157.
Johannes looked at his sister with moist eyes. His sister pulled away from him. Johannes could not bring himself to grab his sister as she backed away, stumbling, to the outside of the chest. He just watched her, breathing heavily. His sister’s pale gaze searched all over his face.
“You…. make me…. feel bad.”
That tone. It was like a dagger to Johannes. But he did not let out even a groan. He just stared at her blankly, as if possessed. His sister, standing restlessly, finally spat out with a blue-hot fury.
“Do I look that easy to you…? How could you misunderstand me so much.”
“…..”
“You cannot harm me.”
It seemed almost arrogant, beyond naive assertion. Johannes, unable to counter for a while, finally burst out questioning.
“…On what grounds are you so confident?”
“No… even before that. I don’t understand from the beginning. Me being harmed by you. How do you intend to harm me?”
“…..”
“Are you going to hit me? Or curse at me? Impossible.”
“What’s impossible? Me laying hands on you? Or do you think I can’t even curse?”
“No. That’s not it…. I don’t… know, I don’t know….”
“…..”
“You’re… my brother, aren’t you?”
His sister’s expression was truly puzzled, her eyes reflecting her own confusion at her answer. At her question seeking agreement, Johannes somehow felt miserable and shut his mouth tight. Yes, even if there was no other woman in the world who cherished her brother as much as you, he could not bring himself to bluntly say that you were such a filthy woman. Fortunately, before he could get indignant, his sister spoke first.
“Yes, perhaps you could act intimidating. But whatever you do, I wouldn’t care even the tip of a needle? I might just sneer at most.”
“Do you… think I’m a pushover?”
He didn’t mean to ask that, but he suddenly felt enraged. You, who were so powerless in front of Javier. Seeing you like that, not knowing at all what kind of thirst I’ve been suffering from all this time. As his sister was about to answer, he unconsciously stood up and took a step. He had come out of the chest and stood in the room without even realizing it. He just kept pressing, not giving an inch to his sister standing before him.
“What if I tie your wrists? What if I strip off your clothes? Could you even move, let alone sneer?”
“Why strip the clothes? What kind of example is that.”
“Just answer. I’m asking if you could.”
“I could.”
“How?”
“I’d scream. Tell you to stop.”
“What if I don’t care?”
“I’ll beat you to a pulp.”
“With your hands tied?”
“I have legs, don’t I?”
“I tied your ankles too.”
“Can’t I untie them?”
“Let’s say you can’t.”
“I’ll cry.”
“What if I don’t care about that either?”
“You!”
His sister, who had been gradually filling with indignation, cut off Johannes’s question with a shout. Then, as if startled by her own voice, she opened her eyes wide. Covering her mouth briefly with one hand, his sister continued.
“You… think you could endure not caring? I would cry so pitifully.”
“What good would crying do?”
“What do you mean? Listen, I’m saying I would cry pitifully to death. How could you do this to me, you son of a bitch. That I hate you so much my heart is breaking. I guarantee you’d be the one squirming then? You’d be at a loss, wanting to comfort me. You’d quickly untie me and apologize, saying you were wrong. Then Johannes. At that time….”
“…..”
“I wouldn’t let you off easy. I’d trample you so you couldn’t even make a peep. How dare you… How could you harm me? The very idea makes me sick….”
“…..”
“So I won’t stop until my anger subsides.”
“…..”
“Are you confident you can handle that? Go ahead and try to harm me if you think you can. In my opinion, you can’t. Even if you do, I won’t allow it. You can’t. So….”
“…..”
“So it’s impossible.”
It was then that Johannes’s eyes caught a heart-pounding pretext. His sister’s voice, muttering to herself as if truly bewildered, why do you keep… why are you asking such things, barely registered in his ears. He just felt an indescribable sense of relief welling up. And at that moment, strangely enough, he lost all fighting spirit.
Though he had been aiming his spear, wringing out all sorts of emotions against the external pressure that was bearing down on him, now that he had come to this point, there seemed to be no one to fight.
His willful, selfish, and arrogant sister. And thus, his strong sister. The one he couldn’t help but love, the one he couldn’t bear without sharing love with, his….
It seemed that against such a sister, even a generations-old curse would not dare exert even the power of a cat’s claw. Facing his sister, who seemed like she would sustain him, he felt like he could tear open his chest and give her his heart right then and there, and he almost pulled her close.
I can’t let ‘you’ go.
He blurted out.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Shut up…. What are you suddenly sorry for…. Do you think words are enough?”
His sister’s words were sharp, but their color was now more sorrowful than ever. Johannes unconsciously placed his hand on her cheek. The ice-blue gaze of his sister glaring at him seemed like it would freeze his tongue if he touched it.
“I’m sorry…. Inet.”
“…I don’t believe you. I hate you. I don’t need you anymore.”
“You do need me…. Come here.”
Johannes’s fingertips, fumbling upwards, found his sister’s fingertips hanging down below. Brushing up lightly, he gently grasped her wrist.
“You… said you hate me….”
His sister lowered her head, pressing her sobbing chest with her remaining hand. Yes, now he couldn’t let go. And if possible, he hoped she would remain ill for a long time. To be fully exposed to the bitter wind of the women’s quarters, to be sick to the point where she would have no choice but to accept her brother, him. May you be sick for a long time…. So that she wouldn’t even realize that the bloodline resembling her was her hell. He hoped he could seep into her like black water, without any omen.
