Reforming the Villain Family (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 1
“Did I just mess with something I shouldn’t have?”
The woman, who had brought along her young daughter, trembled violently as she looked around at furniture and decorations she’d never even seen in her life.
Unlike herself and her daughter, dressed in ragged clothes, everything here was lavishly adorned with only the most valuable and exquisite items.
Her little girl anxiously scanned the surroundings as if she somehow understood the situation.
Regardless of her daughter’s reaction, the woman clutched tightly to the ring she’d brought with her.
“It definitely had the Duke’s seal on it,” she muttered to herself.
It was a ring without a single gemstone—something she’d left carelessly at home, thinking it worthless.
She’d all but discarded it, never imagining it belonged to such a powerful noble family.
“There’s no need to be afraid—the Duke won’t be able to say a word once he sees this ring.”
Her eyes briefly flicked toward the child beside her.
Her daughter’s hair was, after all, jet black—
completely unlike her own pale yellow-brown hair.
“Is that woman the one who brought the ring?”
The man seated in front pointed at her with an arrogant air.
At the sight, the child visibly flinched.
The woman dug her sharp nails into her daughter’s hand—a silent command to behave.
The man’s gaze briefly skimmed over the child before returning to the woman.
“The ring?”
“H-here it is!”
She immediately held out the ring with both hands.
At the man’s slight nod, a servant stepped forward and took the ring from her hands.
“Immediate verification is difficult, but to the naked eye, there are no signs of it being a counterfeit.”
Hearing this, the woman secretly smiled.
The man’s indifferent eyes swept over her once more.
She glanced up at him briefly, but as soon as their eyes met, she quickly lowered her gaze.
She didn’t mind his scrutinizing stare—in fact, it pleased her.
It felt like proof that he took an interest in her.
“T-this ring… His Grace the Duke gave it to me personally…”
She carefully laid out her claim.
“A few years ago… when he was heavily intoxicated, he spent the night with me… and I… I bore his child.”
From the side, she heard a servant gasp in shock.
Ignoring it, she forcibly dragged her daughter forward toward the Duke.
“This child… is His Grace’s child!”
At her words, the man let out a soft scoff.
“Oh?”
He gave a light, noncommittal response, and she let out a breath of relief—but that was all.
Coldly, he added, “I don’t remember any of it.”
“B-but you were very drunk that night…”
“No matter how drunk I was, I wouldn’t forget the face of a woman I held.”
The room’s atmosphere instantly plummeted.
Desperate and oblivious to the shift, the woman floundered as she continued, “B-but please check! This really is the token His Grace gave me!”
“And even if that’s true, how does that prove you bore my child?”
“W-well, obviously!”
“What’s to stop me from thinking you stole it?”
Stunned, the woman’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly.
Meanwhile, the man’s gaze had fixed intently on the child’s hair.
“Hmm… now that I look closely, it does seem faintly familiar.”
“!”
At his reaction, the woman’s head snapped up. A servant beside the man covered his mouth and asked quietly,
“What shall we do, my lord?”
“Hmm.”
The interest that had just been in his eyes vanished, replaced by a flat, emotionless tone that echoed through the room.
“She doesn’t appeal to me at all right now.”
At his words, the servant gave a short signal to the knights. Immediately, one of them stepped forward and dragged the woman and child out.
“Y-your Grace! Your Grace!”
Even as her child was taken away, the woman remained rooted in place without blinking.
Eventually, the other knights had to seize her and haul her out as well.
She cried out desperately—but the Duke never once lifted his eyes from the ring.
“My child…”
Only one image remained sharply etched in his mind:
the child’s eyes, unflinching even in fear.
[This is the timeline separator]It had been a day of loud, relentless rain since morning.
Not a single person was visible on the streets.
So when a young child was dragged by the hair through the streets, there was no one to call for help.
“Can’t you walk any faster?!”
The woman shouting in fury was my birth mother, Rebecca.
“I knew this would happen.”
I’d hidden inside the wardrobe the moment I got home.
But after drinking heavily all night, Rebecca had inevitably found me.
“You damn brat!”
She grabbed my hair and dragged me out into the rain.
She clearly didn’t care whether it was raining or not.
This time, Rebecca’s rage didn’t seem likely to fade anytime soon. I sighed and looked up at the sky—only to see nothing but thick, oppressive clouds.
“This is all your fault! All because of you!”
A passerby who noticed Rebecca muttering like a half-mad woman quickly turned and walked away, clearly unwilling to get involved in such a messy situation.
I remained silent, letting her words enter one ear and exit the other.
Rebecca was furious because of what had happened the day before.
Yesterday, she’d attempted an absurd scam—claiming I was the Duke’s daughter.
Naturally, the scheme had collapsed instantly. The Duke had only three sons—and even those were all adopted.
So the idea of him having a biological daughter was laughable—literally unbelievable, even to a stray dog.
But Rebecca hadn’t claimed I was his daughter without any evidence at all.
It had all started a few days earlier when she’d received a visitor at home.
