She hadn't even decided yet whether she would tell Shin Keir what she had discovered or simply sit back and watch him fall from his throne after everything he had done to her.
"I'd like to hear what Miss Ricci thinks," Tristan said, raising an eyebrow.
Calin flinched, unable to meet his eyes.
The Tristan she used to despise, a reckless womanizer, suddenly felt dangerous.
Tristan carried a charm that made people lower their guard, especially women. But beneath that amicable surface was something sharp, cold, intelligent, something she could sense now for the first time.
And that terrified her.
Seemingly having made up her mind, Calin forced a delicate smile. "I'll listen to my father."
Master Ricci nodded, visibly pleased with her answer.
But before he could speak further, Tristan cut in casually:
"Miss Ricci is very filial. But don't make impulsive decisions just because Shin rejected you."
Calin's head shot up. The glint in Tristan's eyes told her everything, he knew. He definitely knew about the drugging, about what happened afterward… about everything she hoped to bury.
But like her father said, she couldn't afford to lose everything she had left.
And if she wanted solid proof of Tristan's supposed conspiracy against Shin, the only way was to get closer to him.
As for the rest… she would improvise.
"Brother Tristan misunderstood," Calin said softly. "I admit I did like Brother Shin, but I've realized feelings can't be forced. I shouldn't change myself just because of a man."
She reached for the wine bottle, her expression gentle and obedient. "Here, let me pour you a drink."
Tristan's smile didn't falter, but his eyes narrowed slightly. He was surprised for a second.
What game was she playing? Was she truly willing to sacrifice herself for her family's survival?
No. Calin was not the type of woman who would swallow her pride, let alone compete with countless women for a man like him.
Something wasn't adding up.
Elder Madam Keir, however, was delighted utterly charmed by the apparent harmony between the two.
"I knew it!" she exclaimed, beaming. "My instincts are never wrong. You two make the perfect couple, my most capable grandson and the granddaughter-in-law I always dreamed of. Even if this old woman dies soon, I can finally be at peace."
Master Ricci's smile stretched so wide it nearly touched his ears.
"Then it's settled," he declared. "Let's make this engagement official."
However, at that very moment, the door swung open.
A young woman stumbled in, barely able to steady herself, then dropped to her knees right beside Tristan.
"Brother Tristan… I called someone from Hexion and they said you were here. Please, I'm begging you help my brother! The doctor said his condition is getting worse!" she choked out, breathless, tears rolling down her cheeks like strings of pearls.
Everyone froze.
Even Master Ricci and Elder Madam Keir were too stunned to react.
Tristan was the first to move. He gently patted the girl's head. "Erika, get up. The floor is cold. And don't worry about your brother. Didn't I tell you before? I'll handle all his medical expenses."
Perhaps it was the sudden appearance of this random woman, right when Calin hadn't even mentally prepared herself to deal with Tristan's existing flock of women or perhaps it was simply her already-unstable state of mind these days, but Calin nearly lost her composure on the spot.
Her lips trembled as she forced a polite smile. "Brother Tristan… this is?"
Tristan answered casually, as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world. "This is Erika. Her brother worked for Hexion but got into an accident recently. They're orphans, and since her brother's in the hospital, I promised I'd take responsibility for her from now on."
Calin was speechless.
So apart from this scumbag's long list of women, she was expected to share him with relatives of the people he worked with? Share his time, but most importantly, his money?
Just then, the girl who had been sobbing moments ago glanced at her, an unmistakable, provocative glare, before instantly returning to her innocent act.
Calin's fingers tightened, her nails digging into her palm. Her whole hand turned cold.
"Tristan, it's good that you have a sense of responsibility, but you shouldn't allow random people to..." Master Ricci paused when he noticed the young beauty looking at him with watery, pitiful eyes. He cleared his throat and corrected himself, "I mean, now that you'll be engaged to my daughter—"
"I'm sorry, sir!" Erika bowed deeply, tears streaming again. "I didn't mean to barge in. I was so scared and panicking I wasn't thinking straight. But I swear... there's nothing going on between me and Brother Tristan. He's just too kind."
"Erika and her brother are siblings I sponsored. They're diligent, hardworking." Tristan added, waving toward the door. "Erika, go wait outside."
The girl hesitated, glancing up at him with downcast lashes and a bitten lip.
An expression Calin recognized too well. Seduction disguised as innocence. She used the same one herself whenever she wanted to seduce someone.
Nothing between them?
Calin almost laughed. This pretentious bitch liked Tristan, that much was obvious.
