To the Missing Secretary (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
Ra Jin dropped the clothes she was holding upon spotting the man.
“You hid pretty well.”
The man’s gaze landed on her swollen belly.
“And you’ve been carrying it well.”
Without thinking, Ra Jin covered her belly with her hands.
“H-How did you get here?”
“You seem flustered. The great Secretary Sa is even stuttering.”
Displeased by Ra Jin stepping backward, Jae Heon furrowed his brows.
He strode toward her, bent down, and picked up the sweater that had fallen to the floor.
The half-knitted sweater was red—intensely so.
Far too tiny for any adult to wear.
Jae Heon stared at it blankly before finally speaking.
“Is this our child’s clothing?”
Ra Jin’s pupils trembled wildly.
“Our child”?
Those were words she never expected to hear from his lips.
Her heart ached. As if recognizing his father’s voice, the baby inside her faintly stirred.
But Ra Jin couldn’t rejoice.
She remembered clearly what Jae Heon had told her on the day she was appointed as his secretary.
“Do you know why I hired you?”
“Because of my exceptional skills?”
“…Not exactly wrong—but because you’re the only one who doesn’t harbor false hopes about me.”
Ra Jin had secretly loved Jae Heon, her senior in college. Precisely because she’d hidden her feelings so thoroughly, she’d managed to stay closest to him.
The day after they’d spent the night together had been no different.
“Just so there’s no misunderstanding—”
“Don’t worry. All I want from you, Director, is your body.”
“That’s exactly the answer I wanted to hear. I hope you never change your mind.”
Given how he’d spoken then, it was obvious he wouldn’t welcome the child.
His family, Geonyoung Group, would feel the same.
Chairman Seo Sung Jae would never allow his only heir to marry a secretary who had nothing.
Ra Jin knew better than anyone that although he often wore a gentle smile, Chairman Seo would ruthlessly cut down anything—or anyone—standing in the way of his grandson Jae Heon’s future.
“No, it’s not.”
Jae Heon’s face subtly twisted.
“Not what?”
Taking a deep breath, Ra Jin tightly gripped the hem of her dress and met Jae Heon’s eyes head-on.
He never trusted anyone who avoided his gaze.
“It’s not your child.”
“…Huh.”
For a brief moment, he let out a short, disbelieving breath.
Then, something hotter and fiercer than flames blazed in Jae Heon’s eyes.
If it wasn’t his child—did that mean it belonged to another man?
Just the thought alone made his whole body feel as though it were engulfed in fire.
Ra Jin was a diligent and honest woman.
Even though their relationship had been a contract, she wasn’t the type to see other men while being with him.
Jae Heon knew that better than anyone.
And yet…
“I’m so damn annoyed.”
Frowning, he roughly loosened his tie.
He forced himself to repeat silently, glancing at Ra Jin’s belly.
Don’t say anything harsh—the baby can hear.
He exhaled slowly, regaining control of his emotions.
“I’m sorry for realizing it so late.”
At the sincerity in his voice, she bit her lip inward.
Since becoming pregnant, even the smallest things had brought her to tears more times than she could count.
But… she couldn’t afford to waver now.
“I never expected this to happen. We’ve always been so careful—both of us, Director, and Secretary Sa.”
Perhaps this was just another one of Jae Heon’s tricks.
Maybe he was trying to reassure her only to make her get rid of the baby.
After all, he was an extremely calculating man.
“There’s no need to apologize. It has nothing to do with you, Director.”
I’m sorry, baby.
The man standing before us really is your dad.
Mommy’s just going to tell a little lie—for our sake.
Determined, she parted her lips.
“There’s another father for this child.”
The moment Jae Heon heard Ra Jin’s words,
he let out a short, bitter laugh.
It wasn’t out of joy.
It was a laugh of contempt—at himself—for pushing her to say something like that.
“I know better than anyone that it’s not true. But even if it were, I wouldn’t care.”
Jae Heon’s eyes flashed.
He couldn’t bear another moment without Ra Jin by his side.
He no longer had the strength to endure that unbearable loneliness and crushing emptiness again.
He’d thought about it endlessly, every single day.
If they ever met again, he’d never let her go.
“Any child you bear will be mine.”
His voice hardened with conviction.
“Consider it as undeniable a truth as the sun rising at dawn and setting at night.”
***
Eight months ago.
That day, Jae Heon was in an unusually foul mood.
“If they refuse again, pull out of the Merci collaboration project.”
At his grandfather Chairman Seo Sung Jae’s words, the composure Jae Heon had been maintaining cracked.
“Haven’t I made it perfectly clear that marriage is still too soon for me?”
“Too soon! People your age are already fathers!”
“That’s their situation. I still want to focus entirely on my work.”
“If you refuse, Joo Han says he’ll take your place at the blind date. Don’t you realize that if Joo Han becomes Do Moon Group’s son-in-law, your position will be in serious danger?”
Joo Han was the son of his uncle—his elder by a year.
Plagued by an inferiority complex from always lagging behind Jae Heon, he was the textbook example of a fool—mediocre in intelligence yet brimming with greed.
