“What?”
The moment I heard it, my jaw dropped. It was so shocking that I couldn’t close my mouth.
“Lies… right?”
“It’s not a lie.”
“But this is just a rumor.”
“Even if it’s a rumor that’s not true, why is it that the Penton Duke is being swept up in such a dirty rumor?” Rodney, all of a sudden, asked me.
“The Duke wouldn’t do something like that.”
The Penton Duke is practically like family to me.
Always caring Penton Lady, sister-like Yune, and the supporting Penton Duke.
There might be rumors, but the Duke would never engage in such misconduct.
Rodney looked at me in silence, and that silence gave more weight to his recent words. If that statement is true, I can’t trust anyone now.
“It’s unbelievable.”
I denied Rodney’s words.
‘…It’s not true. It can’t be true.’
The face of the Penton Duke, who genuinely welcomed me every time I came, came to mind.
The Penton family had once talked about how they reached this position. Sitting on the sofa with Urick, Yune, and me, we had a long conversation.
There might be fiction in the story. But the Penton Duke cherished the family that much, and his pride overflowed.
In that aspect, he was no different from my father, and I, too, proudly considered the Penton family in high regard, immersing myself in the Duke’s words. Then, inwardly, I complained about why I wasn’t born in the Penton family but in the Marsen family.
But those memories… got tainted with just one word from Rodney.
“I don’t know if Urick knows about this. The Urick I know isn’t the type to silently witness such denial. If he were that kind of person, he would have advised you to get rid of that guy immediately.”
“The Duke I know wouldn’t silently tolerate such denial either.”
“Reese.”
“I won’t believe that rumor until I ask him directly. Rodney.”
I reassessed my thoughts. A silence spread between Rodney and me.
“Oh? Reese, your bag!”
The voices of the brothers returning from outside intervened. After finishing his words, Rodney stood up from his seat and patted my shoulder.
“Believe it or not, Reese, it’s up to you. But don’t trust people too easily. It’s your weakness. This is precious advice from your caring older brother.”
“What advice? Just take care.”
He smirked, as if saying, “Well, that’s how it is.”
“Anyway, welcome home, Reese.”
“What advice? Just do well, older brother.”
He smirked as if saying, “Well, that’s how it is.”
“Anyway, welcome home, Reese.”
“Have some fun and go to bed early.”
Late evening. Isabelle looked at the brothers gathered in Felicia’s room and spoke a word. Unlike advice, her expression showed indifference, whether we chatted all night or not.
The door closed, and Felicia brought out three hidden bottles of wine and placed them on the table.
She’s slyly drinking.
The shock from Rodney’s story still hadn’t worn off, but Felicia forcibly brought me here.
“Well, let’s get drunk tonight, shall we? Right?”
In front of me, there was Rodney, who was always busy with work and had joined the brothers’ gathering.
Being brought here against my will, meeting old colleagues, it might be somewhat similar.
The gathered brothers raised their wine glasses with similar expressions. Felicia hummed a tune and poured wine into the glasses until they overflowed.
“This should be enough for a lamb, right?”
“Only weaklings complain, older brother.”
When Rodney complained, Felicia responded with a laugh. An offended Rodney took the first sip of wine.
“Surely you won’t listen to your mother’s words like a child, and go to bed early?”
Felicia looked at Rodney. Rodney mumbled and couldn’t say anything, just fidgeted with the wine glass on the table.
“Hey, Felicia… I have to work with Lord Wessex tomorrow…”
“Then, just have one glass.”
“Even one glass is too much.”
“You have to endure this much.”
Bernard also raised his hands.
The only one worried about Bernard’s condition was Rodney, who was responsible for Bernard’s follow-up. To prevent Bernard’s work mistakes, Rodney poured Bernard’s wine into his own glass.
Bernard looked at Rodney with admiration.
Well, you can’t see sibling love without a tear.
“Thanks for congratulating my marriage, everyone.”
Felicia said, clinking our wine glasses. Surprisingly, the wine was sweet, dark, and went down smoothly.
Actually, before getting married, I wanted to bring Lord Wessex to Poland. It’s just that the company has been busy lately.
“Yeah, the palace is in chaos with rumors. Something about the emperor having a illegitimate child.”
Swell mumbled.
“Right, the newspaper’s content changes every hour. Until I met Lord Wessex, I thought the newspapers were made carelessly… but it turned out that everyone’s effort and professional spirit were put into it. Even the position and distribution of articles were meticulously determined.”
“Yeah, your Lord Wessex is truly amazing.”
“If you’re jealous, work hard, and bring a wonderful man like Lord Wessex.”
Felicia, as if she had a lot of anger inside, shook her shoulders and said.
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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