She let out a deep sigh and walked to leave the meeting room. She grabbed the red handle of the meeting room door and pulled it.
When Rosé opened the door, she was unable to hide her confusion.
“Madam!”
There were servants crowded at the door, which was why. They were full of napkins in their arms, looking at Rosé with worried expressions.
“What’s going on? Why are you all gathered like this? And what’s that in your hands?”
“Are you okay?”
“Madam! Are you alright?”
They didn’t answer Rosé’s question and instead looked at her face with teary eyes.
“Huh? Alright, what’s…”
“The previous Earl came and went, didn’t he?”
“Didn’t he say anything unusual today?”
The servants crowded around Rosé. They were all full of concern for Rosé.
‘Could it be… Are they gathered like this because of me? Are they worried about me?’
Rosé finally realized. The reason they had rushed over in such a hurry.
The worried expressions and napkins full in both hands.
They had rushed over to comfort Rosé. Because every time Cedric came, Rosé inevitably shed tears.
“I’m relieved. Today, you didn’t cry, Madam.”
Seeing the servants who had rushed for her, Rosé felt touched.
‘What have I done to deserve this…’
She didn’t know how the original Rosé treated them, but she had no memory of treating the servants well. Of course, she didn’t act badly either.
Despite doing nothing for them, they worried about her like friends, like family…
It was a warmth she hadn’t felt in a long time.
The feeling of not being alone, having someone by her side.
“We are always on your side, Madam.”
Just a single sentence, yet why did it provide such comfort?
“Thank you all.”
She thought she was alone, but Rosé wasn’t alone.
The huddled servants embraced Rosé.
Warm energy bubbled up. Spring had passed, but the springlike atmosphere gently permeated Rosé’s heart.
[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]At that moment.
Cedric and the man who had left the meeting room were looking around and exchanging secretive glances.
“So, you did the job well?”
“Yes. I have left ‘that thing’ in Rosé’s room as ordered.”
“You wrote the letter properly too?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve enclosed a letter under Earl Eric’s name. That maid will be thrilled, thinking the Earl gave her a gift without knowing anything.”
At the man’s words, a satisfied expression relaxed Cedric’s face.
Cedric’s purpose for seeking Rosé today was clear. To make Rosé pay for her insolence.
While he was with Rosé in the meeting room, he ordered his man to leave a ‘gift’ in her room.
He didn’t forget to say to disguise it like a gift from Eric.
If the usually condescending Cedric gave a gift directly, it might raise suspicions, he thought, and thus he devised this.
“She deserved the punishment for her insolence.”
“You’re right, Master.”
The man nodded, matching the beat to the pleased Cedric’s words.
“Good. There were no mistakes?”
“Everyone was focused on the meeting room, they didn’t even care about that woman’s room.”
“You did well. My plan worked perfectly.”
Cedric’s smirk, grinning maliciously, gave off a darkness rivaling Satan himself.
“The effect is assured, right?”
“Do not worry. We’ve finished all biological experiments, on animals and prisoners. The effects have been sufficiently verified as I reported.”
“I’m looking forward to it. The ‘product’ that will be unveiled to the world for the first time.”
A mixture of excitement and exhilaration was on Cedric’s face. However, strangely enough, an uneasy feeling was creeping up as well.
Everything was going according to my plan…
The face of Rosé flickered before Cedric’s eyes. No, to be precise, it was her mother, Libera.
‘Cedric.’
With the hallucination of the beautiful lady calling him, the image of Libera, smiling with her eyes halfclosed, flickered before his eyes.
Cedric swept away Libera who was stirring in his mind to a faroff place.
‘Unpleasant.’
He squirmed one of his eyebrows and chewed his lower lip. Then he moved his steps towards the basement storage within the mansion, with his aide.
The basement storage of the Earl of Wens, where no unauthorized person could enter.
Someone was sneaking into the secret storage where nobody should be.
“Oh dear, I’m sure it rolled in this direction.”
It was Jane.
Unaware that Cedric was coming, Jane was rolling her legs, searching for something.
Jane’s ring had rolled down the basement stairs and disappeared under the door gap.
While people’s attention was on Rosé and Cedric, she secretly took the key to the basement and entered.
If she was caught entering this place, not only would she be driven out, but she might also be severely punished.
But because the ring was so precious, she took the risk and snuck into the place.
ClumpClump.
Footsteps were heard.
Jane, who had been nervously waiting in the dark without even turning on the lights to avoid being caught, noticed it too late.
The sound of footsteps approaching this place.
“Gosh! No, no one’s coming, right?”
She had to hide quickly!
Jane froze stiff as the footsteps grew louder.
The sound of her pounding heart.
‘Wha, what should I do?’
Jane, panicked and unable to do anything,
Thump!
Heard the sound of the doorknob turning.
Her eyes, losing focus, shook like a tassel.
In the dim basement. As the old iron door creaked open, Jane’s pupils dilated.
A single ray of sunlight slipped in through the narrow gap in the door.
Along with the shuffling footsteps, a large shadow descended the stairs.
‘It’s clear that it’s the former Earl.’
Cedric, who had visited the Earl’s residence early in the morning.
His face came to mind. The only people who could enter the forbidden area were the Earl’s family.
Jane barely regained her composure and looked around. To find a place to hide before they fully descended.
As she was nervously turning her head,
Thud!
“Uh, uh!”
Someone covered Jane’s mouth from behind.
‘I, I’ve been caught!’
There was someone else in the basement with her!
Fear swallowed her whole, draining her of her color.
The more Jane struggled, the stronger the mysterious hands gripped her.
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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