"So about the engagement—" Tristan began, but Calin shot to her feet, cutting him off.
"There's no engagement! I refuse!"
"Calin! What nonsense are you saying?" Master Ricci grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her back into her seat.
Calin jerked her hand free, shaking with fury. "I said I don't want to get engaged!"
Elder Madam Keir, finally snapping out of her shock from the girl's intrusion, added sternly, "Calin, calm down. Tristan already said she's just someone he's sponsoring."
"Do I look like a fool?" Calin spat, her gaze darting between her father and the old matriarch before landing on Tristan with a twisted sneer. "How else would she know you're here unless you told her yourself? Or did someone from Hexion suddenly become so free they report your whereabouts to some random girl you 'sponsor'?"
Her voice trembled with fury, the last of her composure crumbling.
How could Calin endure this provocation? This humiliation?
Calin, who grew up as the precious jewel of the Ricci family, pampered, worshipped, accustomed to always get whatever she wanted, was suddenly expected to be tolerant?
To swallow the insult?
To act magnanimous while another woman threw covert glares at her?
In the end, the dinner meant to cement the engagement collapsed into a chaotic mess of raised voices and bitter resentment.
Erika still clung timidly to Tristan's sleeve like a bullied maiden, while Master Ricci frantically apologized to Elder Madam Keir, who was still in disbelief that Calin dared raise her voice at her.
Calin didn't care anymore. She shot Tristan one last murderous glare and marched out.
The moment she left, Master Ricci's face flushed red, then drained deathly pale. Before anyone could react, he staggered and collapsed backward.
"Ahhh!" Elder Madam Keir shrieked in terror.
Tristan's brows furrowed, but his voice remained calm as he dialed emergency services.
Erika slipped out quietly not long after. The timid act was gone, her expression cool, composed. She was never the sister of a Hexion member to begin with, but one of Hexion's elite infiltration agents, capable of switching personas within seconds and already in her thirties. An hour earlier, she had received Tristan's coded message, and that was how she appeared right on time.
"Where is that damn girl?! And you, what were you thinking letting that hussy barge in here?!" Elder Madam Keir yelled, trembling with fury.
Tristan only chuckled and patted her shoulder.
"Grandma, if Calin can't even handle a little grievance, then you know this engagement was doomed from the start. And didn't I always say? I don't plan on marrying anyone. The only woman I want to spoil all my life is you."
Annoyance still simmered in the old matriarch's eyes, but with a few coaxing words from her favorite grandson, Elder Madam Keir finally stopped insisting.
When the ambulance arrived, Master Ricci was rushed to the hospital. The doctors later diagnosed a stroke, partly triggered by Calin's outburst, but mostly by his long years of indulgence, destructive lifestyle and stress.
That night, the news of Master Ricci being rushed to the hospital exploded across social media and business forums.
The already dire situation of Ricci Diamonds plunged even further, its stock prices nosedived, investors panicked, and shares were dumped en masse. Within hours, the Ricci name, once a symbol of opulence, became a beacon of instability.
---
Meanwhile, in the quiet, lamplit corridors of the Neri household, Zahn remained in his study, staring at the investigation report glowing coldly on his laptop screen. Page after page, three years' worth, painted a truth far more brutal than any rumor he had ever dismissed.
He sat there as if something had reached into his chest and pulled out his soul.
The longer he read, the heavier his heart sank.
No wonder she sometimes stared at nothing with that blank, defeated expression. No wonder Lianna had begun looking at him with contempt hidden beneath resignation, disappointment concealed in silence.
She had not been distant. She had been enduring.
A soft knock broke the stillness. His mother's voice drifted through the door, gentle and composed. "Zahn, dear… would you like some tea?"
He didn't answer. He couldn't. His eyes remained glued to the laptop screen.
A mere $4,000 monthly allowance? The young Madam of the noble Neri family, his wife, receiving only that?
What about the black card he registered under her name? The supplementary card? The regular transfers he arranged before leaving for his medical mission?
He had entrusted all financial management to his mother. Had there been… a misunderstanding? Or was it something far worse?
But that wasn't what shattered him.
What left him frozen, breathless, hands trembling over the keyboard, were the testimonies written in the report, each detailing the daily humiliations Lianna had quietly suffered under the very roof meant to protect her.
The servants mocked her, belittled her, treated her like an outsider, a burden, an inconvenience.
He leaned back in his chair, the weight in his chest suffocating.
Three years.
He had left to save lives… while he was halfway across the world believing she was living comfortably, respected, cared for. Only to return and realize he hadn't even protected his own wife.