The Promised Neverland Connie

“Don’t make a scene, Marcus.” Quinn’s eyes, always so cold, flicked over him as if he were an unwanted stain. “A Saintess can’t be sullied by a man like you. Keep your distance.” For three years, Marcus Steel was a ghost in his own marriage. His wife, worshipped for her holy power, never let him near—not even a touch, not a night together. Yet every gathering, she let Alexander—her so-called ‘brother,’ his former best friend—rest his head in her lap, her hand stroking his hair, their laughter intimate and careless for the world to see. “Does it ever bother you?” Marcus whispered one night, desperation thick in his voice. “That you give him what you never gave me?” Sophia only smiled, distant as ever. “Alexander needs me. You… you’re just my duty.” When the earthquake shattered the banquet hall, Marcus reached for her through the falling debris. “Quinn! Please! Just take my hand—help me!” But her golden barrier was already around Alexander. She didn’t even look at Marcus as he screamed, “I’m your husband! Don’t leave me—” “I can’t save everyone,” she said, voice like ice. “Alex is injured. I promised to protect him.” As rubble crushed his body and hope faded, something ancient awoke in Marcus. Flames danced in his blood, power surging from the pain, the betrayal. From the ashes of humiliation and heartbreak, a dragon roared to life. Marcus Steel is dead. The Dragon King rises—and the Saintess will beg for mercy she never showed.

Zhang Xing Zhe was the only son of the Xiang and Liu couple, they were a great warrior couple who were sect leaders in Hua San Mountain. In contrast to his parents, although Zhang Xing Zhe was descended from great warriors, he was completely incapable of martial arts. Zhang Xing Zhe was raised by his three uncles, who deliberately did not introduce Zhang Xing Zhe to martial arts because they knew that one day, the only son who would be sent to carry on the sect in Hua San Mountain would be the one to carry on the sect. If Zhang Xing Zhe could do martial arts, their chance to control the sect would be wiped out. his struggle all this time to gain the power of the sect would be in vain. At the age of fourteen, Zhang Xing Zhe chose to travel in search of a teacher, as he could no longer bear the insults from his three uncles. Since that incident, Zhang Xing Zhe promised himself that he would return to his three uncles with a great change. In order to continue the sect that his parents had founded, Zhang Xing Zhe was desperate to find a teacher to train him. But his journey was not easy, as his every step was followed by his uncle's bodyguards who forced him to return home. But fortunately, a young man named Jin Long helped him avoid the bodyguards. "Thank you, uncle. What can I do to repay this favor?" "If you can't defend yourself, it's better not to go out alone!" "Sorry, uncle, I actually want to find a martial arts teacher;" "I want to prove to them that I'm not as weak as they think. I'll come back with a big change that will leave them dumbfounded!"

One hour vanished from Detective Marcus Kane's life. He remembers kicking down the warehouse door, then nothing but blood on his knuckles and a corpse at his feet. No witnesses. No weapon. No memory. Now he's the department's most wanted, hunted by the brothers in blue who once had his back and tormented by jagged fragments of that stolen hour; fragments showing hands that move like his but aren't under his control. Then the second body drops. Same execution. Exactly one hour after the first. Marcus isn't just a suspect. He's a loaded gun in someone else's hand, and they're pulling the trigger on a schedule. Each victim ties back to a military black site that promised to erase his war trauma, not weaponize him into something unrecognizable. They didn't just take his memories, they programmed a killer into the void. His ex-partner Sarah believes him. Barely. She's risking everything to keep him one step ahead of the manhunt, but her faith cracks with every crime scene photo proving Marcus was there. And the killer inside him is waking up more with each passing hour. The facility's files are sealed. The doctors are dead. And Marcus has seventy-three minutes until the programming kicks in again. To stop the murders, he'll have to willingly step into the blackout and hope he comes back with answers instead of more blood. But his handler isn't some faceless bureaucrat, they're someone who knows exactly how to break him, because they built him. Marcus Kane has one hour to catch a killer. The killer is him. And the puppet master has been watching from inside his own department all along. *****

"Sign it, Leon. A trash like you doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as the Miller family anymore." Leon Ardent looked at the divorce papers on the cold marble table. For three years, he had been the perfect house-husband. He cooked, he cleaned, and he endured the constant mockery of his wife’s wealthy relatives. He was the "Garbage Son-in-Law" of Northwood City. He did it all to fulfill a secret vow of humility. But today, the vow was over. "Is this what you truly want, Sarah?" Leon asked quietly. Sarah Miller didn't even look at him. She was busy leaning into the arms of Julian Vance, the billionaire heir who had promised her a throne. "I want a king, Leon. Not a servant. Take your cheap clothes and get out of my villa before the security throws you into the rain." Leon picked up the pen. With one swift stroke, he ended their marriage. As the clock struck midnight, the silent city of Northwood began to tremble. A fleet of black private jets darkened the sky, and hundreds of armored vehicles surrounded the Miller estate. The most powerful men in the world, people Sarah could only dream of meeting, knelt in the mud before the man she had just discarded. "Young Master! The three-year trial is complete! The Ardent Global Syndicate awaits your command!" Leon stepped over the divorce papers. The humble husband was dead. The Sovereign had returned. "Sarah," Leon whispered as he walked past his trembling ex-wife. "You wanted a king? Too bad. You just threw away the Emperor." Now, Sarah wants him back. Julian wants mercy. And the Miller family is begging for a crust of bread. But Leon Ardent is no longer the man who cleans floors.