“Come here.”
“…..”
“Let me hold you.”
“…..”
“…Please.”
“…..”
He even saw hope. The sight of his sister’s furrowed brow slowly crumbling at his desperate plea was the very basis of that hope. Different as she may be, she’s a woman who even revived the brother who abused her in the past for the sake of blood ties. Who could guarantee that she wouldn’t repeat that act if he was just her brother?
And surely, the you of now will be able to handle me.
His sister’s hand left Johannes’s grasp and went behind his back. Her small body flowed into his embrace as if melting. Johannes was not unaware that his pounding heart was nausea. But he confessed, placing his ear to hers.
“I.”
“…..”
“I… you… more….”
Missed you.
He couldn’t finish the sentence. He closed his eyes, still holding his sister. It was only much later that he realized the pain crumbling his spine had completely stopped. Johannes gasped at the sensation of formless, colorless blood evaporating from his veins. He sensed it. The devil… the curse was fading. If only his sister would stay by his side, soon all his internal organs would be swept away by a tidal wave, leaving only a thin shell with the meaningless name of Johannes.
He knew.
“Johannes….”
“…..”
“Are you crying?”
“…Huh?”
“Are you crying…?”
“…..”
“What? Why. Why are you crying….”
His sister’s tears, flowing along as she continuously caressed his eyes and cheeks, seemed to moisten his dry throat. He could barely open his eyes, keeping them half-closed. He just breathed peacefully in his sister’s sweet tears. Even if he were to die by her hand before ever winning her heart, having his desire discovered, it would be fine.
He couldn’t let go.
***
His sister gathered the scattered pillows and patted them to make them comfortable for lying down. Soon she snuggled into Johannes’s side, who was already lying down. The way she curled up with her head inside made it seem like she would fall asleep the moment she closed her eyes. Johannes turned to lie facing his sister.
“…Perhaps you don’t want to spare me and cheer up at the same time?”
It was a question he threw out, not wanting to put her to sleep early.
“What are you talking about?”
“You said you’d bite and not let go if I harmed you.”
“Well…. I don’t know. It depends on what you do.”
His sister yawned softly against his chest. Tears seemed to form a little in the corners of her eyes, scrunched up with sleepiness. Is it wrong to coax her more? Johannes, anxiously looking at the part in her hair, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and buried his nose in it.
“Smash my head….”
“…Huh?”
“If I pounce on you, stab a knife in the back of my neck, saying ‘you ignorant son of a bitch’. Then I probably won’t be able to move for a while.”
“Look at your language. When did you become so vulgar? I heard Winfrid talks just like this these days, I guess he learned it all from you.”
“Oh, it’s not like that.”
“It is. And of course I’ll do that, but what if you really die?”
“…It doesn’t matter.”
It would be fortunate if I died. Johannes found this amusing thought strange. How could his heart be so light? For some reason, he slowly rubbed his ears, which were starting to flush, against his sister’s parting.
“While you’re at it, never forgive me.”
“You… seem to secretly think I might forgive you.”
“I’m not that presumptuous.”
“…..”
“It’s just an old man’s worry.”
“Don’t worry at all. I won’t forgive you. I’ll be angry for life. I’ll get an iron mace and wait for the day to strike you once. To the point your heart can barely handle it. So that you’ll wake up startled even in your sleep from fearing me so much.”
“…Will you really?”
“Of course. I’ll take revenge. And I’ll laugh so heartily that your chest will ache.”
“…..”
“It seems you prefer it that way too, don’t you? Johannes.”
“Huh? No, I’d prefer to be forgiven.”
“For someone who says no, your expression is too bright.”
“Hmm….”
Johannes closed his eyes, barely responding. His eyelids felt unbearably heavy. It felt like a year’s worth of fatigue was all gathering in his eye sockets. Suddenly, his sister, who had raised her upper body from within his arms, pushed his shoulder with a thud.
“But you! No matter how much I say it’s okay, why don’t you promise never to harm me? Huh?”
“What’s the point of promising something impossible anyway…. It’s futile.”
“You’re going to act only for your convenience? You’ve gotten weaker in the short time I didn’t see you. How can a person be like this.”
“…I don’t know, I….”
“Ah, ah…! You’re completely like a monster.”
“…Mm.”
“…Hey!”
***
That night, Johannes saw something strange.
A vision. Or was it a mirage?
He walked through clear air. There, like a world on the border of a duchy, was a forest with no trace of civilization, and in the mist-covered surroundings, the scent of rain-soaked earth was transparent. From somewhere, the cry of an unknown bird rode on a long wind. The green leaves that cried woo, woo shone with dazzlingly dense shade like water scales. And towering high above that verdure was.
His sister’s tower….
Surely a tower built by the voice of God. The white plastered walls untouched by human hands scattered the remnants of sacred light like dust. In that single open window frame sat his grown sister, humming an unfamiliar song.
Her golden hair, which she combed down with her fingertips as if playing a melody, hung down to below the window frame, slowly breaking apart. That allure. Johannes was blinded alive. Like an unclean beast, he staggered over and placed his hand on the plastered wall. At some point, his sister, who had noticed Johannes in the breeze, looked down at him and beckoned.
Come here.
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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