The quaint little café nestled in the corner of the street came to life as its doors slowly creaked open.
A woman came through its door, she had short hair and was dressed in an old-fashioned style - a formal blouse, a skirt, and comfortable shoes. She wore minimal jewelry and makeup, but even that couldn't hide her natural beauty.
She appeared to know the café well, effortlessly weaving her way through the tables to a particularly comfortable-looking seat opposite the counter.
There was no one in the café other than her and the café owner.
The cafe owner was a strikingly beautiful woman with vibrant pink and purple hair. She was completely absorbed in her smartphone, not even noticing her arrival.
After a few moments, the woman looked up and pushed a steaming cup of coffee across the table toward her.
Wang Mingya smiled and shook her head. She also took out her smartphone and opened her novel-reading app.
(New Chapter: Finale. [Counterattack of the Villainess])
A pop-up notification came up.
Wang Mingya was a professor of Literature at Huaxia University, known among her students and faculty as "The Ice Queen". Despite this reputation, her favorite pastime was reading romance novels.
Li Yaxin, the cafe owner, had introduced Wang Mingya to romance novels, claiming they would increase her emotional intelligence.
Though Mingya was initially skeptical, she decided to give it a try.
This particular novel was also recommended by Li Yaxin. It followed a mistreated villainess who travels back in time to right the wrongs of her past, a common theme among novels in this genre that typically involve face-slapping and feel-good moments.
This novel was one that she had started reading at the beginning of the year, and now as the year was coming to an end, so too was the novel.
"Sigh..."
As she let out a sigh, Li Yaxin gave an irritated tsk and asked, "What are you sighing for? Just read the damn novel."
"I know, but I didn't want to part with this novel so soon," Mingya replied with a small smile.
She clicked on the pop-up notification which lead her straight into the chapter.
_____
━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━
Isadora cast a sorrowful glance back at her family's majestic mansion, now engulfed in flames and devoured by the merciless inferno.
She had finally achieved what she had set out to do in this life.
In this life, Isadora's family was alive and well, and her friends were happy and successful. She had made sure that they were all taken care of and had the best life possible.
She had taken revenge on the Crown Prince and the treacherous Elise who had caused her so much suffering in her past life. Now, they were both gone from this world.
All of a sudden, the faces of those who had aided her in this life, including some who had been her enemies in her past life, flashed in her mind.
She pondered over why they had all become so attached to her after she came back.
"I wonder if he is still looking for me," she mused, thoughts drifting to the man with piercing blue eyes and brown hair.
As she reminisced, she couldn't help but find it ironic that in her previous life, he had despised her the most, yet now she vividly remembered his confession to her.
"Isadora von Blackwood, be mine," he had said, his expression so serious.
She chuckled to herself, thinking about how different things were now.
Her chuckles gradually turned into silence.
She looked at the mansion once again, and her eyes became determined.
"The threads of fate unravel... time is but a means to an end."
Isadora's voice echoed in the stillness of the night, she knew it was now time to fulfill her promise.
___THE END___
━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━
______
Mingya was left dumbfounded.
"That's the end???" she asked incredulously.
Where was the happily ever after scenes? Which male lead did she end up with? What happened to her child? What the hell was that promise? Was there a secret male lead that the author didn't introduce?
So many questions arose in her mind, threatening to burst out of it.
Suddenly, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Are you alright?" Yaxin asked, noticing the increasing paleness of Mingya's face.
Mingya, taken aback by the concern in Yaxin's voice, replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
Yaxin hesitated before responding, "You look really pale, like a corpse. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yea, I'm pret-!!!"
BA-DUMP!!!
Mingya's heart was pounding so loudly that it drowned out every other sound.
Mingya felt a heavy weight on her eyelids as if they were being weighed down by a thousand pounds. Her mind felt foggy, and her thoughts were slow to form.
The world around her seemed to be moving in slow motion, and her senses felt dulled. It was like she was in a dream, where everything was hazy and indistinct.
The drowsiness was so intense that she felt like she had taken a heavy dose of sleeping pills, and she struggled to keep her eyes open.
As she felt the drowsiness creeping in, her mind could only muster one last coherent thought before everything turned black
'I'm sleepy...'
_____
"The threads of fate unravel... time is but a means to an end.
Yet, even in this moment, a new thread is woven, a new destiny created.
Who will it ensnare, and where will it lead?…"