Adeline did not want to die. She was merely fleeing, yearning to live.
The rain, which had started falling gently, now poured down heavily, obscuring her vision. It seemed even the weather was against her.
Her shoes were buried in the muddy mire, and her once beautiful dress, now soaked, had long lost its color.
“Heave… heave…”
The rain, clinging to the hem of her lavish dress, seemed to mock her.
The water-soaked fabric grew unbearably heavy.
Knowing her limits but still desperate to survive, Adeline forced herself to take one step after another.
She couldn’t stop until she reached the next village.
By now, Duke Torpheo must have realized her disappearance and turned the castle upside down.
His knights would have started searching for her.
‘I must get as far away as possible.’
But her body couldn’t keep up with her will.
The relentless downpour blurred her sight. Adeline’s dress and even her undergarments were completely drenched.
Fearing hypothermia, she hastily scanned her surroundings.
‘A cave.’
Seeking temporary shelter from the rain, she moved towards a cave.
As she entered, a loud clap of thunder, accompanied by a streak of lightning, echoed through the cavern.
The terrifying sound made Adeline shudder.
The thunderous noise was followed by a vibration that shook the ground and the entire cave, as if an earthquake had struck.
In the midst of the trembling, Adeline staggered, struggling to keep her balance.
When she finally regained her composure, she couldn’t believe the scene before her.
“No… this can’t be real, can it?”
It was dreadful. Why did a torrential rain have to fall at the very moment she was fleeing?
And why did the cave entrance she had chosen for refuge collapse in a landslide?
The world seemed mercilessly cruel to her alone.
“Is this how it ends for me?”
Adeline hadn’t chosen to be reborn into this life.
Growing up as a young lady of the Credion Duchy in the Soltarius Empire, receiving a proposal from the Crown Prince, none of it was her choice.
She had only wanted to escape the tragic cycle of Adeline’s life.
Knowing she was living a life with a predetermined death, wouldn’t anyone struggle desperately to live?
She had fled from the Crown Prince to heal Duke Torpheo in Horn, and now, she had decided to abandon everything and flee.
“Why does my life have to be this hard?”
Why was her life so twisted and unbearably cruel?
Exhausted, Adeline collapsed.
What kind of karma had she accumulated in her past life to deserve such a fate?
In the pitch-dark cave, Adeline cried out in despair.
She would die here, unknown and alone. It seemed her life was destined to meet a miserable end.
Breathless with fear, she clutched her heart.
‘I want to live.’
In this dire moment, facing death, her thoughts ironically turned to the Duke.
Pathetic. Even as she faced death, the Duke was the one on her mind.
Burying her face in her knees, Adeline whispered,
“It’s over.”
Just then, footsteps echoed from the far end of the cave, reaching Adeline’s ears.
At first, she thought she had heard wrong.
But the faint sound gradually grew closer.
“Who’s there? Is someone there?” Adeline called out, her voice quivering.
However, she soon shook her head. She must have heard wrong. Yes, it’s impossible for someone to be here in such a place.
“Adeline!”
A familiar voice reached Adeline’s ears, a voice that had once caused her turmoil and excitement, the gentle voice of Duke Torpheo.
‘Ah…’
Tears welled up and spilled over as soon as she saw the Duke’s face.
Duke Torpheo, having found Adeline, rushed to her and enveloped her in a tight embrace.
“I told you I don’t need anything else. Just you being by my side is enough,” he said, his voice barely contained.
His hand, which had held her, now cradled her head.
Trying to restrain himself, the Duke whispered urgently in her ear.
“Don’t run away from me.”
Adeline was so overwhelmed with emotion that she couldn’t respond.
The Duke, not waiting for her reply, picked up the lantern he had carelessly dropped.
In the darkness, Adeline met his eyes, glowing red in the lantern light.
A self-mocking smile briefly crossed her lips.
Here she was, trapped in a seemingly suicidal cave, rescued from the depths of despair by this man.
‘A trap.’
Even though she knew his outstretched hand was not salvation but a snare to entangle her neck.
Even though she knew that once caught, she could never escape.
Yet, she couldn’t resist his few words that made her regret every moment she had run away.
It was love, after all.
Adeline closed her eyes. It was time to return.
She was an orphan at birth. By the time she began to understand the world, she was being raised in an orphanage.
Without knowing her parents’ surname, she was given the common name Kim Ji-hye.
“Ji-hye, now that you’re an adult, it’s time to stand on your own feet.”
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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