Marianne stared at the heavy door and slowly inhaled. The thick oak blocked her way like a gigantic wall.
Her sapphireblue eyes, like a universe contained within, showed a sudden tense gleam. Uncharacteristically, Marianne, clutching the hem of her dress tightly, stared intently at the door without noticing the silk fabric becoming wrinkled.
No, more precisely, at the man behind the door.
“Christoph.”
Her husband’s name dispersed between her lips. The thought that she might someday regret this moment crept into her mind. Perhaps, someday in the distant future, she might burst into tears recalling today.
But not now. She suppressed her faltering heart, biting her lip tightly, and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
There was no reply. Only after she knocked once more did a dry voice from behind the door say, “Come in.”
Always, that weighty voice made her heart flutter.
Marianne took one last breath and turned the handle. Slowly, a wellarranged office revealed itself, the door opening without a sound.
A large mahogany desk sat before a window, draped like a curtain by sunlight. In front of the desk, a sofa and table were placed for visitors. On one wall, there was a tall bookshelf that seemed to touch the ceiling.
A gentle spring breeze entered through the halfopen window. Each time, the deep sapphire curtains, like her eyes, fluttered lightly. The office filled with books and documents always smelled of dry paper.
A familiar scene she could depict even with her eyes closed. A place she quite liked. Marianne took in every detail of the room before finally fixing her gaze on the man standing by the window.
With jetblack hair and piercing black eyes that seemed to look through people, the man was her husband, Christoph K. Schneider.
With coolly arched eyebrows and a masculine nose, contrasted by white skin against his black hair, he looked somewhat pale at a glance.
But Marianne knew what a solid, muscular body lay hidden beneath his business suit. A body so rigid that not even a finger could penetrate.
Whenever she bore the full weight of him, she felt stability rather than heaviness. Perhaps it was because she felt that this mighty man was entirely hers.
Christoph, wearing a vest with a jacket over it, glanced back at the door with a hint of a smile. After confirming that the person at the door was Marianne, he packed the documents on his desk into his bag.
His emotionless eyes and tightly closed lips were as cool as ever. His black hair was perfectly combed, and his business suit was without a single wrinkle.
Staring at him, who seemed as if he wouldn’t bleed even if pricked by a needle, Marianne finally opened her mouth.
“Christoph.”
“If it’s not urgent, talk later. I’m leaving now. I have an appointment with Judge Bötenshtein.”
His voice, still resonant and pleasant to her ears, made her stomach tingle. His speech, cut as if with a knife, and voice neither too fast nor too slow.
But she knew how cruel his voice could become, depending on the situation. Still, his voice was the first reason why she loved him.
The second reason was probably his handsome face.
Perhaps one or two out of ten people might disagree with the term “handsome” for him. He wasn’t the typical blond, blueeyed beauty.
No, rather, due to his cold appearance, those meeting Christoph for the first time often felt an inexplicable discomfort.
However, even Christoph’s cynicism was one of the reasons Marianne loved him. From the moment she met him, she must have been blinded by love.
“It’s important. …At least to me,” she added, her tone suspicious. She was unsure whether what she was about to say would be important to Christoph as well.
Christoph checked the time and threw a glance at her with a slight frown.
“Can’t it wait until I return? The judge is very punctual about time.”
Marianne flinched at his stern tone. Normally, she would have seen him off with a smile at this point, but not today. If not now, she feared her resolve might crumble.
As Marianne remained silent with a stern face, Christoph quickly spoke, letting out a short sigh.
“I’ll give you three minutes. Brief and concise, just state your business.”
Suddenly, she burst into laughter. It was so typical of Christoph. His orderly black eyebrows twitched at her unexpected laughter.
With eyes as dark as pitch, Christoph stared at her smile. His gaze bore into her, as if trying to see through her thoughts.
Just as Christoph was about to speak, Marianne cut him off, walking to her desk to reply.
“One minute will be enough.”
Then she put down the documents she was holding on the desk. With a slight smile, Christoph checked the time and threw a glance at her instead of the documents. An indifferent question crossed the desk.
“What’s this?”
“Divorce papers.”
“…….”
For a moment, Christoph closed his mouth. His face lost all expression as if he had been doused with cold water. He wasn’t very expressive to begin with, so the change was subtle, but a chillier atmosphere was palpable.
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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