Seo Ha stared back at Kyung Joon’s piercing gaze.
He was the man who had plotted to take over the company after using his secretary as a pawn, all while maintaining an innocent face as he grilled clams. He was clever and meticulous. His question couldn’t have been an offhand remark.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“You smell like Yoon Seo Ha.”
Kyung Joon stood up and leaned forward. It seemed as if he were really trying to catch Seo Ha’s scent.
“You’re very alike. Your way of speaking, habits, and actions.”
“I guess we just happen to resemble each other.”
“Even that brazen look in your eyes.”
It was unclear who was accusing whom of having a brazen look in their eyes. Seo Ha did her best to straighten her furrowed eyebrows.
“Let’s say you’re right, and we’re friends. That’s a personal relationship, so I don’t understand why you’re questioning me like this.”
“This. This is Yoon Seo Ha’s design.”
Kyung Joon picked up the first design Seo Ha had placed on the desk and held it up in front of her.
“I guess you thought I wouldn’t know. This is the last design Yoon Seo Ha submitted before her accident. You copied it, got caught by me, and then, acting like it was your own identity, you brought other designs to show me. Am I wrong?”
“…”
Seo Ha was confused.
The original of this design was in a safe. The password for the safe, which would lock forever if the password was entered incorrectly five times, was known only to Seo Ha and her mother.
But how did Kyung Joon know about it?
Amidst the confusion, a memory floated into Seo Ha’s mind.
The day they first met in front of the CEO’s office, the design book that had fallen on the floor. Kyung Joon, who had looked closely at it instead of returning it.
He had recognized the sketch he had seen just once and remembered it. He was even more frightening than she had thought.
“So, you have proof that this is Yoon Seo Ha’s design?”
“Chairman Kang’s condition is gradually improving. Once he fully recovers, we’ll be able to retrieve the design from the safe.”
Her mother was getting better?
Her heart pounded with excitement, and her nose tingled with happiness. Memories of building a future together with her mother in this company surfaced, and a wave of longing washed over her.
She had to hang on a bit longer. She had to protect the company.
“You figured it out precisely.”
Seo Ha raised her head and spoke indifferently.
“That’s right. This is Yoon Seo Ha’s design.”
“Are you that confident? Have you forgotten the bet that you would clean up your desk if you stole someone else’s design?”
She had clearly said that if she had stolen the design, she would clean her desk.
Even now, Seo Ha had no reason not to be confident. If Kyung Joon knew the secret of that design, Seo Ha also knew Kyung Joon’s secret.
“Aren’t you, Secretary Ryu, the one who’s too confident?”
Kyung Joon furrowed his brow.
“What do you mean?”
This time, Seo Ha leaned forward. Her nose came so close to Kyung Joon’s chin that it almost touched it.
“Secretary Ryu, you’re a spy for the Taeyang Group.”
“…!”
As she spat out the words she had been mulling over, it felt as refreshing as swallowing carbonated water.
“That’s right. I’m Yoon Seo Ha’s friend. I also know that you’re the hidden son of Chairman Ryu of the Taeyang Group, and that you tried to forcibly take over this company by finding Chairman Kang’s weakness. And…”
Seo Ha looked around Kyung Joon’s office, which was as spacious as the CEO’s office, and smiled.
“I know that the shareholders and executives of Kang Yoon Corporation have no idea about it.”
Faced with such accurate accusations, Kyung Joon closed his mouth.
Yoon Seo Ha never even dreamed that she would catch on to his true identity, let alone tell her friend about it.
“Are you threatening me now?”
“You’re using informal language again. Since it’s come to this, shall we speak more casually? We’re the same age, after all.”
Now that there was nothing to fear, Seo Ha casually moved her eyebrows with ease.
“It’s not a threat; it’s a negotiation. I’ll keep my mouth shut, and so will you, Kyung Joon. Everything stays the same as it has been. Nothing changes.”
Now, she was completely Yoon Seo Ha. Kyung Joon wouldn’t be surprised if she were actually Yoon Seo Ha, speaking through someone else’s body.
“What’s your reason for going to such lengths to stay attached to this company?”
“To become a designer. I’ve always been envious of Seo Ha.”
The current Seo Ha really was envious of Seo Ha.
She envied not the Jo Seo Ha who fought to protect the company with nothing and took up a knife for revenge against her husband, but the Yoon Seo Ha who could throw divorce papers in her husband’s face and stand up.
“That’s it? You’re envious of Yoon Seo Ha, so you want to become like her?”
“It’s not a small thing. You were envious of Yoon Seo Ha too, right?”
“Me? Envious of Yoon Seo Ha?”
Seo Ha laughed again.
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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