As soon as she opened her eyes, Bonita was greeted by the savory smell of corn.
“Ugh, mother…”
In a daze, Bonita reached out her hand to rub her eyes and felt the cold emptiness beside her, sending a sinking feeling to her heart.
‘Maybe, yesterday was just a good day for mother.’
Aria was often capricious, and it was a frequent occurrence.
Of course, yesterday she was exceptionally kind and affectionate, unlike her usual whims, but Bonita didn’t hold too many expectations from her mother.
After all, she should be grateful just to be raised by her.
Being small and fragile was an absolute disadvantage in the harsh world. She desperately needed an adult’s protection.
‘Don’t cling too much.’
Bonita firmly pressed her small lips together, making a resolution, and slowly got out of bed.
Her feet felt the coldness of the wooden floor as they touched it. The house was chilly without a fireplace.
“Achoo.”
Despite her clumsy but neat effort to make the bed, Bonita, with her short legs, toddled towards the door.
Creak. Her small, white hand turned the doorknob, making the old door’s hinges groan. As usual, she headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
There, she locked eyes with Aria.
Aria’s pupils fluttered like dandelion seeds upon seeing Bonita in her pajamas. Various emotions crossed her blue eyes, with relief and joy being the most prominent.
Bonita, sensitive to people’s emotional changes, quickly realized that Aria was very happy, though she couldn’t fathom the reason.
It wasn’t because she was a seven-year-old. Even a twenty-year-old adult couldn’t logically explain why Aria had changed so drastically.
“Are you up, daughter?”
Aria’s voice trembled, sounding hoarse, which confused Bonita slightly.
“…Yes. But, breakfast is…”
Aria usually slept in late because she worked till late at night.
So Bonita often cleaned the house and prepared a late breakfast with her tiny hands for her mother, who wouldn’t wake up until almost noon.
But today, her mother was up early. Peeking into the kitchen on tiptoes, Bonita noticed the enticing smell of corn porridge cooking.
“Did you prepare it, mother?”
“Eh? Of course I wait a minute.”
Aria, about to respond casually, suddenly narrowed her eyes, sensing the hidden context in Bonita’s question.
“Daughter, have you been preparing the meals all this time?”
Bonita flinched at her mother’s stern face.
Why such a question? Bonita, feeling like her mother had become someone else, answered in a subdued tone.
“In the morning and evening…”
“Heavens! How could such a small child do such hard work!”
“Huh?”
Bonita’s eyes widened in surprise, her small fists clenched tightly.
“I, I am seven years old! I’m not small!”
“Oh, daughter…”
As Bonita retorted with her head held high, Aria looked down at her with a complex expression. After a brief standoff, Aria’s still beautiful hands, despite the callouses, cupped Bonita’s cheeks.
Her gentle words followed.
“Seven years old is still young.”
“But, mother, you said before that seven years old is old enough to be an adult.”
“Me? Oh, heavens. I must have been crazy! Forget all those words!”
“But”
“Come on, you must be hungry. Let’s eat first. We can talk about this issue later, okay?”
“Uh?”
Swoop.
Lifted by Aria, Bonita’s legs dangled in the air. She let out a stunned exclamation at the unfamiliar sensation. Aria chuckled.
Feeling the vibration, Bonita blinked quietly. In the blink of an eye, Aria had already seated her at the dining table.
“Wow!”
As Bonita spotted the freshly baked exquisite white bread, her eyes widened as large as marbles. Next to it, instead of the tasteless oatmeal she usually ate, which felt like chewing paper, there was a sweet corn porridge.
“I wanted to prepare something better for our first meal, but the ingredients were not great. That’s why I went out early in the morning.”
Bonita shook her head vigorously at Aria’s words.
She didn’t fully understand what ‘first meal’ meant, but this was a luxurious breakfast reserved for special occasions. Her mouth was watering.
Bonita’s hand instinctively moved towards the utensils, but she hesitated when she noticed Aria hadn’t sat down yet.
“Aren’t you eating, mother?”
“No, I will. It’s going to be a busy day today.”
A busy day?
‘Is she going to make me work?’
Bonita’s daily routine was monotonous.
She did house chores, prepared breakfast for her mother, waited endlessly at home when her mother went to work, or did the shopping.
And she would prepare dinner in time for her mother’s return.
On the occasional days when Aria didn’t return until after midnight, Bonita would eat the dinner for two alone and go to bed.
However, there were days when Aria took Bonita to her workplace when she needed help, like holding fabric while sewing.
‘I can spend the whole day with mother!’
Delighted, Bonita joyfully bounced her short legs on the chair.
Meanwhile, Aria, who had sat down, picked up her utensils.
“Let’s eat, daughter.”
“Yes, mother!”
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.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
