The more she thought about it, the less she understood any of Jae-hyuk’s actions, yet she foolishly tried to understand him.
‘There was never any genuine feeling, that’s why he can’t explain himself…’
After seeing Jae-hyuk meeting with Kyung-sook yesterday, Arin concluded his actions.
Ban Jae-hyuk played with Arin’s heart.
Arin felt foolish for being swayed by Jae-hyuk even for a moment.
“Stop it.”
‘Stop playing with me. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but please stop. I don’t want to be hurt anymore.’
Arin tightly clenched her fist under the blanket and turned her head to look at Jae-hyuk.
“Ban Jae-hyuk.”
“…….”
“Let’s divorce. I really don’t want to go through a lawsuit.”
“Arin…”
“Our relationship ended a long time ago. It was over three years ago.”
In Arin’s life, there was nothing truly for Arin.
‘After learning I wasn’t their biological daughter, I struggled not to be abandoned or hated.’
Initially, Arin was angry with herself for being powerless despite knowing that Mr. Choi was framed. But after receiving Jung Yeosa’s proposal, she was happy to have something to do for Mr. Choi.
It had been a life for her family, a life craving only others’ affection.
It might have been a foregone conclusion.
‘How could others love me when I didn’t care for or love myself?’
Overwhelmed by emotions, Arin bit her lower lip hard.
‘It’s okay to make it clear now. It’s not too late.’
“I might have been the one to bring up divorce, but it was you, Ban Jae-hyuk, who abandoned me, wasn’t it?”
“Your words are correct.”
A parched voice from Jae-hyuk, his lips cracked, flowed out.
“If you know… at least if you have a conscience, you shouldn’t do this.”
Choi Arin deeply loved a man named Ban Jaehyuk. She loved him so much that she endured and tormented herself just to stay by Jaehyuk’s side.
“It was hard… really hard to leave. Do you know how difficult it is to settle your heart? I left with great difficulty, to the point where I can’t go back even if Jaehyuk says he loved me but didn’t know.”
Arin’s voice quivered roughly as she spoke. The pain and suffering from the past revived in her heart, overwhelming her.
Jaehyuk just silently listened to Arin’s words.
Arin felt strange.
“It’s too late… to fix our twisted relationship.”
As she spoke, did her heart also settle?
Her trembling voice had gradually become calm.
It seemed like she knew what she wanted.
The aftermath of a long love was significant.
The more she was entangled with Jaehyuk, the more she couldn’t shake off the feeling of rolling in a mud field. That intense emotion was strong enough to fade even the color of the good memories of the past.
‘I hated him, but I didn’t want to truly hate him.’
She had truly loved him, and he was also the father of the child that had been inside her for a short time.
He might have been a bad husband and a bad man to her, but she didn’t want to deny his existence.
‘I don’t want to deny even the feelings of love. Moreover, harboring hatred towards someone makes me too tired.’
Harboring feelings of hatred and animosity was too exhausting.
She wanted to start anew, letting everything go.
Her eyes moved to Jaehyuk’s hand, where the blue veins stood out sharply.
‘If I can’t forget the pain of the past and am always anxious about whether his feelings might change, I will have to suffer. The mother-in-law won’t accept me, so I’ll be scolded again. His mother will always want to receive from him. I’ll feel sorry and have to be cautious.’
In the future, she wanted to live as Choi Arin.
She no longer wanted to live for someone else.
She no longer wanted to live a life controlled by others.
To do that, she needed to put an end to her relationship with Jaehyuk even more.
She didn’t know what the future would hold, but for now, she needed to sort things out with him.
Silence lingered for a while. Jaehyuk’s lips didn’t seem to know how to open.
“I really can’t accept Jaehyuk who deceived me.”
Of course, even if they weren’t real family, she didn’t wish for her father to die.
Then, maybe, her mother’s resentment would have been directed at her…
Isn’t it wrong to think that everything is okay if the result is good, regardless of the process?
Arin thought so. No matter how urgent the situation, keeping it a secret and helping her from behind was nothing but deception.
“Let’s get divorced. That’s what you can do for me now, Ban Jaehyuk.”
“Arin, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I know that no excuse can make you understand.”
“I am.”
“If you have even a little heart to truly care for me, let’s settle it. Our relationship.”
An alarm went off in Jaehyuk’s head.
He couldn’t let her go…
He couldn’t even imagine a life without her…
It seemed she wouldn’t stay in his grasp.
No, she wouldn’t be caught.
Jaehyuk ruffled his hair roughly.
‘Where did it go wrong? Is it continuously twisted because it was wrong from the first button?’
Jaehyuk’s vision darkened.
His mind was a mess, not knowing what to say first.
‘Pull yourself together, Ban Jaehyuk. This might be the last…’
Jaehyuk clenched his teeth, trying to suppress the emotions welling up inside him. His fist, tightly clenched, turned white.
After a brief silence, he continued speaking.
“I’m sorry.”
No matter how bad the relationship was, even if they were lovers who fought and broke up, time beautifies memories, only bringing back the good ones…
But when he thought of Arin, he only remembered his shortcomings.
‘Why didn’t I treat you better then? Why didn’t I speak up then? Why couldn’t I hold onto you?’
The wave of regret intensified his emotions.
How great would it be if he could convey all his feelings?
‘To hold onto you, I have to tell you that the family you thought was real wasn’t… That the family you loved never gave you love, only sought to use you… But how can I say that?’
Jaehyuk thought Arin still didn’t know that Kyungsuk is not her biological mother. At that time, he mistakenly believed that was the best way to protect Arin.
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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