Mechanical Alchemist - Chapter 8 - Statues, Altars, Sacrifices

I have experienced all the eight sufferings of this world.

I do not ask for nirvana, but for you.

Wild and hard-to-tame demon (gong) x cold, ascetic and childish immortal (shou)

- Description from Novelupdates

Four years ago, after a night of drunkenness, she had a relationship with a stranger and fled in panic upon waking up. Four years later, she returns with a soft, cute little bun by her side.“Bad uncle, you're not allowed to bully my mommy!”The man looked at the little bun, who was not even tall enough to reach his waist, and gave a charming smile. “Shouldn't you ask your mommy why you look exactly like me?”

Every little girl's fantasy is to live a wonderful life full of riches and luxuries. This was the future she imagined, and she was willing to go to any length to obtain it.She was spoiled, pampered, and doted on by her family, and she was proud of herself. She knew she deserved the best, and she went for it. This, however, is where the nightmare began.Wanting to leave the clutches of poverty wasn't as simple as she believed, given the things she had to give up, the humiliation she had to endure, and the numerous things she had to lose. It was not worthwhile.When she thought she had it all, she was slapped in the face with the cold, hard truth: she was only a SUBSTITUTE.And when two of her closest companions turned on her and betrayed her, she was shoved aside and got humiliated by people she used to know.With nothing and no one to lean on, she was forced to make decisions. Decisions that gradually resulted in something breathtakingly amazing.[DING! SIGN IN! THE HOST HAS BEEN REWARDED WITH ******]

“Let me tell you something honey, Revenge is the best dish served cold.’’****To her, betrayal was the most excruciating pain in the world—the kind that pierced her soul.The people she had loved with her entire heart had not only failed her, but ruthlessly deceived her.“How could you?” she had once cried, her voice shaking as she stared at the man she had chased like a madwoman. But he had already cheated on her—expecting a child with the very woman she despised with every fiber of her being.Her so-called “family ” was no better. The relatives she thought she could trust? They only wanted the inheritance meant for her and her little brother.The people who once smiled sweetly and flattered her? They were nowhere to be found when her glamorous and envious life crumbled to nothing.“I thought you all cared about me...” she whispered bitterly, watching as one by one, they all turned their backs on her when she needed them the most.In that devastating moment, everything became painfully clear. The bubble she had lived in popped and she finally saw their true faces.But....it was too late.Everything she had was gone, slipping through her fingers like sand in the wind.Except for him.Her former fiancé, the one man she had tried to ruin with every scheme she had planned, remained by her side until the end. He stood by her, even as she took her final breath.She had accepted her tragic fate—until something phenomenal happened. She woke up once again.Back to the past.Where nothing had happened yet.