“That heart, that anger. Isn’t it time to let it go?”
“To let go means.”
A sly smile lingered at the corners of Shin Jae’s mouth as he stared at the teacup filled with warm tea.
Once he was a son who proclaimed his respect for his mother more than anyone else, but it had been over thirty years since he had used the word “mother.” He had even avoided making eye contact.
“You mean to forget.”
“…….”
“I enjoyed the tea.”
Leaving his second cup of tea untouched, Shin Jae stood up and left Director Lim’s room. Left alone, Director Lim gazed silently at the two teacups on the tray.
He took off his glasses and covered his closed eyes with the back of his dry hand. A long time had passed.
The anger in his son, which he thought would dissipate or lighten, had instead deepened. Layers of resentment, regret, vengeance, emptiness, and longing had accumulated over it, continuing to this day.
This coming Friday marks the anniversary of Tae Seo’s biological mother, Yoo Jung Ha. Yoo Jung Ha, who was raised loved in a wealthy family, was a bright and sunny person. She was the daughter-in-law personally chosen by Chairman Kang Sun Il, and he adored her greatly.
However, the actual party to the marriage, Kang Shin Jae, did not want it. After all, he had someone else he loved.
Despite the father and son’s opposition, the marriage took place, and Tae Seo was somehow born out of Yoo Jung Ha’s desire for love. However, on the day Tae Seo was born, Kang Shin Jae lost the woman he considered his true partner.
“Yeon Hee is dead. Are you at ease now?”
“Shin Jae…”
“It won’t go as the two of you wish. Live long. That way, you can watch how I endure this hell.”
The wailing son was even younger than Tae Seo is now. A woman he desired but was dead, a child he did not want but was born. Kang Shin Jae, plunged into sorrow for both, had since closed off his heart.
Yoo Jung Ha crumbled in the face of her husband’s neglect. Ultimately, what she chose last was to take Tae Seo abroad with her.
While distancing herself from a husband filled with hate, she wanted to raise the child who so resembled him, keeping her place as his wife.
So when Yoo Jung Ha said she would leave for England with the young Tae Seo, Director Lim couldn’t dissuade her. Because one couldn’t hold back a person trying to survive.
“I should have held on, I should have. Kept her by my side and insisted we live through it somehow.”
Murmuring to herself, Director Lim soon shook her head.
The eyes of the regret-filled Madam Lim Hong Jin turned toward the calendar. For over twenty years, she alone, the mother-in-law, remembered the anniversary of the unfortunate woman that neither her husband nor son would keep.
Yoo Jung Ha had ended her life before turning forty. And in doing so, she left her only son, Tae Seo, in complete shambles.
A sense of deep regret filled the eyes of Director Lim as she recalled long-past memories.
Tae Seo tucked both hands into his coat pockets and raised his chin. His nose, peeking out from the muffler, was red. It was Jae In who made enduring Chicago’s January weather bearable.
“I almost missed seeing you.”
Leaving Korea on a Tuesday morning and passing through New York, he arrived in Chicago by Tuesday lunchtime.
After an arduous seventeen-hour flight, there wasn’t even a moment to adapt to the time difference. I was continually engaged in meetings with the hosts involved in the architecture expo, and I had to prepare for the presentation scheduled for tomorrow.
Starting Wednesday afternoon, I was to participate in the two-day architecture expo, presenting to the companies, and I had scheduled meetings with various corporate officers and group leaders that were set to last late into the night.
It was a hectic itinerary, with a return flight to Korea awaiting me early Friday morning.
After telling Manager Jang, clearly fatigued, to rest, I, Tae Seo, while sorting through a stack of documents, recalled something that I had been neglecting due to the busy schedule. I then left the hotel, postponing everything else.
“Step aside. It’s dangerous.”
Immediately after taking a photo with the Water Tower as the backdrop, capturing the entire tree, workers showed up. They dismantled the barricades surrounding the tree and erected a ladder.
“Are you dismantling it right now?”
“Can’t you see?”
A dry laugh escaped me in response to the worker’s gruff retort. Perhaps I should consider myself lucky for managing to see and photograph it just before its disassembly. Still, I felt a pang of disappointment at missing the chance to see the tree illuminated at night.
The tree wasn’t small, but it wasn’t so grand as to attract significant attention. It might have been even smaller than the tree decorated in front of the main Kang Sun department store.
The large, deep green fir tree was decorated entirely in red. Red ribbons and red ornaments dangled from its branches, but the only non-red item was the stark white star perched at its summit.