Normally, Rebecca went out to meet clients—but that day, the man had come to our house, and I’d stayed hidden quietly in the corner.
I overheard him boasting about holding a count’s title, which confirmed he was a noble.
My misfortune began when that noble happened to find a ring lying around our house while drinking with Rebecca.
Upon seeing the engraving, he’d declared it bore the Duke’s seal.
Whether that was actually true or not, the next day Rebecca decided she had nothing to lose and dragged me straight to the Duke’s manor.
Surprisingly, the ring really did belong to the Duke—he kept it after seeing it.
We were allowed to stand before the Duke himself, but that was as far as it went. He was no fool to be deceived by such a flimsy act based solely on a small ring.
He dismissed us immediately, writing off Rebecca’s claims as nonsense. The only stroke of luck was that he let us leave unharmed and in one piece.
I privately guessed that the Duke must have been in a particularly good mood yesterday.
“If he’d been in a foul mood, we might’ve lost a finger each.”
But Rebecca seemed utterly unaware of how lucky we’d actually been.
“You worthless waste of space! I ought to throw you straight into the fire!”
A sudden jolt of pain in my head made my legs go weak.
“Ugh!”
“You useless maggot!”
As if that infuriated her even more, Rebecca hurled me to the ground.
My knees and palms stung as they hit the earth. The moment I fell, Rebecca kicked me hard in the stomach as if she’d been waiting for it.
The pain stole my breath, but I clenched my teeth and held back the scream.
“You stubborn brat—don’t you even cry when your mother disciplines you?”
She called this indiscriminate violence “discipline.”
I just glared at her silently.
“If I cry, she’ll just hit me harder.”
That had always been the way. When I cried from hunger as a child, I got slapped. When I whined from fear, I got kicked.
Once, she even threw an ashtray at my head.
I passed out then from the impact.
But after briefly regaining consciousness, I realized that incident hadn’t been entirely unfortunate—
because the blow had triggered memories of my past life.
This world was the very setting of a novel I’d read in my previous life.
And I knew the main male lead and villains at the heart of this world.
My recollection of the Duke being a villain had surfaced precisely because of those memories.
“Knowing all this won’t help me in this situation, though.”
From that point on, I never clung to her again.
I stopped begging for love as if she were the center of my world.
If she hit me, I endured it. If she starved me, I bore it. That was just how I lived.
At least I was used to it—my past life hadn’t been much different.
“You useless burden! A pathetic bug who’s never helped me once!”
I squeezed my eyes shut and wrapped my arms around my head.
I knew the more I resisted, the more violent she’d become—so I resolved to endure it quietly.
“I don’t care if I die like this.”
Even if I died, only a miserable life awaited me.
“I just wish this would end quickly.”
Just as I thought that, Rebecca stopped hitting me.
“What’s going on?”
I slowly lowered my arms and opened my eyes.
Rebecca stood frozen, her face blank like a fool.
The hand she’d raised to strike me was now held firmly by a stranger.
He was enormous and intimidating.
My first thought was: If he hits me, it’ll really hurt.
“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?!”
Rebecca, startled for a moment, quickly regained her temper and shouted. When she jerked her hand away, the man released her without resistance.
Emboldened slightly, she straightened up and snapped, “Who do you think you are, touching someone else like that?!”
“We’re not here for you—we want to speak with the child.”
“Then talk to me! I’m her mother!”
It was Rebecca who pulled me up from the ground, pinching my shoulder tightly.
“Can’t you even stand properly?!”
Instantly, the man’s gaze hardened. Noticing his expression, I couldn’t help but flinch in fear.
But then, his eyes softened just a fraction when they met mine. He spoke again.
“Please let go of the child—she looks exhausted.”
“What’s it to you? She’s my child, and I’ll discipline her as I see fit!”
I cautiously raised my head.
The man standing before us was a handsome young man.
Behind him stood several others of similar build.
At that moment, I noticed the emblem on the expensive carriage behind them—it looked strangely familiar.
“You call this discipline…?”
He gritted his teeth, muttering under his breath.
His eyes carefully scanned my face and body.
“He looks angry…”
“My child—what do you want with her?!”
I suddenly wondered:
Was Rebecca really that oblivious—or just completely fearless?
“Probably both.”
Lost in my thoughts, I watched as the man reached into his coat and pulled something out.
It was a round object wrapped in black leather, engraved with a silver emblem.
I recognized it immediately.
So did Rebecca—her hands began to tremble violently.
“We’re from the Leviche Knight Order.”
“W-why? Why have the knights come…?”
“We’ve come to find the Duke’s biological daughter.”
As I stared blankly at him, the man knelt down so his eyes met mine.
“We’ve come to escort you, my lady.”
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (118)
What is this? Is he trying to scare our little girl?
Oh, how pitiful our little one is! What is this? Is she really not his daughter? Why did he lie?
Well done, our little one, you’re very clever. Don’t let him deceive you. You must escape from this crazy duke.
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Miioo
Wow, what’s happening? Did he discover she’s his daughter very quickly?