Originally, having a meal together in a meeting for building rapport or negotiation would double the likelihood of success.
On top of that, he had previously asked Kyleius to find out what the sibling liked most.
Knowing that the fouryearold sibling’s favorite thing was chocolate cookies, winning over the child’s heart was just a matter of time.
“Father, then I’ll see you at mealtime.”
[This is a time separator.]Back in his room, Clements read his favorite book, waiting for the promised time.
With about 10 minutes left, Clements closed the book and left the room.
It was pure coincidence that he ran into a girl in a bright yellow dress in the corridor.
Seeing Sophia and Delma attending to the child, he knew without asking that this child was the sibling his father had brought home.
The little hairpin stuck in her hair was even polkadotted yellow.
Seeing the hairpin and clothes matched, it seemed that she had dressed up to meet him.
Her body stiffened with surprise, looking like a startled chick.
Clements unwittingly covered his mouth with one hand.
‘…Small.’
The child his father brought was much smaller than he had thought.
Expecting something special because she was to play the part of father’s daughter, she looked no different from any other child, except for her black hair.
Examining the child closely, her tense face caught his eye.
Perhaps it was because, unlike other children, she immediately showed wariness towards me.
‘Is she scared?’
Clements knew that he had inherited his father’s disposition.
And that others didn’t think so. Clements had never revealed that likeness to his father.
It might not matter to his powerful father, but he knew it would do him no good, as he was still young and had no authority.
The reason Clements always smiled and acted kindly to everyone was simply because of that.
So from Clements’s perspective, this child, who was scared at the sight of him, was a first.
‘She’s a bit different from the others.’
He was a bit taken aback, but that was all.
Clements didn’t care. Rather, seeing a child scared of him, he smiled more softly.
Anyway, seeing his sibling, he felt he might understand his father’s feelings a little.
‘…She’s a bit shabby.’
So she openly guarded herself against him, but her attitude didn’t bother him much.
It was as if a little chick was flapping its wings, trying to run away from me.
‘She must not run away.’
In any case, both he and his father needed this child.
Clements willingly extended his hand to his shy new sibling.
“Going to the restaurant? Let’s go together.”
The child hesitated and did not easily reach out his hand.
Only after Delma, who was next to him, lightly pushed the child’s back, did the child reluctantly and slowly take a step.
He stood by me like that, but the child stubbornly spoke without taking my hand.
“I can walk by myself.”
It didn’t matter up to this point. Children at this age always claimed they could do anything by themselves.
It was that age when the twins first came to the Duke’s house.
Clemens casually withdrew his outstretched hand.
“Alright, shall we go then?”
“Yes.”
Clemens slowed his pace to match the child’s walk.
“You heard about it, right? Diane Crustel. A new name given by your father?”
“Yes.”
“Your father gave you a beautiful name. I’m Clemens.”
“Uhhuh, I know.”
He said he was four years old, but he communicated quite well. The image of the twins first coming to mind automatically entered Clemens’ mind.
There was no choice but to compare them to the twins running around the house.
‘So that’s why that child bragged so much about his sibling.’
The ‘that child’ Clemens recalled was his roommate.
His roommate had a younger sister. He would boast so much about her while he suffered due to the rambunctious twins.
‘My sister loves it when I read her fairy tales. But what’s funny is that she falls asleep as soon as I read the book?’
How adorable it was when she lay on his lap and slept, he would boast with an annoying look.
In truth, after hearing that, Clemens once took the twins to the bookstore.
And the secret he could never tell his roommate was that as soon as they entered the bookstore, the twins played a prank and burned all the books.
Now he won’t have to hear that boasting anymore. For whatever reason he brought the child, he now has a similaraged younger sister.
‘I’ll have to befriend her first, though.’
Kids of this age come over easily if you treat them with a smile.
Clemens stopped walking for a moment and bent his knee to match the child’s eye level.
The child’s eyes widened, looking at him.
What are you doing? A question mark appeared on her face.
Clemens suppressed a laugh that threatened to escape.
‘I’ll have to teach her later.’
Revealing her thoughts through her expression was likely to be disadvantageous when she later entered society.
‘That’s something I can teach her over time.’
Now it was time to become friends.
Clemens reached into his pocket and pulled out a cookie with chocolate chips embedded.
“Here, this.”
Then, a look of confusion came over the child’s face.
When Clemens felt puzzled, Delma rejoiced.
“Oh my, did you prepare this for the young lady?”
Diane hesitated, and Clemens felt an inexplicable impatience.
The child’s response that followed was a little, no, quite unexpected.
“No, no.”
Clemens’s mouth, which was softly curved, suddenly stiffened.
To him, Diane replied again as if driving in a nail.
“I don’t want to eat it.”
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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