“What, what did you say?”
Yura doubted her ears for a moment. The incomprehensible words naturally furrowed her brow. Unlike her, Lee Hyun was calmer and more composed than ever, which irritated Yura even more.
Lee Hyun, appearing unexpectedly in a place she never imagined, brought Yura to his villa. They weren’t close enough to visit each other’s homes, and she saw no reason to follow him, but she reluctantly agreed to sit down in the living room after he mentioned it was about something important.
His sudden arrival had already left her bewildered, but the words he just uttered were several times more nonsensical.
“A marriage contract.”
“With whom? With me? Why?”
“It’s a good match, isn’t it?”
“No, wait a minute. Why would you, of all people, want to marry me?”
“Hmm, the one who’s lacking is you.”
Yura chuckled at his overly confident response. Baek Lee Hyun, as much as everyone praised his looks, lacked humility. Yura twisted her lips, countering his certainty.
“I’m not lacking anything.”
Lee Hyun, with every move exuding sensuality, shifted his long legs and tilted his head with a languid gaze.
“Are you okay leaving that guy as is?”
Yura, seeing Lee Hyun’s antagonism in referring to ‘that guy,’ didn’t have an appropriate response, but she also saw no need to engage with him further and chose to ignore his uncomfortable gaze.
“It’s a relationship that’s already ended. And by what right do you refer to him as ‘that guy’?”
“It’s over, but you’re still being dragged around by it.”
“That’s…”
“Can you really quit Songlim?”
Yura was left speechless by Lee Hyun’s follow-up question.
Songlim Art Center. It was where Yura currently worked, and she had climbed to her position through years of tireless effort and dedication. She had pride in her job, and her long-awaited goal was now within reach.
The idea of leaving Songlim had never crossed her mind. She should have said no, but recent events had caused her to feel doubtful, making it hard to respond immediately.
“Would it be any different with Argon?”
Lee Hyun’s low voice mentioned Argon, a top player in the industry, as if he knew all the ins and outs. Argon, being at the pinnacle of performance planning companies, was a mountain to climb for Songlim, and personally, a competitor Yura wanted to surpass.
His comment seemed to imply that no matter where she was in the industry, her position wouldn’t change. If she couldn’t raise her voice in Songlim, it wouldn’t be different in Argon – a fact Yura knew too well.
Lee Hyun had pinpointed this precisely.
“As long as you don’t quit this job, these kinds of incidents will happen again.”
His statement, suggesting he knew the industry better than she did, was annoying. Yura frowned in displeasure, but he confidently added another remark.
“And you can’t quit this job.”
“Why do you act like you know everything?”
“You want to surpass Jin Yugeon, don’t you?”
Yugeon and Yura, siblings with a two-year age difference, had a typical brother-sister relationship of bickering. Their relationship had grown distant after Yura fell out with their father. Probably, he was referring to that aspect.
“We siblings aren’t as much enemies as you think.”
“Ah, so it’s your father’s recognition you’re after?”
Yura gave Lee Hyun a cold look, her eyes sharpened. Unperturbed by her severe gaze, he shrugged nonchalantly. She didn’t want to ask how he knew, as it would reveal too much about herself, and lying about it didn’t sit right with her.
“What, what did you say?”
Yura’s eyes narrowed skeptically at Lee Hyun’s confident counter-question. Despite her piercing glare, Lee Hyun just shrugged nonchalantly. Yura felt reluctant to ask how he knew, as it felt like exposing herself, and lying didn’t appeal to her either.
“Okay, let’s say that’s true. But you’re not lacking, right?”
“Lacking what?”
“Women, you have plenty around you.”
“Not really.”
“Are you going to keep playing with words?”
Yura was annoyed. Casually bringing up ‘marriage’ and then diverting to trivial matters felt irksome. Even if she was the one lacking as he said, the issue was his blatant proposal.
Baek Lee Hyun was at the peak in terms of looks, background, and abilities. She had heard of families lining up for a match with him. Yet, why did he reach out to her of all people?
“You’re of age, so you might feel pressured to marry. But Baek Lee Hyun, to stoop to such issues?”
“Thanks for the high regard.”
Yura clicked her tongue. She found it hard to feel affection for a man with such a dry tone, no matter how good he seemed.
“Like you said, parental marriage pressure is annoying.”
She shook her head at Lee Hyun’s use of the word ‘annoying’ instead of ‘disliking’ or ‘feeling burdened.’
“And I don’t like living with a stranger.”
“Then date someone.”
“That’s a waste of time.”
Yura thought it was absurd. Meeting and getting to know someone was part of the process, which he dismissed as trivial. She didn’t want to argue anymore with someone who wanted to skip the journey and head straight to the destination.
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
_____
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.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
