“Your Excellency…… You mustn’t.”
The butler said.
Fearing that raising his voice might further provoke him, he spoke as quietly and calmly as possible.
Edric blinked slowly and said to the butler.
“Why not?”
His voice was still calm. Like when he worked, like when he drank tea, he chose death with a quiet and composed attitude.
“Melly is dead.”
“……”
“So what reason do I have to live?”
The restrained voice was so serene it felt unsettling.
The butler’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. Struggling to suppress his trembling, he pleaded.
“Because you are our family head, Your Excellency.”
The tip of Edric’s finger on the trigger twitched slightly.
The butler felt his heart sink. He hurriedly tried to find another reason.
“And…… and……”
“I couldn’t do anything for her.”
Edric spoke while the butler was fumbling for reasons.
“I thought we had plenty of time left. So I always prioritized other things.”
“……”
“I couldn’t even have a cup of tea with her, or listen to her stories. I only found it annoying when she kept getting in my way while I was busy.”
“……”
“I thought there would be plenty of opportunities to make up for it. After all, Melly was my wife, the woman I would spend my life with.”
His voice was dry without a hint of moisture. So the servants cried in his stead.
“But now there’s no time left, and the opportunities are gone. I need time and chances. I need to go have tea with her, listen to her stories, watch the sunset together.”
“……”
“I need to eat ice cream with her too. There are so many things I couldn’t do for her. So, let me go.”
The servants buried their faces in their palms and sobbed. Tears flowed from the butler’s eyes as well.
He knew which path was best for his master.
For his sake, he should let him go. Let him go to his beloved wife’s side, to do all the things he couldn’t do in this life.
But the butler simply couldn’t bear to watch a bullet mercilessly pierce through his brilliant mind.
He tried to persuade Edric one last time.
“Your Excellency, if you would just reconsider once more……”
“If you don’t leave by the count of three.”
Edric’s gaze suddenly sharpened.
“It could become a terrible memory for everyone.”
“Y-Your Excellency……”
“One.”
His finger on the trigger tensed.
The servants abruptly lifted their faces from their hands.
“Two.”
The butler could hear the servants behind him taking steps back. He parted his pale lips to say something. Meanwhile, the finger on the trigger curled further.
He saw Edric take a breath and close his eyes.
The butler squeezed his eyes shut as well.
But he didn’t run away. Even if everyone else fled, he intended to stay by Edric’s side.
He would take care of the aftermath to ensure Edric’s death didn’t tarnish his dignity. It was the mission of a family that had served the heads of the Pelton dukedom for generations.
The butler waited in misery for the terrible gunshot that would soon ring out. At that moment.
“She’s not dead!”
His eyes flew open at the sudden voice.
Oz took a step forward.
“The Madam is alive.”
“…You’re lying to keep me from dying.”
Edric said in a low voice.
“It’s not a lie.”
Oz shook her head and spoke desperately.
“The Madam is alive. The person the crematorium keeper mentioned wasn’t the Madam. He said she wore a ring on her third finger. But the Madam never wore a ring on that finger. I know this.”
Silence fell for a moment. Despite the presence of so many people, not a single person made a sound.
The one who broke the silence that felt sinful even to breathe in was the butler.
“Is… is that true? Did he really say that?”
“Yes. He said so on the day we went to retrieve the urn together.”
“Then what about the ring? What happened to the ring? It was definitely the Duchess’s wedding ring.”
“That… I’m not sure what happened either. Perhaps the Madam dropped it somewhere and someone else picked it up. In any case, that body wasn’t the Madam. I’m certain of it.”
“How could this be!”
Everyone found it hard to believe this miraculous moment.
They all clutched their chests and teared up with joy. Except for one person.
“Why are you only saying this now?”
Edric asked sharply. The gun was still pressed firmly against his temple. His slightly tilted head made it look as if he was leaning on the muzzle.
“That’s because… because……”
Everyone who had been rejoicing just moments ago now looked at Oz with puzzled expressions. Oz chewed on her lips hesitantly, then spoke as if she had made up her mind.
“Because the Madam wished to leave Your Excellency’s side.”
“……”
“Because I wanted the Madam to be happy. But by Your Excellency’s side, the Madam was always……”
She tried to suppress the surge of emotion, but failed. Oz cried out in anguish as tears streamed down her face.
