back." Luca held my hand tightly pulling me towards the SUV. "Luca." I caught his attention. Luca turned back to face me. "He just wanted to talk." I mumbled. "About what?"
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"Luca, he's not going to stop."
"What did he say to you?"
"He wanted to negotiate." I trailed off in thought.
"Negotiate?" I wondered if I should tell him? Maybe it was better if he didn't know. The look in his eyes told me I couldn't. I couldn't keep anything from him anymore, but then again Antonio had a point. He hadn't told me about my mother. Was there something more he kept from me? "Tell me about my mother." I demanded. "What do you mean?"
"Antonio says you know more than you let on."
"Lana there's nothing to tell he's just trying to get in your head."
"I just-"
"No." He cut me off. "Don't do that. Don't doubt me Lana." Luca grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car not wanting to finish the conversation. I'm not sure if I should keep pressing for more information. Antonio hasn't lied to me yet, but if Luca says there's nothing to tell shouldn't I trust him as well? It's complicated because they both swear honesty, yet they're telling two different sides of a story. What should I do?
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Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1136Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 646Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1749Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 274The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1461Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
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