He did not care if the prayer stole precious seconds from the timer. Between speaking to God and the damnation the system promised at zero, there was no question which came first. “Dear Lord,” he murmured, “Ye who see all hearts and weigh all sins… hear me now as I stand at the threshold of damnation. What I am about to do is cruel and unforgiving. A stain no river may wash from my hands. Yet, if this evil must be borne so that greater horrors may perish, let that burden fall upon me. “I know the gates of Hell stand open before my feet, and should this act be the step that leads me through them… so be it. Let history curse my name—if by my damnation, others are spared. “But Lord…” he continued quietly, “when the trumpets sound in the final days, when the dead rise and judgment cometh upon all souls, I ask only this of You: do not forget that I once wept for what I became. Do not forget that I hated the necessity of my hands. Don't forget that though I walked willingly into darkness, I did so that others may remain in the light. And if mercy exists even for the damned… then let me be counted among those shown pity. “For the sins I commit in Your name, for the evil I embrace in pursuit of a righteous end, and for the soul I surrender this night… I beg Your forgiveness.” He lifted his gaze and fixed Vir Ossium a death stare. “... Amen.” —————————————— Kael was just an ordinary guy—until the night he died. But instead of staying dead, he is thrown into a brutal death game. The rule is simple: Be the last Kamen Rider standing... by any means necessary.

All her life she has dreamed of going to the Chinese celebration of Hanami so that she might make friends. She’s ends up finding so much more in a young man named Draco. She is a naïve and gullible young woman who believed that she would never be deceived by someone of such an extinguished background. Draco knowing that he is promised to another courts Io while he fights for his right to choose his bride. However, through the trickery and conniving wit of his magical mother who he thought was on his side, he sees everything he worked so hard for fall apart. When Io learns of his betrayal she takes the cue and runs from his truths. When Draco finally learns of his families betrayal he runs off to be with the woman he loves against his families obligations. In a night of peace he and Io reunite only for him to wake up to her fury the next day. Io, in all her fury and glory causes Draco harm by accident. In the weeks to come after they are permanently separated she learns of the child who grows in her womb and goes to tell Draco’s family of the news. His magical mother responds by cursing Io who hurt her child for one thousand years to become the monster that she sees her as. She will not live the life she wants. She will never know love. She will never hold her child. She will die when his mother grants it to be so and at the death of Io all those effected by her anger, will reveal the journeys that were caused by her anger. The reveal of all those effected will change the very world she will no longer get to live in.

"Ma, Samson promises. Samson is going to repent; I won’t be a thug anymore. I'm going to find a real, honest job. So please, Ma, don't come back to haunt me, okay?" Samson knelt, tears streaming down his face, though his expression still looked like someone ready to pick a fight with the Angel of Death. Bejo held out an umbrella. "Boss, it’s almost sunset. We need to go collect the 'protection money' from the cafe owner," he said. "Hey, Bejo! I just promised Ma that I’ve repented. You little devil! Do you want my mother to rise from her grave because of what you just said, huh?!" Samson stood up. His towering height, nearly two meters, made Bejo instinctively jump back three steps. "But Boss, our stomachs aren't exactly followers of the repentance movement," Bejo squeaked, trembling. Samson wiped his fierce face. "From this second on, call me Samson the Protector. I’m going to find honest work. Anything! As long as I'm not shaking people down anymore." A wealthy woman looked Samson up and down, scrutinizing him. "Your body is quite large. It just so happens I need a new guard dog. I just fired the old one because he was afraid of cockroaches." Samson was ready to explode. "Hey, lady! You think I—" "Fifty million a month. Meals are provided, and you get an Italian suit for a uniform. Interested?" the woman interrupted, handing him a gold-plated business card. Samson fell silent. He then whispered under his breath, "Ma, this is honest work, right? Just being a guard dog for a billionaire."

Blake glanced at everyone in the room. Despite how they just treated him, he went down on his knees to beg them, throwing the shame and the hurtful feeling he was having at that moment through the window. “Please help me, my sister is dying. Even if you don't pay me for being a substitute husband on the wedding day like you promised, I will pay back every single penny” he pleaded. Maria kicked him hard on his stomach, making him stumble on the ground. “Were you assuming that I would give you a ten million you didn't work for? Are you stupid or pretending to be stupid?” she fired. Maria used Blake to save her face that day, a year ago. He was just the perfect person she needed, he was a cleaner, and it also felt like he needed money. Promising him money was the only thing that got him married to her. He is just a wretched pauper, she would never give her money to someone like Blake. “How do you intend to pay back if we lend you the money? From your part-time jobs?” she taunted. “Is leeching off us not enough? Now, you want more?” Mrs Jones added, bursting into a cynical laughter. “What have you done for us? You couldn't afford your tuition fees and dropped out because of that, what should I expect from someone of your caliber?” At that moment, Blake knew that they would not help him no matter what. Standing up with a shallow sigh, he peeked at them and shook his head. What was he thinking? **** Just when he thought life has ended, Blake found out that he was the owner of a company worth trillions of dollars. Will he seek revenge or hide his identity from his In-Laws?