Prologue. Secret Meeting
“Then…… undress.”
Edith said, hiding her tension as best as she could, but her voice trembled thinly.
The chilly night air enveloping the Argen castle felt throughout the cabin.
Soon a hard, unsightly wooden bed under which would slip a thin dress.
The incongruity felt by the situation now being so different from what she had imagined since she first opened her eyes to the affairs between men and women.
And the worry about whether Walter, a man who looked fierce and splendid like a beast before her, would behave kindly.
“If you wish.”
Walter, on the other hand, answered with a low, suppressed voice as if he had been waiting for this moment. His voice did not tremble at all, showing only a slight impatience.
As Walter took off his shirt, his firm chest muscles were revealed. The bulging tendons here and there made his body look like a delicately sculpted wild animal statue.
He patiently waited for her for a moment, flinging his shirt off his sturdy arm.
“…….”
During that short time, Edith unknowingly held her breath and took him in.
A man reminiscent of the summer night’s forest with dark black hair and greedily flickering green eyes.
A man who resembled her first love, to whom she had promised marriage in her childhood.
His wild eyes and handsome appearance did not suit his status as a servant of the Argen estate.
When he pulled the leather strap of his waistband with his bulging hand, even the certainty that this night would be satisfying was felt.
“Edith, if you want to live, have any man’s child. And deceive everyone as if it’s the Argen’s bloodline.”
At first, she only thought she had to use him to escape from here, being unable to withstand the threats of the first wife.
But now…
“You can do as you wish, Walter.”
She wanted to give him everything.
The moment permission was granted, Walter pressed his body close. The chill from outside was lost, as heat rose in their touching skin.
“Madam has allowed everything.”
“Don’t call me madam.”
Edith stroked his cheek with her knuckle as if handling the most precious thing in the world.
“Call me by my name.”
“…….”
In that moment, he crumbled before her like a sandcastle before a wave.
Edith closed her eyes, feeling the hot breath pouring over her.
The moment Walter’s fingertips touched her body, it felt as if being sold as the old Argen’s fourth wife was a distant past.
At first, when she started her secret meeting with him to survive, she didn’t know.
That she would harbor such feelings for him, whom she intended to use.
And that he would want her, unable to reveal his desire.
(This is a time separator.)
Chapter 1. Fortrion, the Savage Castle
Deep into the night, four armored knights clung to the outer surface of a fiercely speeding carriage to the west.
To guard the high person inside the carriage and to watch over the woman captured as his prey.
The captured prey, Edith Lowell, desperately tried to exert force on her wrists and ankles.
‘I must escape somehow before arriving at the Argen castle… please.’
But with her hands and feet tightly tied with cloth, she only felt a sting, without a hint of escaping the carriage.
Even brushing off the knights next to her seemed impossible.
Soon, the man seated on the throne opened his mouth, breaking the silence inside the carriage.
“Yes, Edith, it must be disappointing to be caught without even a struggle.”
“…….”
Edith glared at the man before her, keeping her mouth tightly shut.
The man calling her name with a raspy voice and smirking was Nicholas Fortrion.
A man who had become the master of the Fortrion viscount and a massive merchant company upon the sudden death of his elder brother.
He inherited an enormous fortune along with his title, but being known for ruining the management of his territory day by day, possessing nothing but abnormal lust and incompetence.
“You may not look happy now… but once you arrive at the viscount’s estate, you will realize what an honor it is to become my fourth wife.”
Nicholas laughed gleefully as Edith’s expression darkened.
“If my father can’t pay off his gambling debts, daughters are usually sold to a worse place, but isn’t it something to be happy about since I have been chosen and the future is guaranteed?”
Edith, unable to remain silent, spoke for the first time after being captured in vain and loaded into the carriage as she tried to flee.
“That man is not my father but an uncle I had no contact with, and I have no obligation to pay off that man’s gambling debts.”
Her voice trembled from deep resentment.
Her once affectionate mother and father had passed away long ago, and the uncle she had never met had stolen her share of the inheritance to gamble.
That alone would make her angry, but the uncle, unable to handle his gambling debts and facing the risk of being killed by loan sharks, had sold himself for money from the duke.
He was a madman indeed.
“I will not assist my uncle with the money I earned working as an assistant in the clinic. This is my capital for going to the city.”
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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