Calin exhaled heavily, trying to steady her trembling nerves. She unlocked her phone, checking the online buzz, curious about the rumors Saeki Jie mentioned.
Her eyes widened.
She was being described as the pitiful substitute? The fake fiancée? A mere shield Shin Keir used to protect the real woman he loved?!
Calin's earlier rage and malice surged back instantly, burning hot and violent. Blood rushed to her head, her expression twisting into something almost unrecognizable.
This, this was not the type of trending news she wanted linked to her name and Shin Keir's!
Whoever spread these rumors wasn't helping her but rather attacking her.
"Damn it! If I find out who's behind this, see if I don't make their lives a living hell!" Calin screamed hysterically, coming close to slamming her forehead against the car's headrest.
Her failed scheme against Shin Keir, the string of misfortunes that followed, her deteriorating relationship with her brother, everything had piled up, pushing her to the brink.
Calin Ricci, overstimulated and unraveling, stomped on the accelerator and sped toward SC University like a woman possessed.
By the time she arrived, night had already fallen. The campus gate stood quiet, only a handful of students drifting out. Calin didn't care. She remained in her car, glaring at the entrance with bloodshot eyes, her mind churning with frustration and paranoia.
Three hours passed before she finally snapped back to her senses. With a shaky inhale, she started the engine again and headed to Neri Medical Hospital.
That night she played detective. She remembered Yeri's attending physician was Zahn Neri.
Could he be the reason Shin Keir had met that vixen?
But Zahn Neri was not available, he was tied up with his own family mess and not at the hospital.
Calin slumped into the driver's seat with a hollow thud, muttering through gritted teeth, "No… Zahn Neri just came back from a medical mission this year. It shouldn't be him."
Suddenly, her eyes widened. She called Lucia Hera next, but all she got was a cold, automated message: the party couldn't be reached.
Calin called the men she had ordered to keep tabs on Lucia, but they sheepishly told her that their boss, Sergei, had warned them to stop following her entirely.
Also, Lucia Hera had disappeared without a trace?
That bitch didn't have the ability to suddenly vanish into thin air. So who helped her?
Calin's expression twisted as her frown deepened. She tried calling Sergei to curse him for interfering, but again, a cold, mechanical voice greeted her.
Right. She had forgotten that twisted bastard had blocked her.
Fueled by frustration, she drove home and tore open the files containing every information she had gathered on Yeri Zhi. She highlighted names, circled connections, scribbled notes like a deranged detective.
Except, there was almost nothing.
It was as if Yeri Zhi had grown up on a remote mountain and only recently descended into modern society. No social circles. Only two close friends. Even her classmates knew little about her aside from her chronic illnesses and occasional hospitalizations.
How on earth had this vixen met Shin Keir? How capable was she to earn his engagement?
Since Sergei was useless for now, Calin called her father's assistant and rattled off orders like a machine gun: investigate Yeri Zhi from birth to present, every member of the Zhi family, the entire Zhi Corporation, anyone personally connected to Yeri like Zahn Neri, Nina Geun, Levi Ando. Track down Lucia Hera's whereabouts. And Tiffany Rhian, who supposedly had a feud with Yeri.
The assistant nearly dropped his phone. Investigations weren't only time-consuming but they also bled money. And the company was currently struggling.
Not to mention, though the Geun and Ando families were only second-tier, they were old houses with deep roots. Touching them carelessly was the same as sticking one's hand into a hornet's nest.
And Zahn Neri… is she insane?
"Is there a problem?" Calin snapped when the assistant hesitated, her voice sharp with irritation and authority.
The assistant felt a migraine forming. "Young Miss, I can look into some of them, but I cannot guarantee anything regarding Zahn Neri. I hope you understand."
Calin's voice cut across the hesitation, sharp as always. "I'm not asking you to dig into his private life. Just find out how, when, and why he became Yeri Zhi's attending physician."
Something else occurred to her: Tristan Felan.
That scoundrel knew every socialite and half the female celebrities in the city. If anyone connected threads like these, it was him.
"Add Tristan Felan as well," she instructed coldly. "Just his girlfriends this year or anyone he has interacted with."
The assistant nearly choked. It felt like a fishbone was lodged in his throat, leaving him speechless.
Perhaps Calin was ignorant, but as an old hand in the Ricci household, he understood the invisible threads that controlled their society. The noble families, the silent puppeteers, the power brokers behind closed doors and Tristan Felan was not someone to investigate lightly.
Most people didn't know, but Tristan Felan commanded a large portion of Hexion's underbelly. To casually investigate him was troublesome.
After that call, the assistant immediately contacted Master Ricci to report everything. But the old man simply waved a hand and chuckled.
