The raging flames devoured the manor’s hall without a moment’s hesitation.
Even if it wasn’t the dwelling of the regional loser, the Baek family’s manor, which had its own traditions, was quite extensive. Perhaps because there was so much to burn, the flames showed no sign of extinguishing.
But strangely, no screams were heard. Everyone in the manor was already dead.
The people of the village where the manor was located didn’t want to get involved in this terrible event, so no one came out to look. In this eerie and uncomfortable silence of the night, the Baek family fell into extinction.
……leaving only one survivor behind.
(This is a time separator.)
At the edge of the forest outside the village.
A girl of about 10, Baek Yeo Heun, who had been crouching behind the bushes, suddenly realized that she hadn’t heard any screams for a while.
‘A quarter of an hour? Maybe half an hour has passed?’
Her sense of time was blurry, so she couldn’t tell exactly how long it had been. The only certain thing was that it was cold.
It was spring, but the midnight temperature was still chilly. She hadn’t noticed while fleeing in a panic, but after staying still and hiding for a while, she felt the cold more acutely.
Her tense, fearful, and shivering body trembled in the cold. Yeo Heun clasped her cold fingertips and bowed her head.
‘Did they notice that I ran outside? Are they looking for me?’
And if they find me, will they kill me too?
With questions to no one in particular, tears fell, wetting the cold ground.
“Why…….”
It had always been a lonely life. There was no one in the house who ever showed real affection to Yeo Heun.
Still, that burning manor was where Yeo Heun was born and raised. It was a place where she had suffered from loneliness, but at the same time, it was a place where she had been protected from the outside. She had lived there for over ten years.
But now it was erased from the world.
Not only her family, even though they were not close, but also the servants of the manor, must have all died.
So in Yeo Heun’s narrow world, there was no one left to ask for help.
‘I’m scared.’
Afraid that her crying might give away her position, Yeo Heun clenched her teeth. But a part of her mind whispered that perhaps being caught and killed would be easier.
Yeo Heun didn’t even know why her family had been destroyed.
For a child who knew nothing, this sudden misfortune was nothing less than a disaster.
‘What should I do now? What should….’
That’s when it happened.
Yeo Heun suddenly felt an unfamiliar presence approaching rapidly from beyond the bushes. It seemed as though they were making no effort to hide.
Frozen in fear, the owner of the presence revealed themselves at that moment.
“……Ah.”
The ones who burned the manor and killed the people all wore black clothes, and their faces were covered with black cloth.
But the one in the child’s sight was the exact opposite.
White clothes.
The face was clearly visible.
More than anything else, what held the hair in place looked like a Taoist crown.
That was all she could recognize, but there was nothing left to lose anyway. If hiding like this won’t solve anything, why not take a gamble?
The child stood up, trembling legs leading her.
And…….
(This is a time separator.)
“……Huh.”
I opened my eyes in a hurry.
I didn’t have time to assess the situation before I sat up suddenly, only to be overwhelmed by dizziness, causing my body to tilt to the side.
“No, ah.”
In the end, I lay down again, breathing deeply in and out until the dizziness subsided. Fortunately, the dizziness soon disappeared, and at the same time, sleepiness gradually dispersed.
As soon as I felt a bit alive, questions filled my mind.
‘What’s going on……?’
I blinked in confusion. My vision gradually returned to normal, and the surroundings became clearer.
A strange room.
‘I seemed to be watching something burning from a distance.’
……Was it a dream?
It was a dream.
Upon realizing that fact, I felt a slight sense of relief. For some reason, in the dream, I had felt quite a sense of despair. Come to think of it, my hands are still trembling a little. I clenched my fists to suppress the shaking.
However, judging by the fact that I can’t remember the details, it was probably just a meaningless nightmare, like ordinary dreams. The kind where all sorts of bad memories that had been asleep deep in my subconscious become mixed and unfold.
The more important issue here would be where this place is.
I slowly went over what was the last memory I experienced in reality, not the nightmare I had before waking up.
‘Yes, definitely… It seemed like I got hit by a truck.’
This, unlike the dream, I remembered without missing a thing.
I was on my way home after finishing my parttime job. While crossing a deserted crosswalk, I spotted a truck, ignoring the traffic light, speeding towards me, and my body froze.
Unable to avoid it, I collided and was thrown into the air, then fell to the ground and looked up at the sky. The memory remained vivid in my mind.
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.
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