Something in those words broke through. Suddenly, Lucia looked up, her eyes brimming with a strange mix of defiance and despair, then she dropped to her knees.
Yeri blinked, startled. "…?"
"You're right," Lucia whispered hoarsely. "I'm tired. Constantly living in fear. Unable to sleep or eat properly. Always being watched. Always paranoid. I'm sick of it, really sick of it!"
Her voice cracked, and she clasped her hands together as if begging. "Miss Zhi, I didn't come here to pull another stunt, but I'm desperate. I'm not even sure what I expected coming here, I don't even know if you're connected to that person but please…" Her gaze locked on Yeri, wide and pleading. "Help me. Please help me. I don't want to live like this anymore."
Yeri stared at her, baffled. Just moments ago, Lucia had been the schemer who tried to ruin her.
Now she was on the floor, trembling, spilling incoherent pleas for help.
"Help you with what?" Yeri asked calmly. She didn't know if this was another one of Lucia's dramatic acts.
Lucia's tears flowed freely now, but the fear in her eyes was unmistakably real.
Between sobs, she began to recount everything from the night she was abducted, the suffocating darkness, the hopelessness, the terrifying thought that she would die there. Then came the part that made Yeri's expression sharpen.
"There was a woman," Lucia whispered, trembling. "She kept asking about you. She showed me your photo and wanted to know if you were that café server. She… she wanted every detail about what happened that day."
Yeri's brows furrowed. "You're saying she showed you my picture?"
Lucia nodded violently. "Yes! But I don't know her at all, she wore a mask."
Unfortunately, Lucia's memories after that were vague and she wasn't sure if she could identify the woman by her voice alone. At that time she was weak, terrified, half-starved.
If any, she was under the impression that the woman adored Shin Keir.
Yeri leaned back, thoughtful. Someone obsessed with the café incident, and also a woman who adored Shin Keir? That hardly narrowed it down.
If Lucia truly didn't know who they were, it meant whoever orchestrated it had covered their tracks well.
And as for women who adored Shin Keir ...the entire city could probably form a queue.
Lucia was still kneeling, crying uncontrollably. Yeri was about to tell her to get up when the door suddenly opened.
The sound made Lucia stiffen like a frightened animal. The next second, she let out a piercing scream and scrambled behind Yeri's bed, hiding as if her life depended on it.
Yeri's gaze sharpened as she looked at the man who entered. He wore a tailored suit, but everything else about him, his swagger, his expression, the dangerous gleam in his eyes screamed gangster.
"Can I help you?" Yeri asked evenly.
The man's lips curled into a smirk. His gaze flicked between Yeri and Lucia, who was trembling so hard she could barely stand.
"What did she tell you?" he asked, his tone darkly amused.
"Nothing!" Lucia screamed. "I didn't tell her anything! I was just—just—"
The man chuckled, his steps echoing menacingly on the polished floor as he approached.
"Stay away!" Lucia cried, her voice breaking.
Yeri winced at the shrillness of it. "Sir, this isn't exactly the place for you to play gangster," she said coldly.
But the man didn't even flinch. He eyed her slowly, grinning. "Pretty face," he murmured. "Shame. I don't think you'd survive me." His voice lowered, almost gleeful. "And I'm in a hurry."
Before Yeri could react, he drew a gun from his jacket and in his other hand, a syringe glinted under the hospital lights.
The man grinned, as if crafting his own twisted script.
"Let's see," he drawled. "One came to murder, and the other for self-defense. The two of you die tragically. How poetic."
It wasn't a far-fetched idea, after all, the public already believed the two women were at odds.
Lucia trembled violently, her knees buckling as she pointed at Yeri.
"It's her! She already knows everything! She knows someone's been telling me what to do! I didn't tell her anything, I swear!"
Yeri blinked. "…?"
Sure enough, human hearts were unpredictable, especially when survival was at stake.
At least Lucia's terrified reaction proved one thing: she truly hadn't realized she was being followed.
Yeri remained calm, her sharp eyes flicking to the man. His demeanor was cold, his confidence unshaken, the kind of person long accustomed to this life.
A professional criminal.
The same kind of people who'd once ambushed her and Shin Keir.
"What kind of people do you hang out with?" Yeri asked, turning to Lucia, who was already slumped on the floor, trembling.
"You can still joke?!" Lucia shrieked. "I don't want to die!"
The man laughed, amused. "Since you look like you're already suffering, let me do you a favor and end it quickly."
He stepped closer, raising the syringe toward Yeri's IV.
But fate intervened. The door swung open.
"Princess, I brought the disch—" Madam Zhi froze mid-sentence, holding a stack of papers, her eyes widening at the sight of the stranger. "Who are you?"