“The Madam was always unhappy! Do you know how much she suffered all this time? Whenever things didn’t go well, she blamed herself for being inadequate. Even when she wasn’t feeling well, she attended parties without showing it, always trying her best to do well. But when did Your Excellency ever properly praise her for any of that?”
“……”
“You never sought out the Madam except when you needed her, did you? You’re truly terrible. This is all your own doing!”
Having poured out everything she wanted to say, Oz felt a moment of relief.
But the other servants, except for her, were on edge. Because their master still had the gun pressed to his head.
If he didn’t shoot himself, it seemed he might shoot Oz who had defied him.
His tightly pressed lips and strangely gleaming eyes made everyone think so.
But he lowered the gun.
“So she’s alive, you say?”
He said with a smile on his face.
“That’s all that matters.”
He had no interest in Oz’s outburst.
All he cared about was the fact that Melly was alive.
As long as she was alive, that was enough.
Not as ashes in an urn he dared not touch for fear of realizing her death, but as a living being existing in this world with smooth, soft skin and a supple body. So he too would live.
He would live on in this world where she breathed and lived.
For that, first… he needed to bring her back.
[This is the timeline separator]Shock filled Jeyna’s face as she had been leisurely enjoying the peaceful afternoon.
To think her bright and delicate artistic space would be filled with such hard and ruthless soldiers.
She looked at the man who led them in with an angry face and said.
“You have some nerve. To dare invade the Andert viscounty without permission. Aren’t you afraid it might tarnish your reputation?”
“Not at all. Sue me if you want. I don’t care.”
Edric replied nonchalantly and shifted his gaze. His eyes swept the surroundings languidly and leisurely. But like a lion that could turn ferocious depending on its target, his calmness harbored savagery within.
His eyes returned to Jeyna.
“Where is she?”
“…Who are you talking about?”
“Perhaps, have you come looking for me?”
Francis appeared, making Jeyna’s efforts to feign ignorance futile.
Edric slowly turned towards him. And with indifferent eyes, he carefully observed the other man. His face didn’t look like he had come to beat the other down. Rather, with a much more complex gaze, he meticulously examined Francis.
As if trying to compare him with the last image left in his memory from long ago. Or… as if trying to find traces of his woman in him.
At last, as if the observation was over, he took a step towards the other. He put his hand in and out of his jacket pocket.
Click-.
The sound of the safety being released rang out chillingly clear.
“Pe… Pelton Duke, what is this……”
Jeyna couldn’t continue speaking, her face pale.
On the other hand, Francis was calm. He had expected something like this to happen ever since he sent the documents containing Eida Pelton’s ugly secrets.
‘Kill me if you want.’
Francis was no longer afraid of him.
Edric asked.
“Where is Melly now?”
“I’d like to know too.”
Francis answered.
Strength gathered in the fingertip on the trigger. Jeyna screamed “Kyaak-” and buried her face in her hands.
“I’ll ask one more time.”
Edric said in the exact same tone as before.
“Where is my woman?”
“Didn’t I say I don’t know?”
Francis retorted just as calmly.
But he wasn’t completely at ease.
Because the man he faced was far more insane than he had thought.
Just as physical stress can alter the body’s cells, the extreme anguish Edric Pelton experienced must have caused a strange transformation in his mind.
“I’ll ask again. Where is my woman now?”
Edric said. The gun barrel pointed at Francis as steadily as his unwavering stance.
To hide his gradually diminishing composure, Francis provoked him.
“Kill me if you want to. But will that bring your woman back?”
Jeyna clutched her face with both hands.
‘Crazy bastard. He should be begging for his life now, but he’s provoking him like that.’
But Francis didn’t stop. He still had much more to say.
“It’s truly pathetic to regret after losing something. Remember I said earlier that I wanted to know where she is too? Want to know why?”
“……”
“Because I want to help her avoid being caught by someone like you.”
Edric’s eyes flickered slightly.
Francis knew his words had burrowed deep into Edric’s heart like thorns. But he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to hurt him more. And he held the decisive key to do so.
“And you should be grateful to me, Edric Pelton. If it weren’t for me, your child……”
Bang-.
A sudden gunshot shook the mansion.
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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