Adel rubbed her tired eyes with her fingertips. It was because she hadn’t slept until dawn, rewriting a letter stained with ink the previous night. Even after drinking several cups of strong tea to wake up, her head still felt foggy.
‘I had no idea the Duke would come to see me in the middle of the night. And after the way we parted…’
The reason for his visit was trivial. It was almost a tantrum, asking why they weren’t sleeping together.
That, at least, had calmed the fear she had been feeling.
‘It seems he thought we always slept together because I’ve been watching over him for the past few days.’
Valentin had miraculously returned from death, meaning he was a being whose health could deteriorate at any moment. Especially ‘sleep’ was the most unstable factor.
It seemed he had mistaken her presence in the bedroom for sleeping together.
‘And I hardly kept a proper vigil. I was so tired I would pass out.’
She had meant to doze off in the chair at the head of the bed, but every time she came to her senses around dawn, she found herself on the bed, tightly embraced by Valentin’s arms.
For Adel, who was sensitive to even the slightest disturbance in her sleep, it felt as if she was being possessed by a ghost each time.
‘Last night, I ended up in his bed again.’
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she recalled the incident. It was an indiscretion far removed from proper etiquette.
‘According to the etiquette I was taught…’
Couples of dignity should sleep separately, and even if they spent the night together, it should be done discreetly. It was scandalous to lie in the same bed until dawn.
Adel had learned such ‘etiquette’ by heart before getting married. She had been told hundreds, if not thousands of times, that it was the holy ground a lady of her standing must uphold.
But then.
‘We’re married… aren’t we?’
Valentin’s sorrowful face lingered in her mind. Of course, there were still eerie aspects. Until a few hours ago, he had struggled to speak, barely mimicking the words she said, and suddenly he started a conversation.
Regardless, he had mobilized every word he had ever heard to insist, and Adel ended up sweating trying to explain.
‘There are rules even married couples must follow.’
‘Ah, that.’
‘Doing this goes against the etiquette…’
‘It doesn’t matter, we have to… do this.’
Adel sighed softly. After a long verbal struggle, she had given in first. There was no reputation to lose since they had been doing it for days anyway.
‘The biggest problem is not being able to sleep properly.’
Truthfully, the most troublesome part was that having Valentin by her side made it difficult for her to fall asleep. Perhaps it was because she had spent her life sleeping alone? Even her husband’s body heat felt awkward and uncomfortable.
Besides, strictly speaking, they had never truly spent a ‘night’ together. It was impossible to relax and rest comfortably sharing a bed under such circumstances. Adel pressed her tired eyes with her hands and yawned.
“Lady Adel!”
The stewardess, carrying a heap of ink-stained laundry, stopped Adel. Surprised, Adel looked at her. The woman, usually cold-eyed and keeping her distance, rarely initiated conversation.
“What is it?”
Adel asked, lifting the laundry basket. Stewardess Margaret seemed momentarily at a loss for words, probably not expecting that Adel would do her own laundry.
“Please give me the laundry. I will send maids to take care of it from now on.”
Adel watched the stewardess taking the basket from her hands, a bit puzzled by her unusual behavior.
The stewardess Margaret Adel knew had never shown much interest in whether Adel did the laundry, drew well water, or did needlework to scrape together some savings. It had been like that consistently for the past three years.
There could only be one reason for such a woman to change her behavior overnight.
“Is the Duke looking for me urgently?”
“No, he isn’t.”
Adel blinked in surprise.
“Then why, all of a sudden, what’s the matter…”
“It may be presumptuous of me to say, but from now on, Lady Adel, you won’t need to go to the north tower anymore.”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
“You must be aware that the quarters intended for the lady of the house have been under repair for a long time. Consequently, we provided a temporary room in the north tower.”
Margaret’s cheeks were slightly flushed. It seemed she herself knew that her explanation was merely an excuse.
“That was the case.”
“Fortunately, the repairs were completed yesterday. If it’s convenient for you, I can show you the room right now.”
Adel looked at Margaret, who stood respectfully in front of her, with a mix of surprise and bitterness.
‘Repairs that had been postponed for three years are suddenly completed just as Valentin comes back to life? Nobody would believe that. Whether the room repairs were a mere pretext or an ignored truth, the implication was the same.’
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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