It wasn’t a typical five-pointed star. The irregularly shaped sphere, a tad larger than an adult’s fist, was made from quite thick glass.
It resembled a lighting fixture more than a star, especially because the glass was not uniformly thick and smooth but rather roughly curved, hinting at its age.
While the workers silently continued their task, several ornaments fell to the ground and shattered. Tae Seo observed this scene pensively before approaching one of the workers.
“Is that star decoration at the top special?”
“What’s so special about it? If anything, it’s only notable for having topped this tree every year since it was first placed, nothing more.”
“Every year without fail?”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s old-fashioned and heavy. I don’t know why they haven’t replaced it with how well the lighter ones are made these days.”
Muttering under his breath as he proceeded with the dismantling, the worker caught Tae Seo’s attention, prompting him to speak up again.
“What happens if an ornament breaks during the dismantling? Is there a penalty or something?”
“What kind of penalty would there be? If it breaks, it breaks, and then we buy a similar one to replace it. People steal these decorations all the time anyway.”
“But isn’t this managed by the city?”
“What management? Sure, the tree in Millennium Park is strictly managed, but this is just an afterthought. None of these are really worth much.”
Watching the dismantling process for a while, Tae Seo picked up an ornament that had fallen near him. It was the size of a finger, perhaps—a bear figurine dressed in a red Santa suit.
“If you like it, take it.”
“Is that okay?”
“Here, this one’s a match.”
The worker handed me a bear figurine dressed in a green Santa elf suit. Unexpectedly, I found myself holding two small figurines.
“You’re not from Chicago, are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“It’ll make a nice memento, then.”
“Thank you.”
I was about to pocket the two figurines and turn away when I paused and turned back to the worker.
“How can I get in touch with the tree’s manager?”
“What do you need to talk to them for?”
“It’s for a good cause.”
The corners of Tae Seo’s mouth curled into a pleased smile as he continued to look at the star still adorning the top of the tree.
When male lead is the homewrecker
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
I’ve read the novel below twice already. Girls, I’m highly recommending it to you!
The female lead? Not a good person.
The second male lead? Not a good person.
The male lead? Willingly plays the third party, breaking up the female and second male lead’s relationship despite all the warnings from his friends—so yeah, he’s definitely not a good person either.
Basically, nobody in this novel is simple-minded or without scheming.
The female lead starts off as the male lead’s secretary, but don’t worry—later on, she takes over the company while the male lead steps back to support her. He won’t steal her spotlight, overshadow her, or dull her shine.
I love novels where men are out here snatching wigs, tearing each other down, and going to war just to win the female lead’s affection. And this is exactly that kind of novel. Most of Hai Dai Ran’s works have this dynamic. You’ll see the male characters’ emotions being pushed to the absolute extreme.
There’s even a scene where the second male lead exposes the male lead online for being a homewrecker. The brotherhood immediately gangs up on him, dragging him through the mud. I find it compelling —it completely flips reality on its head, where usually, women are the ones fighting over a man and getting torn apart by the sisterhood.
For me, female leads in the novels I read should only struggle in their careers, not in love. But if the brainless romantics in the story are all men? I have zero complaints.
I’ve pretty much read all of Hai Dai Ran’s novels and even translated all of them—her works are just my thing. I’ll slowly upload everything here. One day, when my website is official, I hope I can invite her to join as one of the star authors.
Here’s the story synopsis:
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Intro 1:
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
With blood trickling from his clenched fist, Rong Xiu gazed at the woman before him, his eyes clouded with anguish. Hidden in the wardrobe, he had witnessed Fan Xia – the woman he desperately loved – in an intimate embrace with her fiancé. Yet his heart still yearned for her, defying all reason.
Fan Xia, the elegant and composed assistant, carried something mysterious in her eyes whenever she looked at her fiancé, Wen Lan Sheng. Strange occurrences began to surface – secret meetings with the young Gu Jin Yi, an unexplained withdrawal of 5,000 yuan… Then suddenly, her fiancé’s sister, Wen Jing, violently attacked her.
In this matriarchal society, Rong Xiu had risen to become the chairman of a powerful healthcare conglomerate, breaking through gender prejudices. But for the first time, he willingly stepped into the shadows as the other man, disregarding his friends’ warnings to become her secret lover.
Because he had discovered the truth – Fan Xia wasn’t the pure angel everyone believed her to be. And perhaps, he was the only one capable of helping her execute her mysterious plan…
Intro 2:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition
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Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
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