Deborah became a widow barely three months into her marriage. It was a devastating blow, one she couldn’t calmly accept.
“Deborah was just an ordinary person.”
Left alone, it seemed like she might perish. Not in a suicidal sense, but just naturally, like snow melting away in the spring.
“People shouldn’t cry like that…”
At that time, Deborah did nothing but cry, whether at home or by the sea at dawn.
There wasn’t much the villagers could do for her.
A proper funeral without a body, forcing her to eat, making her go outside, giving her work to keep her mind occupied.
“Holding Deborah’s arm felt like moving a lifeless limb. But after a month or two, she began to seem human again.”
When a wholesaler made unreasonable demands, Deborah was the first to step up. She spoke so well and was so quick with calculations that the arrogant wholesaler was embarrassed and fled.
“It was so satisfying.”
“Indeed!”
Deborah was very smart. Even when pointing out others’ mistakes, she didn’t offend them, smoothly guiding the outcome.
Being both beautiful and smart, men began to express interest in Deborah. Every time this happened, the villagers would confront these men.
“None of them were good enough.”
“Right. The richer ones were either unattractive or old, and the handsome ones had other flaws.”
To the villagers’ protective excitement, Deborah would respond with an awkward smile.
“I won’t be seeing anyone else, not as a widow.”
Deborah said this frustratingly.
Unlike their prickly attitude towards those who hovered around Deborah, the villagers were actually open to her meeting someone new.
Their marriage had lasted only three months. Becoming a widow after just three months was heartbreaking. Moreover, seeing Deborah in black mourning clothes was particularly distressing.
“Charles didn’t have any family left. Technically, she could act as if she’d never been married and no one would say a word, but Deborah, that stubborn woman, wouldn’t listen to us.”
Despite their efforts to persuade her, Deborah always wore black, seemingly set on completing the traditional three-year mourning period.
“She’s a sly one.”
“Is she?”
Sedric asked with a smile, and Emma, realizing her slip, quickly clarified.
“I just said that, she’s not dark-hearted. In fact, she tends to be at a loss.”
“Yes, it seemed so.”
Sedric’s response drew everyone’s attention in the restaurant. Despite the overwhelming interest, Sedric maintained his smile.
“How do you know that? You said you haven’t even seen her face.”
“I heard it at Lady Saint’s. She always takes on the hardest tasks.”
“Ahh, I see.”
People nodded, and one particularly rugged-looking person clenched his fist.
“If anyone tries to exploit Deborah’s nature, they’ll answer to me!”
“Haha, no worries, I value my life too much for that.”
The villagers then mixed threats and pleas, asking Sedric to take good care of Deborah.
“Working at Lady Saint’s is good, but living in the capital has to be better than this backwater place, right?”
They talked as if working in the capital was a stroke of luck. Of course, in terms of salary, Jen was more than generous, but…
‘Apart from that, I wonder?’
Perhaps it would be better for her to live among people who loved her. Jen wasn’t likely to be kind.
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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