Sharti was threatened and unable to scream for help.
Feeling his heart shrink in fear, Dodint sensed that he had crossed paths with someone more ferocious than the mother bear.
Desperate to survive, Dodint struggled.
“Sorry! I didn’t know the woman had a man, aaah!”
“Why apologize to me? Ah, nothing in your head, so you just blurt out whatever, huh?”
“Augh! No, that’s not it… Aaargh!”
Ren’s voice remained eerily calm.
The emotionless tone, neither cold nor hot, was even more chilling.
Seeing Ren’s deep teal eyes through his swollen, half-closed eyelids, Dodint wished he could just pass out.
“I don’t want to die! Please, please save me!!”
Dodint gave up trying to block Ren’s punches and desperately pleaded for mercy.
Ren tilted his head slightly.
“I won’t kill you.”
He couldn’t kill someone, even a person like this. Murder would make him a real killer.
“I’ll stop just before you die. Shut up. I don’t want to hear you.”
As Ren raised his fist again, Dodint thought biting his tongue and dying might be better.
In that moment, Dodint recalled Ren’s words.
With his eyes tightly shut, anticipating the final blow, Dodint shouted with all his might.
“She said so too!”
The gamble worked. Ren’s destructive fist, more powerful than a bear’s paw, stopped just before striking Dodint’s nose.
Dodint trembled under the intense gaze of Ren’s dark, absorbing eyes.
All he could think about was finding a way to escape.
“She fooled you too, didn’t she? She told the villagers she couldn’t speak naturally!”
Ren’s muscles, which had been tense with fury, gradually relaxed.
It appeared as if Ren was disoriented by the feeling of betrayal.
Dodint, clutching his shattered jaw, stealthily surveyed his surroundings.
“Fooled me?”
Ren muttered to himself, his voice trembling with confusion.
‘…Sharti can speak?’
Trusting Dodint’s words was absurd. Besides, there was no way to verify his claim immediately.
But as Ren dwelled on Dodint’s words, he felt more and more confused.
‘She can speak, but chose not to…’
Ren thought of Sharti, who had only communicated through written notes.
It was hard to hear even a murmur or sleep talk from her.
Ren’s brow furrowed.
‘Why?’
Hiding her face was understandable. It was her secret, her personal matter.
But her voice was different.
‘Even in danger, she didn’t call out to me.’
She could speak, but chose silence.
Ren grimaced, recalling the trembling Sharti.
“….”
Dodint, still and silent, noticed Ren’s distraction. It was his chance to flee.
Mocking Ren for being enchanted by a pretty face, Dodint saw his opportunity and tried to escape.
Thump! Ren, without looking, struck Dodint squarely in the solar plexus.
Dodint collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
“I aimed for the neck, but missed.”
Ren sat in front of the unconscious Dodint, raising his eyebrows in frustration.
His concentration faltered as he thought of Sharti, and he had hit the solar plexus instead of the neck.
Ren began to strip Dodint’s clothes.
‘I heard Sharti’s voice, so I have to take him.’
Dodint had grossly misjudged the situation.
Ren didn’t feel betrayed by Sharti.
Instead, his desire to kill Dodint intensified after hearing a voice he had never heard before.
“Whew….”
After shoving the clothes he had stripped from Dodint into Dodint’s mouth and tying up his wrists and ankles, Ren, having stretched his stiff muscles, gazed up at the sky. The sky, which seemed to foreshadow the intrusion of the unwelcome guest, had neither rain nor thunder, only cold wind that reflected his chilling heart.
“…Sharti.”
He needed to hurry back.
Carrying Dodint, Ren felt an urgency and was soon running back to the log cabin faster than when he had been chasing him.
Upon reaching the old log cabin, Ren carefully laid Dodint on the ground so as not to alarm Sharti.
“…!”
Opening the door and entering the house, Ren was lost for words. The house was in disarray as if it had been burglarized.
‘Could it be…?’
Had Dodint’s accomplices been hiding?
As Ren rushed towards the bedroom, he heard a noise from the slightly open door of the herb room.
At the sight of Sharti in her familiar robe, Ren let out a breath he had been holding.
However, upon opening the door of the herb room, Ren’s expression turned into a frown.
“…What are you doing?”
Sharti was frantically stuffing herbs, blend records, books, and ointments into a bag, seemingly oblivious to Ren’s return.
“What on earth…”
It looked as though she was preparing to flee or escape.
As Ren stepped toward her, Sharti trembled, and a bottle she was holding fell and shattered.
Sharti hid her trembling hands in her robe and lowered her head.
“…Sharti.”
As Ren tried to approach, Sharti recoiled in alarm, pulling her hood over her head. Seeing this, Ren lowered his hand.
The way she looked now, scared and defensive, reminded Ren of her in the cave.
He should have comforted her. Told her not to be afraid, that he had captured Dodint who had threatened her. But instead, his raw emotions took over.
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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