Meiana’s lips parted.
“Is that really true?”
“I wish I could say it’s a joke, but unfortunately, it’s true.”
“How could she not know about the pregnancy and childbirth?”
Sediloi said, “Ash’s wife… she wasn’t ordinary. She often didn’t come home because she lived in the houses or mansions of her lovers. Ash knew about that side of his wife from the beginning but never said anything from the start. They didn’t fall deeply in love in the first place and got married. It was just a decision between the families, so Ash probably didn’t care either way. Even so, he’ll stay.”
He’ll stay after all. Meiana silently agreed.
“Moreover, university professors are busy. Ash was especially intense. He taught advanced composition, literary research, and astronomy at the university simultaneously. If he slept for three or four hours a day, it would have been a lot, so he probably couldn’t afford to care about whether his wife was there or not.”
Meiana, checking the color of the thread, leaned towards the candlelight for a moment and quickly raised her head, as if she was afraid the faint light would burn her bangs. Then, she shook her head and threw the entire sewing material into the basket, as if putting it there.
Sediloi continued, “But when it came to actually getting a divorce, his wife insists that it’s absolutely impossible from her side. So Ash… entrusted all the legal procedures to a proxy and came here.”
It must have felt similar to resigning and disappearing. Meiana thought. Shocking stories related to Ash Lauren were making her head spin.
Sediloi hadn’t touched the glass of grape wine he had offered to Meiana, but his mind seemed elsewhere, as if he had already finished a strong drink.
Sediloi pushed the empty glass to the side and shifted his posture a bit more leisurely.
“Oh, right. Tomorrow afternoon, Arianthe will have a guest.”
Meiana looked at him as if asking what he meant.
“The guest of the Duchess?”
“Silas, the one who came to the tea party last time. He sent a letter asking if he could come to visit. To me. He said Arianthe would be bored since she can’t go out for a week.”
Silas. As she repeated the name in her mind, she finally remembered. The boy who took care of Arianthe, and stood up for her when a fight broke out.
Meiana nodded.
“That’s good. What time is it? I’ll prepare.”
“After lunch. If you finish preparing by two, it should be fine.”
“I’ll do that.”
“And a letter arrived for you too.”
Meiana’s puzzled gaze turned toward Sediloi.
“For… me? I don’t have anyone to send me a letter.”
“I thought the same, but there’s no one in this house with the name ‘Meiana Dohn.’ So it must be a letter for you.”
Sediloi opened a small cupboard next to the sofa and handed her an envelope. It clearly said ‘Meiana Dohn’ on the outside, and in the space for the sender’s name, there was a short name.
“From Mr. Luke…”
Meiana unconsciously mumbled and then, surprised, closed her lips. ‘Luke.’ It was clear.
Sediloi said, “I haven’t opened it because it seemed like an important letter. But I’m curious… who is Luke to write you a letter?”
Meiana, who had been staring at the letter, looked up at Sediloi for a moment with a stiff expression.
She couldn’t explain why she had reacted so sharply in that moment. Receiving a letter from Luke was unexpected, and it was difficult to describe why she had become sharp in response to Sediloi’s question.
Even Luke, who had some inexplicable similarities—completely different in personality—made Meiana associate uneasy meanings with Ash Lauren’s arrival at the Duke’s residence today. It was a brief momentary thought, quickly dismissed, but…
“This person…”
Meiana hesitated, and Sediloi looked at her more intently.
“He’s someone I happened to meet. He works at the post office.”
“But why would that person send you a letter?”
Instead of answering that she was also curious, Meiana, intending to answer, tore the letter with her hand. At that moment, Sediloi’s expression passed through surprise and then curiosity.
It was like the expression of a mischievous child discovering an egg in a new nest, but fortunately, Meiana did not see that as she was busy pulling out what was inside the envelope.
Meiana unfolded the neatly folded letter with a slightly hesitant gesture. Seeing the words ‘Dear Miss Dohn’ at the top, she… then looked at Sediloi again.
“Surely I don’t have to read this out loud, right?”
Sediloi raised one eyebrow slightly.
“I am your employer; I could give you such an order.”
“Are you saying you would?”
With a tilted head, Sediloi’s shoulders swayed gently. He smiled quietly for a moment and then extended his hand in a very leisurely manner.
“Alright. I don’t have such a morbid hobby. Reading someone’s diary or inspecting each letter, that sort of thing. Do as you please unless you want to read it out loud in front of me.”
The contents of the letter were as expected and not particularly moving… at least, that’s how Meiana felt. However, when writing this, she could vividly imagine the expression Luke would have had.
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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