Tap tap.

Akia tapped on the table with her fingers.

It was halfpast eight in the evening, the time pointed by the second hand of the clock. It was thirty minutes past the time she had arranged to meet Lea in the outbuilding.

“What on earth is she doing.”

Irritation was apparent in her muttered words. Perhaps she had been too lenient with Lea.

The apothecary, who was late for her appointment without a word, was even infuriating.

Eventually, Akia, out of patience, got up from her seat. Then she headed straight for where Lea might be.

As she was about to enter the mansion after leaving the outbuilding, she heard the voices of servants between the mansion and the vacant lot.

Akia, who thought they were merely complaining about the day’s hardships, quietly tried to pass by them. That was until she heard a familiar name in the crowd.

“So, it was you who met Lea this time? Why? Even though I’ve been chasing after her?”

Someone asked with a hugely disappointed voice.

“This lad still doesn’t get it. Does she meet you if you chase after her? It’s all about Lea’s heart.”

“No matter what, it’s too much. I waited all day for Lea’s treatment to end!”

The man who sounded wronged grimaced at the chastisement of the surrounding servants.

“Tsk tsk. That’s why it doesn’t work. Use your head, mate.”

The men, with the grimacing man behind them, huddled together. Akia’s eyebrows twitched as she looked at them.

Actually, it was a common thing. The conversation about women among young men. The problem was that the protagonist of the story was Lea.

“How much did you spend?”

“Ten fairy tales. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s not a waste for my girl!”

The surrounding servants whispered in excited voices for him to speak more. Unable to resist their prodding, the man continued in a secretive tone.

Akia couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation, but she could predict the kind of story that was going to unfold.

‘Did he offer money to win Lea’s heart?’

Scenes from the day passed like a carousel in Akia’s mind. Lea, laughing amongst the men.

Lea’s behaviour, touching the servant’s arm and speaking, was undoubtedly related to the topic of the servants’ conversation.

‘Huh.’

The duke exhaled a short breath. It was a sigh mixed with disappointment.

‘What does it matter to me what that woman does.’

In reality, whether Lea met another man, or if there was something more, it had nothing to do with him.

Her role was simply to make his antidote.

But, why…….

‘Does it make me feel bad?’

The servants’ conversation bothered him like a huge rock in a plain field. He wanted to pluck it out and remove it from his sight.

He walked towards the apothecary with a different gait than before. He seemed a bit impatient and also looked angry.

And, the moment he arrived at the apothecary and opened the door.

“James, did you leave something?”

Lea called out a strange man’s name in her melodious voice. As if, she had been with that man in the place just a moment ago.

That too at this late evening when everyone had finished their work and were resting.

‘A meeting with another man in an apothecary where no one would come…….’

He sneered at the rather secretive situation.

At the same time, the servants’ vulgar conversation left a trace in his mind.

“I’ll find it if you tell me……. Huh?”

Her eyes, always filled with a refreshing green sound, blinked. With such an innocent face.

Without realizing it, he clenched his fist. A sense of annoyance rose up without a known reason. So, he wanted to confirm it.

“Will you show me too? What you did with James.”

Lea’s appearance in the men’s conversation.

‘What should I show?’

What did she do with James in the treatment room?

Lea blinked her eyes as if she found it hard to understand the duke’s words.

And then.

‘Could it be…….’

The thought that the Duke might have a strange misunderstanding suddenly crossed Lea’s mind.

‘Does he misunderstand that James and I are in such a relationship?’

Lea’s face flushed with confusion.
James had merely come for an examination due to a sprain, but somehow he ended up having such thoughts. It was enough to leave him speechless.

The count shut the door with a start. Then he slowly approached the desk in the office where Lea was standing.

‘Why, why is he coming?’

As he came closer, Lea shrank under the eerie aura that the count exuded. Unknowingly, Lea retreated from the advancing count.

“What an innocent face you have.”

Lea felt the hard desk against her back. Somehow, the distance between them had closed to less than an arm’s length.

“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have been deceived.”

“Excuse me! Your Grace. Please listen to me.”

Lea desperately waved her hands in the air. It seemed the count had gotten the wrong idea.

Where should she begin to explain? One thing was clear.

‘I just had a conversation with James today!’

Lea felt wronged, guessing what the count was thinking.

“The thing you saw this morning was all a misunderstanding! I was just…!”

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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