In a hotel, a coffee shop with a gentle melody playing.
Jiwon wiped his pale face harshly.
In front of the cool-faced man, a woman shed tears continuously.
The woman, who was the seventh and hoped to be the last marriage candidate, sent multiple calls and messages filled with heartfelt love confessions overnight.
“So, am I really eliminated like this? Just one more chance…”
“Shall I go over the terms of the contract again?”
Jiwon closed and opened his eyes deeply, as if annoyed.
Standing at the entrance of the coffee shop, a man passing by made eye contact.
It was Wooseok, the secretary general.
The phone number that the woman believed was hers was actually Wooseok’s, and it was Wooseok who had been troubled by calls and messages all night, not me.
Looking at the dark circles under the eyes, it was clear that he had lost sleep, and the thought of searching for the eighth target showed in his burning eyes.
“People make mistakes, you know. Can’t you just overlook it? I confessed unintentionally while drunk, without even realizing it.”
“Shall I assure you won’t make the same mistake again? The important thing is, I can’t be a person who forgives such mistakes.”
“Calling late at night was a mistake, but the confession was sincere. I genuinely like Mr. Jiwon.”
It was when Jiwon raised his head and smirked at the love confession of the woman who had only seen him three times.
Perhaps due to the quietness of a weekday afternoon, the conversation behind me unintentionally reached my ears.
“We’ve only been dating for three months, Mother. Because you kept urging me to get married, I came to show you once, so please don’t tell me to meet blind dates again, understood?”
“That’s because I didn’t want to show this virtuous lady. Well, now that I’ve seen her, it’s done. Nice to meet you. I feel relieved now. Come to my house sometime.”
“Yes, I’ll arrange a time with Mr. Youngwoo.”
Whether it’s a child or a grandchild, marriage coercion towards a man of marriageable age is a repertoire found everywhere.
The conversation between the remaining people after the middle-aged woman left unexpectedly turned in an unexpected direction.
“Thank you for your hard work during this time. I thought the temporary helper from the agency would be the same, but I didn’t know I would meet such a good person again. Thank you for treating my friends, grandmother, and parents so well. My friends and grandmother really liked you, and my grandmother was quite pleased. It was really a big help.”
“Don’t mention it. I hope a good girlfriend comes to Mr. Youngwoo through you.”
How to respond to marriage urging, it’s all the same.
At the mention of the word “helper” from across the room, Jiwon glanced coldly at the woman sitting in front of him.
Unlike me who was left in the dark, the man beyond had neatly organized the situation through a temporary helper from an agency, and he seemed enviable.
I heard the woman behind me stand up.
“This is fate, Miss Dowoom. Do you have no intention of meeting me seriously? Even looking at me, my job is stable, and as you know, my family is decent. My parents and grandmother are a bit unique, but…”
The desperate appeal of the man sounded sincere.
“Mr. Park Youngwoo.”
The woman, who had been warm all along, sounded not just cool but downright cold.
“Certainly, your appearance, education, and job are all solid. As you mentioned, your family seems excellent. However, unfortunately, I don’t have a business card as discreet as Mr. Youngwoo’s parents.”
“…What?”
“Mr. Youngwoo doesn’t know anything about me except my appearance and age, received through the Happy Helper agency, right?”
“You’re a college student, doing this as a part-time job…”
“Yes, it’s true that I have enough money, but that doesn’t mean I’m someone who lies down anywhere. I carefully choose where to lie down, check if it’s a toilet or a soybean paste, and I’m someone who knows my limits like a knife, so let’s pretend we didn’t hear what you just said.”
The voice that accurately distinguished between work and personal matters was firm.
The voice, devoid of personal emotions, and the resolute decisiveness that left no room for doubt made it clear that this was the person I was looking for.
“Since it seems like everything that needs to be said is done, please stand up first.”
Jiwon spoke to the woman with a lingering look of reluctance.
The time to suppress emotions was enough by now.
“…I still hope for contact.”
With thickly knit eyebrows, Jiwon lowered his head.
It was a refusal to contact and a kind of warning not to cling any longer.
The seventh woman, a marriage candidate, stood up from her seat.
At the same time, the woman at the back table also stood up.
She had neatly tied hair and wore a simple pink dress.
Height 163, weight around 48. She was in her mid-to-late twenties.
Both men looked at the woman who walked with a moderate stride.
“Do you know her?”
Wooseok, who had approached me unnoticed, followed Jiwon’s gaze.
“Soon.”
“…What?”
“You’ll know soon. Go, bring her. That woman.”
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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