Levi, meanwhile, had frozen mid-scroll. His brows knit together before he handed his phone to Yeri.
"Look. Rumors say Young Master Keir's fiancée is Calin Ricci."
Yeri blinked. She already knew who Calin Ricci was, she even overheard her in the hospital restroom while hiding like a fugitive.
"It's fine," Yeri said. "They're in the same circle. People naturally match them."
"So they're friends?" Nina asked suspiciously. Her "drama intuition" was tingling. "Yz, be careful with these so-called friends. In dramas, they're always the rival or jealous villain! What if she's behind these articles to declare herself the rightful fiancée?"
Yeri paused.
She wanted to say Calin Ricci was actually the one the Keirs originally planned for Shin Keir but considering Nina's current energy, she would definitely transform into a full-time keyboard warrior, single-handedly fighting all of Shin–Calin shippers online.
"It has nothing to do with me," Yeri said, shrugging. "I've never even met her. Just ignore it."
She had no idea what schemes existed between the Ricci and Keir families, nor did she have any interest in finding out.
For all she knew, maybe the people behind these rumors weren't even them at all.
Nina suddenly froze, then snapped her fingers as if a light bulb went on above her head.
"Wait, do you think that lovestruck idiot Tiffany did this? Now that she knows about you and Young Master Keir, maybe she's trying to stir up drama!"
Yeri almost burst into laughter and shook her head.
The truth was simple: she wasn't even remotely worried about Tiffany and Marco knowing about her relationship with Shin Keir. Those two looked down on her so much that exposing her connection to him was the last thing they'd dare to do.
If anything, they'd rather bury the information six feet under or pray every night that Shin Keir suddenly woke up, realized she wasn't worthy, and dumped her.
As for Marco, he's a scumbag but not stupid. He had already offended Shin Keir. He'd rather Shin Keir forgot he existed at all than stirring trouble online.
"You know how Tiffany hates anything good happening to me," Yeri said. "If I suddenly got triggered by this rumor and publicly declared myself the rightful fiancée, Tiffany would probably die from jealousy on the spot."
Nina laughed so hard she nearly choked.
Right, why didn't she think of that sooner?
Among all the girls in school, why did Tiffany target Yeri the most? It was never about Yeri doing anything wrong. It was simply Tiffany's deep-rooted insecurity and envy.
In Tiffany's mind, Yeri's existence dimmed her shine. It should've been Tiffany standing at the peak as the campus beauty. Unfortunately for her, reality disagreed.
---
After her discharge from the hospital, Calin stayed home to rest. Around this time, the words Sergei whispered to her before she passed out had finally begun to clear, but the more she remembered, the more puzzled she became.
Wanting answers, she headed to see her brother only to be told by his assistant that Sergei had taken leave and hadn't been working at all for the past few days.
Calin went straight to Sergei's penthouse. She knocked once. Twice. Ten times.
No answer.
Her eye twitched. She pulled out her phone to call him only to see the cheerful red text on the screen.
He blocked her?!
Calin's nose almost bent out of shape from anger.
"What is he being so dramatic about? Is it because I refused to give him some of my assets? What a greedy bastard!"
She kept knocking a few more times before finally giving up. Just as she turned toward the elevator, it chimed open and a familiar person stepped out.
"Marianne Vega?" Calin stared in surprised.
Marianne also froze for a second before offering a warm, polite smile. "Calin. You came to see your brother?"
Calin's eyes dropped to the grocery bags in Marianne's hands. She forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "And what are you doing here?"
Completely oblivious to Calin's sour mood, Marianne set down one of the bags and swiped Sergei's key card.
"Your brother's chronic gastritis flared up. We were supposed to have dinner yesterday, but he didn't pick up my calls. When I came here, he was already unwell."
"Oh?" Calin raised a brow and flopped onto the sofa. She wasn't the least bit concerned or worried. "Then why didn't you bring him to the hospital?"
Marianne paused for a moment, hesitant but answered honestly. "I tried. He refused, very firmly. He's in his room now. Do you want to talk to him? I'll cook something in the meantime."
Calin flashed a sweet but mocking smile. If anything, she mentally called Marianne an idiot. Look at her, thinking her brother sees her as something other than a convenient nanny. Pathetic.
---
Inside the bedroom, Sergei had heard the knocking earlier but couldn't be bothered to move.
He didn't want to see anyone from the Ricci family.
Ever since that fiasco at the establishment, his mental state was hanging by a thread. The horrifying idea that he might've slept with his own sister was enough to haunt him day and night.
And as if that trauma wasn't enough, his secretary brought him terrible news: Shin Keir had pulled out investments worth millions. Overnight.
