Maeyana wanted to eavesdrop on what Cedric was saying to Joslin, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it to that extent.
It wasn’t because of a guilty conscience, of course. It was because Jemero, Cedric’s secretary, was staunchly guarding the closed door.
‘Jemero has been investigating Joslin, the housekeeper, all along…’
How much does he know? Did he find any clues? Why does Cedric believe in him in the first place…?
Upon stepping into an unexpected, enormous secret, endless questions raised their heads. While some of them were alleviated by conversing with Cedric, there were still numerous unresolved suspicions.
“Did Father come?”
Arianthe, who was having a meal, showed a slight reaction when she heard that Cedric was coming around evening. She even almost knocked over a plate in excitement upon hearing that they would spend the evening together.
“You should be careful, Duchess. By the way, do you like the soup?”
“Yeah, it’s delicious.”
That was one of the very few things Maeyana would heave a sigh about.
As soon as she could get up from the sickbed, she had to leave the mansion without even having the chance to see Cedric off. Then, the second-ranked chef became the new head chef, without even having the opportunity to hang on to Cedric.
After that, she decided that she would take care of all the things she had put off during this time.
There wasn’t much work to be done… Around three people, including herself and Vainty, would be enough to stay around Arianthe.
‘And a tea party!’
With clenched fists while being left behind, Maeyana tilted her head slightly toward Arianthe, who was eating dessert.
“Lady, if the Duke comes today, why don’t you talk about a tea party?”
Arianthe looked up at her.
“A tea party? Meeting friends?”
“Yeah. You said you’d like to meet friends of the same age. Since the Duke is here, it’s a good opportunity. Try mentioning that you want to have a tea party. He’ll surely allow it.”
Arianthe hesitated and then said.
“Why can’t you say it?”
“No, I can’t. It’s your tea party, not mine.”
With an immediate response without hesitation, the child’s eyebrows shot up.
“Why not?”
“Well, because it’s your tea party, not mine, Lady. If you want something, you should be able to tell the other person honestly.”
Arianthe’s lips swelled with dissatisfaction.
“I just don’t want a tea party. I don’t want to do it.”
This kind of thing is the same whether it’s a duchess or not. Maeyana thought.
From what she observed, Cedric also had something in common with Arianthe. Namely, their attitude when faced with emotional issues. An attitude of thinking it’s better to avoid rather than breakthrough…
While both of them could flawlessly handle other tasks, they didn’t seem to reflect or try to solve the problems that touched upon themselves.
Maeyana extended her lips as if pondering what to do, and then let out a short sigh.
“Alright, Lady. Let’s assume you don’t have to have a tea party. But what if there comes a time when you absolutely need to do something, something crucial that I can’t help with?”
Arianthe’s gaze seemed to be filled with fear, accompanied by what appeared to be anger.
“I said I would stay by your side!”
“Yes, you did. But it was only until you turned sixteen. Have you forgotten? What if, when you turn eighteen or twenty, what will you do? I won’t be around, and by then, Vainty will probably be too old to work.”
Vainty, who was listening, blinked at Maeyana, but for Arianthe, Vainty aging or not was not currently important. Arianthe couldn’t understand why Maeyana was scolding her, and it made her angry.
“I can do it then! I’ll be an adult!”
“What you can do when you become an adult, you can do even now.”
Arianthe snorted.
“Then I guess I can drink wine. I have to be an adult to drink wine, right? If I can drink it now, then I want to. Go and get some wine.”
Vainty held back laughter as she glanced at Maeyana, while Arianthe, with an annoyed expression, said, “That’s not related at all!”
“Why is it unrelated? If you want to drink wine like adults, you should be able to say what you want like adults. Lady, if you talk about what you want, people won’t hate you. Throwing a tantrum and saying what you want are different things.”
Maeyana accurately pointed out the concern that Arianthe was worried about. Arianthe’s fear of being rejected… Rejection is something everyone wants to avoid. Arianthe had a much stronger defense mechanism in such situations.
A sensitive and picky personality, along with numerous negative experiences, would have contributed to strengthening such tendencies.
Arianthe dropped her gaze sharply at Maeyana’s words. Her two feet, hanging like they were tied to a chair, swung lonely.
Maeyana continued, “I’m not scolding or disliking you just because I say this, you know?”
Arianthe’s gaze was abruptly directed at Maeyana.
“I don’t know.”
“Oh, you know.”
“I don’t know.”
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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