The man didn't bother replying. He raised his gun.
Yeri reacted instantly, her eyes flashed crimson as she unleashed her ability.
The room dissolved. Fire erupted everywhere. The man's grin faltered, confusion twisting into panic as the floor beneath him turned into a lake of flames. He stumbled, trying to stamp out fire that wasn't there.
Yeri lunged, IV still attached to her arm, tearing out medical cables as she tackled him.
But her body was weak, the backlash from using her ability to Lianna still lingered. Her vision blurred. The illusion wavered.
The man's mind, hardened and cruel, fought through the hallucination.
Realizing what was happening, he snarled and kicked her hard.
Yeri slammed against the bedside table, pain blooming across her back.
Madam Zhi screamed. From her perspective, it looked as though Yeri had tried to disarm him, unaware of the illusion the man had seen.
Meanwhile, Lucia crawled desperately toward the bathroom door, but the man turned and fired.
The silenced gun spat a muffled hiss, the bullet splintering wood inches from her hand.
"Bitch!" he snarled. "I'll deal with you soon, just you wait."
The gun aimed again.
Madam Zhi didn't hesitate. She threw herself over Yeri, shielding her.
Yeri's pupils dilated. She unleashed her ability once more, reality distorting just enough to make the man hesitate, his vision spinning.
"Damn it! What are you, a witch?!" he shouted, pulling the trigger anyway.
The bullet grazed through illusion and flesh alike striking Madam Zhi's shoulder.
"Mom!" Yeri's scream tore from her throat. Her eyes bled red; veins snaked across her temple, blood dripping from her nose.
As the man steadied his aim again, Yeri shoved Madam Zhi aside and surged forward, driven by fury and instinct.
They collided, the gun clattered, but Yeri snatched it mid-fall.
Without hesitation, she pressed it against his forehead.
Two deafening shots.
Silence followed.
The man's body slumped to the floor.
And it was this scene that Master Zhi walked into when he opened the door.
He had only come because Madam Zhi had messaged an hour ago, saying Yeri was ready for discharge. He wanted to take them home.
Instead...
Madam Zhi lay on the floor, clutching her bleeding shoulder, but her gaze never left Yeri.
Yeri was still straddling the man, sitting frozen on top of his lifeless body, her hand trembling as it clutched the gun. Her breaths came in sharp, uneven bursts.
The metallic smell of blood filled the air.
Master Zhi stood at the door, stunned into stillness.
It wasn't until his wife weakly called out his name that he snapped back to his senses.
From the corridor, nurses were already rushing closer, no doubt alarmed by the noise and Madam Zhi's earlier screams.
Without a word, he moved fast, almost too fast for a man his age. He reached Yeri in seconds, pried the gun from her trembling hand, and carried her back to the bed.
"It's okay," he whispered repeatedly, his voice shaking. "It's okay, don't be afraid. It's over now."
Her body trembled violently, eyes unfocused, the gun's recoil and shock still numbing her senses along with her ability's backlash.
Master Zhi frantically wiped the gun clean, removing every trace of Yeri's fingerprints before gripping it tightly himself.
He turned next to his wife, who was trying to sit up despite the blood seeping through her blouse. "I'm alright," Madam Zhi said hoarsely, pressing her wound. "But Princess… she didn't mean it." Her voice cracked. "It was self-defense, he wanted to kill her!"
Master Zhi nodded grimly. "I know."
"Give me the gun," Madam Zhi urged, her face pale. "I'll say I did it. You just arrived...no one will believe you if you take the blame."
Her voice trembled with pain and fear, but he refused with a shake of his head. There was no time to argue.
A nurse appeared at the doorway, froze in horror at the sight, and then screamed before bolting back down the hall to call for help.
"Dad…" Yeri's weak voice broke through the chaos. Her head was spinning, her body heavy and fading. The backlash from her ability was eating away at her strength. Still, she forced the words out.
"My phone…r-recording…"
Of course. When she'd told Lucia there were no cameras, it didn't mean she wasn't prepared.
Someone like Lucia, unpredictable and likes public attention was never to be trusted. Yeri would've been a fool not to protect herself.
Moments later, the room turned chaotic. Medical staff flooded in, followed by security.
Madam Zhi was rushed toward the ER for surgery, still trying to explain between gasps that it had been self-defense, that the man had attacked first.
But given her delicate frame and the attacker's build, few believed she could have overpowered him.
Master Zhi tried to take the blame instead. Calmly, he claimed he had shot the man to protect his family. But before he could fully craft a believable story, the security officers found Lucia Hera collapsed in the restroom.
"Sir, do you know this woman?" one guard asked.
Master Zhi turned, startled. He hadn't even realized she was there.