In the deep forest, under the incessant drizzle of a late autumn rain, darkness quickly took over the space left by the setting sun. A small and frail figure scurried up the steep, pathless mountain like a squirrel.
“Whoa, whoa…”
Her two legs got tangled while racing on the slippery mud trail. Flailing her arms to find balance,
“Ah, ouch…!”
She ultimately slipped and tumbled into a puddle.
The girl got up, wincing in pain. She punched her hips and back, trying to ease the ache. Her clothes were completely soaked and muddied. Her dress, sleeves, and hem were torn, and there seemed to be no part left undamaged.
“Thank goodness I didn’t break the bottle.”
She held a small glass bottle close to her chest and let out a sigh of relief. Her breath formed white puffs in the chilly air. After wiping the rain from her eyes, she hurriedly resumed her climb.
After a while, she reached the top of the cliff where a waterfall revealed itself amidst the dense forest. Gasping for air, Arabell carefully stepped onto the slippery rocks.
She hopped across the river, arriving behind the waterfall where a cave entrance, covered in moss, awaited her. Arabell brushed aside the curtain of moss hanging at the entrance and entered the cave. The dying fire cast a ghostly glow inside. Her eyes caught sight of a mound of leaves and twigs beside the fire.
The leafy mound was moving slowly up and down. Sharp red eyes, hiding among the leaves, followed Arabell’s movements.
She addressed the leaf-covered mound with a gentle and clear voice, out of place in the dark, damp cave.
“Sorry for making you wait. I’ll warm you up in just a bit.”
Before finishing her sentence, she sat down in front of the fire, took out a small bottle from her pocket, and poured its clear liquid over the dying embers. The fire reignited, bringing warmth to her wet body. Finally, Arabell relaxed her tense shoulders.
The wary eyes of the beast watched as the girl approached. The gentle hands removing the leaves revealed a massive black panther, five times her size, lying beneath. Despite being wounded and motionless, its presence was overwhelming.
Growling softly, the panther’s large jaws could easily engulf Arabell’s slender neck.
“I know you’re hungry. I’m sorry this is all I have.”
Arabell sat in front of the panther, unwrapped her apron, and spilled the wild berries and cherries she had collected.
“I thought about stealing salted lamb from the kitchen, but my master said it’s harmful for an injured wild animal to eat human-seasoned meat. He suggested these wild fruits instead.”
The panther, too weak to even chew the fruits, lay motionless. Arabell’s eyes filled with pity as she saw this. Deciding she couldn’t watch it suffer any longer, she scooped up some fruits. She stuffed her cheeks with the sour and slightly bitter berries, chewing vigorously.
Shortly after, Arabell gently released the purple fruit juice from her mouth into her hand. Without hesitation, she pried open the panther’s large mouth, with fangs sharp enough to easily penetrate a knight’s iron armor. She fearlessly placed her hand dripping with fruit juice inside its mouth.
“Growl…”
The thirsty beast gulped down the juice flowing from Arabell’s hand, eagerly lapping up every last drop with its rough, thick tongue. The beast seemed to plead for more, fervently licking even the remnants of juice from her skin.
“Alright, I understand, but let go of my hand, please.”
Arabell softly stroked the panther’s ear with her other hand, gently coaxing it.
After repeating this process several times, when the panther finally let go of her hand, all the berries spread on the floor had disappeared, and her pink lips were stained a deep purple.
Although the thirst was somewhat quenched, the venom infiltrating the beast’s stomach started spreading rapidly throughout its body. In excruciating pain, the panther’s body heaved violently.
Arabell hurriedly took out the medicine bottle she brought with her. She carefully dripped the drops onto the panther’s wound, saying,
“This is from my father’s laboratory, used to treat wild animals injured in hunting grounds. But he has never treated an animal as large as you…”
As the yellow, viscous liquid touched the wound, white smoke rose with a pungent smell from the panther’s belly.
“Growl…”
The panther’s pained cries echoed across the cave floor.
“The medicine should have started working immediately after application.”
Arabell’s voice trembled as she watched the burning wound. Her large, kind eyes quickly filled with tears.
Instead of healing, the wound on the panther’s stomach worsened, bleeding profusely. The blood, which she had barely managed to clot in the morning, began to pool beneath the panther.
“I’m sorry… I think I made your wound worse…”
Large tears rolled down her cheeks, dropping to the floor.
“If only I had my family’s healing abilities, I could have healed you by now.”
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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