Ignoring most of the names his daughter listed, he was far more amused by one thing: why Calin suddenly wanted to investigate Tristan Felan.
"Do the rest of what she asked," he said lazily. "But forget about that Neri boy and Tristan."
The assistant let out a subtle sigh of relief before ending the call.
---
The next day, Calin arrived at the agency with thick makeup caked over her pale face. She hadn't slept a single minute last night, and with her recent hospitalization, her complexion was in terrible shape.
In the dressing room, her manager quickly reviewed her schedule while a hairstylist worked on her hair. Calin sat stiffly in the chair, staring into space, her mind wandering down darker and darker paths.
It must be Tristan Felan.
As Shin's cousin and closest companion, Tristan knew everything: Shin's preferences, routines, even his temper. If anyone could manipulate circumstances around Shin Keir, it was him.
What if he and Yeri Zhi were working together?
In a family like the Keirs, competition and silent rivalries were normal. On the surface, Tristan always acted like Shin Keir's loyal right-hand man. But in truth, to her standpoint, he was Shin's shadow, the eternal second, always a step behind.
What if Tristan had long wanted to surpass Shin Keir… even take his place entirely?
Just look at Hadi and Hiro Keir. Even if they never said it aloud, their resentment toward Shin Keir was obvious.
Calin's eyes widened as if she had uncovered the biggest conspiracy of the decade.
Yeri Zhi must have been someone Tristan discovered first, someone he trained, molded, and polished to match Shin's taste.
Someone he slipped into Shin's life at the perfect moment, creating a coincidence out of thin air.
Shin, being naturally trusting toward Tristan, would never question it. Even if he found out Yeri had ties to Tristan, he'd probably assume Tristan was just being thoughtful again, worried that he would stay single forever.
The more Calin thought about it, the more convinced she became.
There was nothing about Yeri Zhi, nothing that made her worthy to be Shin Keir's fiancée.
And the Keir elders agreeing to this farce? Ridiculous. Unless… a silent power struggle was already happening within the Keir family. Unless Tristan had been building allies for years.
Unless all of this: the fiancée, the rumors, the coincidences, was just a trap waiting for Shin Keir to step into.
Calin's heartbeat quickened. Her expression sharpened.
Yes.
That must be it.
While Calin was still drowning in her own wild assumptions, the makeup artist entered and politely greeted her.
Calin didn't respond. The artist didn't take it to heart, she was long used to Calin's arrogant moods and simply assumed she was having another bad day.
She prepared the makeup remover and gently touched Calin's cheek. The moment the cold pad brushed her skin, Calin flinched.
Only then did she realize they were already starting her makeup. Her mood instantly plummeted. Irritated at having her thoughts interrupted, she shot the makeup artist a vicious glare.
At that moment, one of her PAs passed by, struggling with several heavy bags while pushing a clothes rack. Abruptly, Calin exploded.
"What are you doing?!" she shouted.
The PA froze, terrified and confused.
Calin jabbed a finger toward the rack. "Don't you know how much these clothes cost? Even if you worked for a year, no, a decade, you still wouldn't be able to afford them!"
The PA opened and closed his mouth, unsure how to respond. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the manager quietly shaking her head, signaling him not to argue.
Then he understood. This was one of those days when Calin was in a foul mood and whoever crossed her path became the trash can for her toxic venting, guilty or not.
"You're all useless!" Calin continued. "What are you even here for? You can't even take care of my things properly!"
Not satisfied, she grabbed a compact mirror and hurled it at him.
She wanted to lash out at the makeup artist for startling her, but she still needed her to finish the job so she chose the easier target.
The PA instinctively dodged, which only infuriated Calin even more.
"How dare you move! Am I not paying you a high salary? I'm going to kill you today!" she snarled, grabbing anything within reach and throwing it in his direction.
So the PA didn't run. He simply covered his face, bracing himself.
"You're actually covering your face? With that ugly face, what's even worth protecting?!" Calin hollered.
"Calin, calm down. Whatever happened, let's talk later," her manager finally intervened.
But instead of calming down, Calin found a new target.
"Calm down?!" she screeched. "Now that I think about it, you must be laughing behind my back! All those dumb netizens calling me a pitiful substitute, was it you who spread the rumors?"
Her manager blinked, stunned. She had been the one anxiously contacting PR to control the trending articles.
How did she become the culprit?
"Calin, don't say that. Why would I sabotage my own artist? This isn't the first time people tried to smear you. Don't let haters affect you."
But Calin sneered, glaring suspiciously.
"Oh really? Apart from my family, you're the only person who knew I was supposed to be engaged to Shin Keir."
The manager was baffled. Since when was she the only outsider who knew about Calin's obsession with Shin Keir and her delusion about getting engaged to him?