The company was in chaos. Directors panicked. Shareholders demanded answers. When he informed their father, the old man only sneered at him and scolded him for being "incompetent like his sister."
Incompetent? Was he the one who schemed and drugged Shin Keir? Was he the one obsessed and constantly provoking a psycho whose temper could bankrupt families so easily?
Every time Calin created a mess, he was the one forced to clean it up. Every time Shin Keir retaliated, he was the one taking the hit.
To outsiders, he was the glamorous young master Ricci, heir, CEO, golden boy.
But in the Ricci family? He was nothing but the workhorse carrying everyone's stupidity on his back.
While he lay there stewing in bitterness, the door swung open and Calin's proud face appeared.
"I thought you were faking it but…" She eyed his miserable state. "Wow, what happened to you? You look awful."
For a moment Sergei wondered if this was a hallucination brought on by stress. But upon realizing this was real. Unfortunately.
"Bitch! You still have the nerve to come here!?" Sergei roared, jolting upright like he had woken up from a nightmare only to fall into a worse one.
Calin wasn't intimidated at all. She was used to treating her brother like her personal assistant. She snapped right back with equal fire.
Out in the kitchen, Marianne froze at the sudden explosion of cursing. She hesitated, this was clearly a family matter. She had no place to interfere.
But then something crashed. Then more yelling. Then even worse cursing.
Marianne's heart sank.
Worried that Sergei, who was sick, might have been hurt, she dropped her utensils and ran toward the bedroom.
Unexpectedly, despite looking as pale as a ghost and supposedly too weak to move, Sergei was standing upright, clutching a bedside lamp like a weapon.
Across from him, Calin continued cursing, arms crossed, confident he wouldn't actually throw it at her.
"C-Can't you two talk things out instead of fighting like this?" Marianne said nervously from the doorway. It was her first time witnessing such a scene and she had no idea how to deescalate it. "Sergei, you're still unwell. Don't overexert yourself. And Calin—"
"Shut up! What do you know? Stop acting like you care. I don't need an outsider meddling!" Calin screamed, voice cracking with fury.
Marianne flinched. In her impression, Calin had always been the picture of elegance and gentleness, nothing like this unhinged version now.
"You want to talk, right? Fine. Let's talk." Sergei, eyes bloodshot, lowered the lamp and gestured for Marianne to leave.
Marianne felt wronged, but she was an outsider. So she swallowed her objections and closed the door.
Calin still looked like she wanted violence. She couldn't understand why Sergei had turned on her like a rabid dog.
Shouldn't she be the angry one? His method of "helping" her that night had been humiliating and disgusting.
"What? You wanted to talk? Or should I hand you a knife so we can end each other's suffering?" Sergei snapped as he dropped heavily onto his bed.
Calin glared at him like a venomous snake. She wanted to hit this lunatic, but she knew she needed him, at least until her life stabilized again.
"You're the one who started cursing," she said sharply. "If you're sick, go to a hospital. Don't dump your problems on me. And have you forgotten? I wouldn't have gotten worse if you had called a doctor when I was drugged. I haven't even heard a proper explanation about what happened. Who was the person you sent to me that night?"
Hearing her real reason for coming, Sergei felt a wave of conflicting emotions; anxiety, resentment, disgust, anger, so strong he grabbed fistfuls of his own hair.
But again, resentment won. After all… weren't they siblings?
Since she came knocking wanting the truth, then fine, she could have the whole truth. The good, the bad, the disgusting.
Outside, Marianne returned to the kitchen, though her mind was far from the food. The room had gone quiet; maybe the two had finally calmed down.
But soon, Calin's shrill voice tore through the air:
"Impossible!"
"You're lying!"
"I don't believe you!"
Marianne froze. She was a surgeon, not a therapist. Whatever was happening inside that room was far beyond her skill set.
Then the room fell into eerie silence.
She was about to knock when she heard Calin sobbing through the door, broken, hysterical sobs punctuated by curses and more denial.
Somehow, she finished cooking the porridge, though she couldn't remember a second of how she'd done it.
Suddenly the door to Sergei's room flew open. Calin stormed out, eyes bloodshot, hair disheveled like someone who had been emotionally gutted.
"Calin…?" Marianne called.
But Calin ignored her. Instead, she grabbed several expensive figurines displayed in the living room and threw them against the wall, one after another. Marianne let out a terrified gasp.
On the other hand, Sergei followed at a slower pace looking calm, almost bored. Clearly, this wasn't the first time he'd seen Calin go berserk.
A faint, satisfied smirk tugged at his lips.