‘Isn’t this meddling with something unnecessarily?’
The woman who brought her young daughter trembled as she looked at the furniture and ornaments she had never seen in her life.
Unlike themselves, who were dressed in shabby clothes, everything was adorned with nothing but valuable and precious things.
Her young daughter looked around anxiously, as if she knew something.
Whether my child does or not, the woman held tightly only the ring she had brought.
‘They said it was the seal of the Duke’s house.’
It was a ring that had been left carelessly at home because it was not embedded with a single gem.
She had almost discarded it, thinking that it would be of no value, but she did not know it was from such a large family.
‘There’s nothing to be afraid of, even the Duke won’t be able to say anything when he sees this?’
The woman’s gaze stealthily turned to the child beside her.
Incidentally, her daughter’s hair is also black.
It was something entirely unlike herself, who had sandy brown hair.
“Is that woman the one who brought the ring?”
A man sitting in front had pointed at the woman with a haughty attitude.
The child noticeably flinched at his appearance.
The woman pressed the child’s hand with her sharp fingernails. It meant to behave discreetly.
The man’s gaze briefly glanced at the child and then returned to the woman.
“The ring?”
“Hhere it is!”
The woman immediately held out the ring she had been tightly holding in both hands.
When the man slightly gestured, a servant approached and took the ring from the woman’s hand.
“It is difficult to confirm immediately. However, there are no traces of a counterfeit when seen with the naked eye.”
The woman secretly smiled at the servant’s words.
The man’s gaze casually scanned the woman.
The woman briefly looked up and quickly lowered her eyes when they met the man’s.
She didn’t find the man’s scrutinizing gaze unpleasant.
On the contrary, she felt good, thinking that his gaze showed interest in her.
“Ththat ring was given to me, me directly by the Duke…”
The woman cautiously uttered.
“A, a few years ago, when you were very drunk, I spent the night with you… and I had the Duke’s child.”
A gasp of astonishment came from one of the servants standing by.
The woman, unperturbed, forcibly pulled her daughter, who was sitting beside her, in front of the Duke.
“This, this child is the Duke’s child!”
The man let out a faint laugh at the woman’s words.
“Is that so?”
The woman exhaled in relief at the man’s casual acquiescence. But that was all.
The man continued coldly.
“I have no memory of it, you see.”
“Ththat time you were very drunk…”
“No matter how drunk I was, wouldn’t I remember the face of the woman I embraced?”
The atmosphere in the room quickly sank.
The desperate woman didn’t notice, and continued speaking frantically.
“Bbut please check! This is the proof that the Duke gave me that night!”
“Even so, how does that prove that you gave birth to my child?”
“Ththat’s obvious!”
“Who knows if you stole it.”
The man’s words left the woman dumbfounded, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly.
Meanwhile, the man’s eyes fixated on the child’s black hair.
“Well, looking closely, it seems I might remember.”
“!”
At the man’s reaction, the woman’s head perked up. One of the servants standing next to the man, covering his mouth with his hand, asked,
“What will you do?”
“Well.”
The interest that had been in his eyes just before vanished, and a flat, emotionless voice echoed around.
“I’m not interested right now.”
The man’s words prompted the servant to signal other knights. As a signal, one of the knights pulled the child and woman away.
“DuDuke! Duke!”
Even though her child was being taken away, the woman stood her ground without blinking an eye.
In the end, other knights had to grab her and pull her out.
The woman called out desperately, but the Duke did not look up from the ring even once.
“My child.”
Only one scene was strongly etched in his mind.
The appearance of the child who did not avert her eyes despite being terrified.
[This is a time separator.]It was a day when the rain had been falling noisily since morning.
There was not a person in sight on the street.
So there was no one to ask for help even if a child was being dragged along by the hair.
“Can’t you follow quickly?!”
The woman who screamed with fury was my biological mother, Rebecca.
‘I knew this would happen.’
As soon as I got home, I hid in the wardrobe.
But Rebecca, who had been pouring alcohol all night, eventually found me.
“You damn wench!”
Rebecca grabbed my hair and dragged me outside.
She didn’t seem to care whether it was raining or not.
This time, Rebecca’s anger didn’t seem to subside easily. I sighed and looked up at the sky. The overcast sky was pitch black.
“It’s all because of you, all because of you!”
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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