‘Did my mother feel the same way?’
He couldn’t even remember his mother’s face now. When he was young, he resented his mother, who had only burdened him.
If she had abandoned him at an orphanage, at least he could have had two meals a day without worrying. Now he realized how his mother must have felt, just harboring resentment.
“Larisa.”
“Yes?”
“You also said you envied the orphans.”
“Huh?”
“Have you ever resented your mother?”
Larisa tilted her head and grinned.
“Why?”
“If your mom had abandoned you at an orphanage… No.”
Grenavier swallowed the words he intended to say. Larisa tilted her head to the other side and said,
“I was happy living with my mom.”
“Even if Marina mistreated you?”
“Even if my mom couldn’t earn money, she was the kindest and most beautiful. Her voice was lovely, she sang lullabies, played with me, and even made cakes. Everyone envied our mom.”
“I see.”
“I was proud of my mom the most.”
“Sure.”
Larisa smiled and added,
“I like you too.”
“…Sure.”
Grenavier hugged Larisa, who was walking well for no apparent reason. The giggling laughter tickled his ears.
During the weekend dinner, Grenavier spoke first.
“There’s no orphanage in the territory.”
“What?”
“An orphanage.”
William put on a serious expression.
“Oh, it might be needed someday… But, I’m still afraid of building an orphanage. What if people abandon babies and leave once it’s built…”
“People who want to abandon will do it regardless of whether there’s an orphanage.”
William’s complexion stiffened. Orphanages, communal graves, the lord’s castle, etc… The unresolved problems seemed like a mountain.
“William, we need to build an orphanage sooner than other things.”
“Why?”
“So that women can work freely.”
William looked perplexed.
“Make people abandon their children?”
“People who want to abandon will do it regardless of whether there’s an orphanage. What I mean… Fine, let’s call it something else then. How about a daycare center?”
“A daycare center?”
“During the day, leave the child at the daycare center and pick them up at night. Of course, some may still abandon their child. But even doing just that will increase productivity. People will worry less about their children.”
William looked at Grenavier with a strange expression.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s just surprising to see Mother taking an interest in the territory’s affairs.”
“We had women like Marina in our territory too.”
“…”
“There must be more. People who can do things other than farm work.”
William nodded. Although he acted composed earlier, he was secretly harboring such thoughts.
‘Mother has changed!’
After finishing the meal, while walking through the corridor, William asked Larisa.
“Lara, what happened while I was away?”
“Huh?”
“Mother seems to have changed a bit. Showing interest in the territory’s affairs and all.”
“We had fun, going for walks in the territory and playing together.”
William marveled.
“You went for a walk in the territory?”
“Yeah. I begged her to show me around the territory, and she went with me.”
“Impressive…”
Not knowing what it was about, Larisa felt pleased to receive praise. Shrugging her shoulders, she said,
“Mother does everything I ask her to!”
“That she does.”
After a brief pause, William grabbed Larisa and spoke.
“Larisa, I have a favor to ask.”
“Yeah?”
“Can you go on a territory inspection with Mother more often?”
“What’s a territory inspection?”
“A walk. A stroll around the territory.”
“Why?”
We’ve already seen everything. As Larisa tilted her head, William urgently said,
“The territory will keep changing. We’ll continue to build new buildings…”
“Will you plant lots of flowers?”
“Yeah. We’ll plant lots of flowers.”
“And trees?”
“Of course.”
“Wow!”
Larisa clapped her hands in delight.
“So, take Mother for a walk more often. Mother seems to have changed a bit because of you.”
“You think so?”
Holding William’s hand, Larisa began walking down the corridor. Being led by Larisa, William spoke.
“Well, maybe not changed much since you came.”
“No. It’s all thanks to William.”
“How do you know…”
Larisa opened her eyes wide as if to say, “Don’t you know?” and said,
“William is silly. Because of William, Mother is kind to me.”
William was shocked and froze. Did Larisa remember something from the past? Was she recalling what kind of relationship we had in the past?
Larisa, with her innocent expression, continued,
“Haven’t you noticed? William pities me.”
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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