Jae Heon scoffed.
“Jang Seo Young from Do Moon Group has extremely high standards. Look at who she picked—there’s no way someone like Seo Ju Han would even catch her eye.”
Frustrated, Sung Jae pounded his chest with his fist.
“That’s exactly my point! They clearly favor you—why throw away such an opportunity! They’re even willing to meet our conditions as much as possible.”
“Conditions?”
Jae Heon’s eyes darkened.
“When my parents passed away, Grandfather, you distinctly told me my happiness came first.”
“But…”
“Do you really think I’d be happy if I were forced into a marriage arranged through bargaining and conditions, like livestock being sold?”
Sung Jae was momentarily speechless.
After tragically losing his beloved eldest son and daughter-in-law in a plane crash on the same day, he’d held his only remaining grandson close and declared,
“From now on, Grandpa will live for you. Your happiness, Jae Heon, comes above all else.”
That day remained vivid even in the aging Sung Jae’s memory—how much more so for Jae Heon himself.
“I feel like cattle at a livestock market. Unless you see me merely as a tool to increase your assets, please drop this talk of blind dates.”
“You brat! Is that how you speak to your grandfather?”
Sung Jae slammed his palm hard against the armrest in anger.
“Be careful. What if you crack a bone?”
“Do you really think I’m doing this because I see you as livestock? Do I really look like I’m pushing you into marriage just to grow my fortune? One wrong move, and you might end up devoured by your uncle and Joo Han!”
“Do you really think I’d be devoured by those two?”
“Don’t let your guard down. Everyone expected Xiang Yu to unify the land, yet the one who ultimately made his name in history as the victor was Liu Bang.”
Running a business had taught Sung Jae one crucial lesson: even the mightiest fortress could wobble and collapse from the slightest breeze slipping through its smallest crack.
“Always remember—your rivals are waiting for the exact moment you let your guard down. Never trust anyone easily, and never turn your back.”
Hearing that, Jae Heon thought of his Ra Jin.
His secretary, who always stood one step behind him, watching his back.
“Hmm. Then the only person who could stab me in the back must be Secretary Sa.”
“Is this really the time for jokes?”
“I’m not joking. Aside from Secretary Sa, there’s no one else I’d entrust my back to.”
After four years of working side by side, Jae Heon had realized one truth:
There would never be anyone he could trust more than her.
Ra Jin had never once held false hopes or expectations toward him. She’d focused solely on her duties—and always delivered outstanding results.
Honestly, he hadn’t expected her to be this good.
At first, he’d even wondered if she’d eventually start acting like other women—pretending indifference at first, then tearfully clinging to him as time passed.
He’d been mistaken.
She was far more disciplined—and far less interested in him—than he’d assumed.
“Secretary Sa, thank you for your hard work preparing for the business trip.”
“I merely did what I was supposed to do.”
“How about dinner together? You haven’t had a proper meal since this morning. Let me treat you—as a token of my gratitude.”
“I’m sorry, but I’d prefer to eat my meals in peace.”
“If I let Secretary Sa go like this, I’d be the one feeling uneasy.”
“If you really want to express your appreciation, give it to me as a bonus. I’ll gladly accept that.”
“You’re always so refreshingly honest, Secretary Sa.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Director.”
Remembering Ra Jin’s curt, composed bow with that solemn expression, Jae Heon couldn’t help but smile faintly.
“Are you really chuckling in front of your grandfather? Ugh, you’re making my chest ache so much!”
“In any case, I won’t attend the blind date.”
“If Joo Han snatches this opportunity from you, that’ll be the end! And if Do Moon Group’s shares end up in Joo Han’s hands, even I won’t be able to protect you anymore.”
When Jae Heon hesitated at those words, the furious Sung Jae immediately changed tactics and began coaxing his grandson gently.
“Think of it this way—you’ll have to marry eventually, so why not do it a bit sooner? How about an engagement first, if marriage feels too binding?”
“I don’t want to be tied down.”
“If you agree to just an engagement, I swear I won’t nag you about this or that ever again. Then we won’t waste pointless time like we did today.”
Pointless time-wasting.
That was precisely what Jae Heon hated most.
And right now, he was under tremendous stress because of it.
If he’d spent this time reviewing documents or holding a meeting, he’d have made actual progress.
“I promise I’ll never summon you for something like this again. Isn’t that a pretty good offer? No need for engagement preparations—just show up.”
It was a tempting proposition. Jae Heon’s mind was about to give a positive signal—
“I’ll have Secretary Sa handle everything for me.”
—when his brows immediately furrowed.
“Why bring Secretary Sa into this all of a sudden?”
“Is there anyone else in the entire world who understands your tastes better than Secretary Sa?”
He instinctively frowned again.
“Are you seriously suggesting I assign my secretary to personal errands and make her work on this?”
“How is this personal? It’s entirely official! It’s a merger between two conglomerates, after all. Your position will change—and so will Secretary Sa’s.”
Jae Heon fastened his jacket buttons and stood up from his seat.
“I will neither marry nor become engaged.”
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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