“I was angry at that time too.”
Jewel chuckled with a bitter expression.
“I didn’t want to hear any news about that runaway daughter. I also hated wasting money for no reason. I didn’t expect sales to increase just because of some silly survey or whatever.”
Every time Ruby’s name came up, Jewel’s eyes welled up. He regretted pushing her away and even yelling at her to leave if she was going to date that kind of hoodlum. It haunted him.
Jewel held Hyeju’s hand tightly and exclaimed.
“It was you, Manager Oh, who changed my mind. So remember, this contract happened not because of Ruby, but because of you. Don’t forget that.”
“Grandfather…”
Touched, Hyeju forgot that they were in a meeting room and tears welled up in her eyes. She was grateful for Jewel’s heartfelt encouragement, even in difficult situations. Perhaps he thought of his daughter while watching Hyeju struggle to survive in a harsh society.
“By the way, is our Ruby capable?”
Jewel tapped Hyeju’s shoulder and asked. Hyeju smiled brightly and answered.
“Yes, she’s very capable. Without Ruby, our company won’t function.”
“Well, I hope it’s worth all that fuss.”
“It’s true! I have about six projects that I’m working on with Ruby. I can’t do them alone without Ruby’s assistance. There was one time when Ruby had a stomachache and couldn’t work. What happened was…”
Jewel smiled as he listened to Hyeju’s enthusiastic talk.
He was relieved that Hyeju, who could understand his thoughts even before he asked, was taking care of his runaway daughter so well.
Now he could finally relax.
30 minutes ago.
Dahee was getting a takeout coffee from a café near the company. She wasn’t in a great mood because she lost in rockpaperscissors with her colleagues after having lunch at the company cafeteria.
“Ah, I’m annoyed. If you’re going to take advantage, at least stick to Americano. They all ordered with whipped cream. When she pays for her own coffee, it’s always Americano. She’s deceiving me, deceiving!”
Dahee grumbled and finished placing her order, then waited for her drink at a corner where the sunlight didn’t reach.
Lately, she felt extremely uncomfortable. It was all because of Seung Won.
It had been a week since they slept together in a drunken haze, but he hadn’t contacted her once. She knew he sometimes blacked out when he drank too much, but she didn’t expect him to forget to this extent.
Hyeju… I love you so much, Hyeju.
When he called Hyeju’s name while sweating on top of her, it felt like dust was settling and sinking beneath the bed.
With eyes that couldn’t focus properly, who are you looking at?
With a voice that couldn’t reach, who are you calling?
He was endlessly miserable and pitiful. Yet, Dahee endured and accepted him.
Was it because she wanted him so badly? No, even though she was desperate, she wasn’t that obsessed. Dahee accepted Seung Won that day to give him a sense of despair.
You’re the one who repeats the same painful mistakes. The only time you can be forgiven for repeated mistakes is when there are no victims.
“Yes, I was hurt and miserable because of your irresponsible emotional play. You’ll probably blame me, but I was the one who suffered!”
She planned to confront Seung Won like that when he came. She was determined to slap him if she felt like it.
However, a day passed, and two days passed, but there was no message from Seung Won. Did he forget about that day? Or is he pretending not to know even though he knows?
Restless Dahee stared at Seung Won’s seat every day, but she couldn’t get an answer from him, who kept his head down and focused on his work.
“I’m annoyed, really…”
People who didn’t know the situation would often ask meaningless questions like, “Are you getting along well?” Each time, Dahee would politely answer, “Yes, of course,” but inside, her heart had already turned pitch black.
She hated everything. Seung Won, the people who casually asked questions without knowing the circumstances, and even the company.
Among them, she hated Hyeju the most.
After the argument on the rooftop, they never had a separate conversation with Hyeju. They didn’t have a proper conversation, but maybe they both knew. The friendship that seemed irreplaceable had come to a complete end.
“Why did it have to be you?”
She hated Hyeju because she was the person Seung Won liked.
“Oh Hyeju died, and Kang Seung Won, who can’t live properly, likes Cheon Da Hee. Wasn’t this picture perfect? Isn’t that right?”
For the first time… Yeah, it felt good to have beaten you for the first time.
On the day Seung Won accepted my confession, it felt like I finally got rid of the label of being the “fake Oh Hyeju” that had been following me for a long time. Now you’ll envy me too. Just the thought of it was exhilarating.
“But why did you make me desperate again this time?”
Sometimes when I look back, I still see the sparkling Hyeju.
“I’m withering away like this, but why do you seem completely unaffected? You were always the one who cried with me when I was sad. I’m in so much pain… So you should be in pain too!”
At times, resentment surged within Dahee with a burst of tears.
Then, from not far away, a sharp voice was heard.
“Why did you come all the way to Seoul? You left home, you runaway brat. Did you come to keep an eye on how I’m doing, even coming to the company?”
When I turned my head to look at the familiar voice, I saw a familiar face.
“Oh? Ruby, is that you?”
On the other side of Ruby, there stood a man with a weathered impression. I thought he was my grandfather, but as I listened to their conversation, I realized he was my father.
“Why did you come to the company looking for me when you cut off contact and left because you hated home? You came here for work, work!”
“One of my brothers could have come! What reason is there for the CEO of Taeyang Foods to personally come to the company? Did you think I wouldn’t know what dad and my brothers are up to? Last month, I heard that Geumseok even went to my boyfriend’s place. Is that not surveillance? Am I a child?”
The elderly man retorted something to Ruby, who was excitedly firing off words. However, his voice was too soft to be heard inside.
“From the beginning, you contracted with our company to monitor me, right? Since I didn’t respond to your calls and went into hiding, you’re resorting to this to pry into my affairs. You want to break up my boyfriend and me!”
“Oh my, you naive thing. Yes, I poured tens of millions of won to contract with our company just to monitor you. Is this a company worth staying in? Is the food good? I asked Director Oh countless times. Got it?”
Suddenly, a document that had been placed on Team Leader’s desk came to Dahee’s mind. It was a list of candidates for the ‘Great Award’ given to outstanding performers in the first half of the year.
Next to [Business Team, Oh Hyeju], there was a detailed reason for the recommendation. As she tried to recall, the annual contract with Taeyang Foods came to mind first.
But if that contract was due to a personal connection between Taeyang Foods and Ruby?
“Then that means… it’s not Hyeju’s achievement!”
Dahee’s lips dried up coldly.
lu lu lo la ▪️ net (lululola.net)
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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