As Latifa slowly walked into the center of the large stadium, all eyes from the stands were fixed on her.
“Look over there! Someone’s there!”
Even when she was in the Empire, she had never experienced such an amount of attention. Her fingertips trembled slightly. Despite the suffocating heat of the desert, her hands and feet turned cold, and the many eyes on her caused her to feel dizzy as if she would collapse at any slight bump.
But she couldn’t show them she was scared. The only image she should project to them was one of dignity and resilience.
‘It’s okay, I can do this.’
Latifa kept reassuring herself as she slowly stepped forward.
[Dash] Roar!Right in front of her, a large golden lion, which had escaped from its cage, was roaring unrestrained by chains.
“Run away, it’s going to eat you!”
The spectators began to shout in horror at her deathtempting behavior.
However, she moved her steps calmly as if she couldn’t hear their outcries. As she stepped forward, the lion also roared ominously with flashing yellow eyes and scratched the ground with its sharp claws from which blood droplets flowed.
What she feared the most wasn’t the lion. It was the desert people watching her.
She feared the caring eyes watching her turning into disdainful and scornful glares towards the captive from the Empire in an instant. That was what she feared the most.
‘If that happens, Hades’s plan would fall apart because of me….’
What if the plan fails? Would he dismiss me as useless? Perhaps I might be flogged to death by the angry desert people for my sacrilege. Then my life would end here.
As she held onto her calm resolve, a chain of small thoughts, which brushed past her mind, attempted to drag her into a pit of despair.
“Latifa!”
Then, the loudest voice echoed through the stadium. Turning towards the familiar voice ringing in her ears, Latifa turned her blue eyes.
At the end of her sight, Hades was desperately running towards her to save her.
“…Hades.”
It was strange. She only softly called his name, yet something flared up within her chest as if a small fire was kindled.
Every time she called his name, she always felt a peculiar sensation. From the moment she knew him, each time she murmured “Hades,” she felt a hot flame rising along with the heavy scent of sand enveloping her whole body.
It wasn’t just any flame, but the black flame of Hades that engulfs everything.
Biting down on her lower lip, she reassured herself once again.
Yes, Hades, he is known as the Flame of Flames, an Ignite. The greatest general of the Grand Bazaar and the Mad Dog feared by all desert people.
What was there to fear when such a man was backing her?
As long as he was protecting her, no one in the Grand Bazaar could harm her.
Nothing at all.
Casting away all hesitation and fear due to him, Latifa extended her white hand towards the running Hades.
Whether he understood her clear intention to not come closer, he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
“You, what are you….!”
Latifa smiled at him instead of replying. It should be enough for him to understand her intentions. The days spent with him were not long, but they were not in vain.
“……!”
His black pupils shook for a moment when he saw her smile. His thick eyebrows curved beautifully and a playful smile returned to his masculine lips.
His eyes, now without an inch of wavering, were saying this to her.
‘Yeah. Give it a try.’
She sighed a hot breath in an instant at his audacious gaze that could be seen from a distance. The various hesitations in her heart were gone, and only his face came to mind.
‘Even if Hades can make me look like a goddess on the outside, only I can prove this.’
The success or failure of his solidly crafted plan depended entirely on her.
People in the stands flocked to the front of the stadium, more excited at the sight of her pale skin, extended from Latifa’s outstretched hand.
“She has white skin! That standing there is an imperial!”
“Is she a prisoner brought by General Hades from the empire?!”
Suddenly on the altar in the middle of the stadium, she looked straight at the excited lion and shouted without any faltering.
“Oh King of the beasts who entered a strange desert!”
[Dash] Grrrrr!The lion, with its yellow eyes flashing and its brown mane puffed up, was approaching her, scattering its vitality with its claws out.
Even though it seemed to charge at any moment, lowering its body and growling, she fearlessly aimed the small dagger she was holding at the lion and shouted.
“As a noble guardian of the desert night, show respect to me.”
[Dash] Roaaar!The lion roared greatly towards Latifa, opening its large mouth and lifted its heavy upper body.
“Aaaargh!”
People in the stands screamed and closed their eyes.
However, when they opened their eyes again, there were no cruel images they had anticipated.
“Grrrr. Grunt.”
When everyone opened their eyes again, what they saw was the infamous ferocious golden lion humbly bowing its head beneath the hand of the woman, purring like a wellbehaved domestic cat.
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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