Was it something the Duke left behind? Lina picked up what was rolling on the floor.
“This is…”
It was a ring. The one she had given to Mei before falling off the cliff.
Whether it was stepped on by a horse or not, it had long lost its original shape. But the still shining gemstone clearly belonged to her.
“Why would this…”
How many times had she touched and held it? Looking at the ring whose color had also faded, her breath felt stifled again.
With what thoughts and emotions did she carry this? Falling into despair once again, Lina quietly closed her eyes.
Then she reflected on the Duke once again.
He had pretended to be okay, but his trembling eyes and the voice that seemed to be suppressed but main were noticeable. And when leaving the room, even his staggering steps.
“Ha.”
Lina, who seemed to realize something, sighed softly.
“There’s no way it’s okay.”
Neither for that man nor for herself.
Can she really be happy after leaving Velige like this? Can she really live, turning a blind eye to the man struggling in pain?
She tightened her grip on the ring.
“No.”
It couldn’t be.
Absolutely not.
Lina’s shoulders trembled thinly.
And thud.
Suddenly, Lina kicked the door and rushed outside. Crossing the pitch-dark night where everyone had already fallen into a deep sleep.
“You didn’t love me enough to die for me?”
She recited the words she had only whispered in her mind.
“No way.”
Breathing heavily up to her chin, Lina looked around.
But there was nothing visible except for tall trees, and there was no trace of the one she wanted to find.
Has he already gone far away? In her impatience, Lina’s footsteps quickened.
However, due to her eyes not yet accustomed to the darkness, Lina fell to the ground.
Her clothes were miserably crumpled on the dirt floor, and her shoes, torn off due to the fall, were nowhere to be found.
“Ugh.”
Although her skin stung when she fell, it was too precious to take the time to take care of the wounds. Because she had something to say to him, she had to meet him.
Thus, when Lina barely got up again to run to find the Duke.
Thud.
The clock tower, rising high, began to ring, announcing midnight.
And.
“…Duke.”
Finally, the back of the man she was desperately looking for began to appear. She had thought he had already gone far away.
For some reason, the man was sitting on a downhill road, bowing his head.
His shoulders seemed to tremble as if it were because of the breath that rose to his chin. It was a precarious back that seemed to crumble forward at any moment.
“Duke…”
Suppressing the tears that were about to burst out again, Lina called out to the Duke. But due to the small size of her voice, it didn’t reach him.
Thud.
With the midnight bell tolling, reason tried to hold her back, but she couldn’t stop herself from moving towards him.
“Duke, actually, I…”
While endlessly reciting the words she couldn’t spit out due to a choked throat.
“I love you so much.”
The moonlight, previously hidden by clouds, gradually revealed itself.
“For you.”
Lina took one step. And then another. Approaching the man sitting.
“Even death is willingly.”
With all her strength, she shouted.
“Duke!”
Did Lina’s desperate plea fill the void left by the two people? Velige, who had raised his head as if frozen, turned around.
“…Lina?”
Thud.
Around the time the final bell began to resonate. Lina’s body began to change gradually.
Her shining hair, which had glowed like an orphan, began to lose its luster.
From Velige’s gaze, Lina changed. Into the appearance Velige had missed so much. Without avoiding the gaze of the Duke, Lina ran towards him.
Even if choosing that man’s future leads to her own destruction.
Now, it didn’t matter anymore.
Thud. Thud.
It was heavy.
Footsteps that seemed to be going nowhere. A heart that had become tattered. Everything felt heavy.
To take even one step was burdensome.
Lina is alive. And in such a healthy state. Wasn’t that what she had hoped for the most?
But. Why.
Soon, Velige, unable to take a few more steps, sat down on the ground.
“Why like this…”
Why does the heart feel empty? Why is breathing so painful?
Velige forced a bitter smile.
If you were living and breathing somewhere else, if you were happy not by my side,
That would have been enough.
But.
‘What meaning do such things have?’
Growing the territory, prospering the family, what use are those things? What he truly wanted was not by his side.
‘You’re not by my side.’
Velige clenched his fist.
It felt as if his whole body was soaked in rain even though it wasn’t raining.
I don’t want her to leave.
I don’t want to send her away.
I don’t want to let her go.
But still, I made this choice because.
“Because it’s what you want.”
Maybe I’ll regret it.
No, I will regret it. Surely, I’ll regret and agonize over the current choice. He might howl and desperately search for Lina every night.
Then, when he can’t bear it any longer, he might search for her again, scouring the continent.
But.
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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