“Taeseok, are you ready?”
Manager Hong’s hoarse voice echoed in, clearly showing signs of a hangover with his swollen face and bloodshot eyes. Taeseok frowned at the sight.
“Wow, my head is splitting.”
Hong Manager pressed his temples, complaining of a headache.
“I don’t even remember how I got home yesterday.”
He then took out his phone to check his messages.
“There’s not a single message from Choi Summer. Did she get home okay, what’s going on?”
“She did the right thing.”
Ignoring Taeseok’s sarcastic remark, Hong Manager trudged to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and started preparing breakfast.
“Auntie made hangover soup? Lucky.”
Of course, Taeseok had requested it, knowing Hong would show up in such a state this morning.
Hong, helping himself to the soup, continued eating as Taeseok dressed in a shirt. There was enough time before the photoshoot to wait while he ate.
Taeseok hadn’t heard from Summer since last night. There had been no responses to his messages.
[Did you get home okay? AM 1:35] [Charge your phone and reply. AM 2:19] [Are you awake? AM 7:32]He was determined to start again but torn with worry, while Choi Summer didn’t seem to think of Seo Taeseok at all.
Despite his poor condition from barely sleeping, Taeseok hid it well.
“Hong Manager.”
“Yeah.”
“What did you two talk about yesterday?”
“Ah, my head’s splitting.”
“You didn’t just drink in silence, right?”
Taeseok’s voice was a bit edgy.
“Minwoo, I’m going to start over with Summer. Did you hear anything yesterday? About where she’s been… if she’s seeing someone?”
Mentioning ‘seeing someone’ made Taeseok grind his teeth. The thought of another man’s hands on Summer made his blood boil.
“I need to know everything about Choi Summer.”
Finally voicing his thoughts, Hong Manager let out a long sigh.
‘It’s finally out. Was wondering when he’d bring it up.’
While slurping his soup, Hong Manager paused and seemed to think. His memory from the latter part of the drinking session had gradually faded away, leaving him with no recollection after the bill.
But his memory of the earlier part was quite detailed.
He remembered how mature Summer had become. She seemed more interested in listening than talking about herself.
Then he recalled her evasive reaction when he asked about her return from the States.
“Ah, right. There was something odd about Choi Summer, but it’s a bit vague.”
Hong Manager tilted his head, muttering to himself whether he should speak up, then quickly started talking, seeing Taeseok’s intense gaze.
“Okay, okay. Stop staring. I just felt like she didn’t really go to the U.S. Just my hunch.”
“What do you mean? Explain in detail.”
“It’s nothing much. Just that she seemed unfamiliar with the word ‘return.'”
Muttering to himself whether his explanation was sufficient, he refocused on his soup.
Taeseok stood in front of the mirror, straightening his attire and setting his expression. Buttoning his shirt cuffs and putting on his watch felt heavy.
If she hadn’t gone abroad, where had everything gone wrong?
And where had she been all this time?
“When Summer left me two years ago…”
It was an unpleasant memory, but he started to carefully recount it again.
“I used every method I could to find her. Back then, I didn’t know any hackers or had much help. I just requested searches at the places you had suggested.”
Manager Hong’s expression darkened as he listened to Taeseok’s voice. That time was a period of darkness for him too. Even after two years, the memory of Taeseok’s eerie, inhuman eyes still made his skin crawl.
His voice was cracked from alcohol, his eyes empty.
“Our Summer loved me so much. She wouldn’t just leave like this. Something went wrong.”
“Taeseok, let it go now…”
“Let go! I need to go to Choi Summer.”
“Seo Taeseok! Summer’s gone now. Stop it!”
It was a grueling memory.
“Yeah. You really splurged back then, Taeseok. You spent almost hundreds of millions in just six months?”
“No.”
Taeseok spoke softly as if revealing a big secret.
“Actually, it wasn’t just hundreds of millions but almost a billion. I was quite the fool in that neighborhood. Handing out big money to anyone who said they would find her.”
Manager Hong frowned.
“Are you sure you’re not mistaken? I handled those requests for you, and I remember clearly. It wasn’t up to a billion.”
“I couldn’t trust you back then.”
Hong’s eyes widened in shock.
“Everyone claimed they didn’t know Choi Summer’s whereabouts. People who boasted they could find her in three days, all tailing off after a week. It didn’t add up. That’s why I suspected you.”
“You thought I was deliberately hiding Summer’s whereabouts.”
“Yeah.”
Hong nodded.
“That’s what I thought. Maybe someone was intentionally preventing us from finding her. You were the closest person to me, so in desperation, I suspected you. That’s why I spent a long time looking on my own.”
“Is that so.”
“Sorry about that. My situation back then…”
“No, I understand.”
Hong replied coolly.
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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