"Shin, good to see you here. You finally decided to take a break from work."
The eldest young master of the Lin family was the first to greet him. His younger brother had ruined a collaboration with Hexion and even offended Shin Keir. He had tried using Saeki as a middleman, but after learning the full story, he knew mending things wouldn't be easy.
"Right. KGG has been doing exceptionally well. At this point, it wouldn't be wrong to say it's beyond the sky since you took over. You deserve to unwind a little."
"Maybe Young Master Keir could drop us a few crumbs of wisdom while he's at it," another added.
Someone shifted the spotlight. "Tristan, I heard this place is under Hexion? It's impressive, the ambience and location are great."
With that, attention turned to Tristan.
"That's right," Saeki chimed in with a grin. "And since it just opened, it'll be your treat tonight, right?"
Tristan chuckled and deflected immediately, turning to Shin. "I'm just the manager, not the one with the deepest pockets."
Saeki's eyes lit up like a child spotting candy. He rubbed his hands together. "Right, right, big bro rarely hangs out with us. It's decided. He's treating!"
Shin, who had been dragged there solely because of Yeri "…"
The others, knowing Saeki and Tristan were the closest to Shin Keir, took his silence as a yes and happily celebrated.
"Young Master Keir has blessed us mortals with his presence. We should toast to that!"
"Feels nostalgic… We haven't had a gathering like this since college."
"Oh~ by the way!" Saeki suddenly jumped up, speaking loudly like he was the party host. "There's someone very important you'll be meeting tonight. Big bro's girlfriend!"
Right at that moment, the door opened, making everyone instinctively look toward it.
"No! It is definitely not her!" Saeki blurted in a panic.
Calin: "…"
Assuming she was only being stared at because she arrived late, Calin smiled sweetly. Her gaze quickly locked onto Tristan, and she strutted toward him confidently.
"Brother Tristan, why didn't you wait for me?" she whined, forcing the guy beside Tristan to move so she could sit next to him.
The room erupted in excited whispers.
"No way! I thought it was just a rumor, are you two really dating?!"
"Tristan, I'm begging you, let me worship you! You actually snagged the nation's goddess!"
"Wait—what about Jessica? Or was it Angela?"
Tristan's mouth twitched. Of course most of them had no idea about Calin's scheming mind and real reason she was chasing him.
"Of course she'd cling to a thicker tree now that the Ricci family is declining."
The voice cut through the room like cold steel meeting fire.
Everyone fell silent for a moment before scattered awkward laughter and side-glances followed.
Calin snapped. "Who said that?!"
"Am I wrong?" the man replied coolly from across the lounge, seated next to Saeki.
The color drained from Calin's face instantly. She recognized him. One of her recent flings. From a first-tier family, yes but nowhere near the level of Shin Keir or even Tristan Felan.
A month ago, she was still seeing him. But once the Ricci downfall began, she dumped him without hesitation.
Tristan raised a brow, sensing the tension between them. It wasn't surprising if Calin's messy past caught up to her given she'd been unruly since childhood.
"Don't misunderstand," Tristan said casually, folding his arms. "Miss Ricci is just a friend. Those paparazzi are bored and needed a new name to attach to mine."
Calin was just about to open her mouth when the door swung open again.
All murmurs died instantly.
A woman stepped in, beautiful enough to silence a room. Her velvet burgundy dress contrasted with the dim lighting, making her skin appear almost luminous, as though she were carved from water itself.
Her long, wavy black hair framed her in a way that was both seductive and soft, yet her face, delicate, with almond black eyes radiated innocence. She blinked, seemingly confused.
These young masters had never once lacked beautiful women flocking to them from all walks of life. But the beauty standing before them was on an entirely different level, so ethereal she could stun a room simply by existing.
The guy who had called Calin the nation's goddess earlier felt instantly slapped by fate.
Why had none of them ever seen such an ethereal beauty in their circle?
Where on earth had she been hiding?
"So beautiful…" someone whispered under their breath.
Yeri blinked around, baffled. Had she entered the wrong lounge? And with the lights so dim, she couldn't immediately make out the faces staring at her.
…Wait. Weren't there supposed to be five people? Why were there suddenly ten, no, perhaps twelve?
"Yeri… come here."
That deep, commanding tone broke the spell.
Only then did Yeri recognize the voice. She stepped fully inside and closed the door behind her.
The moment she sat down beside him, Shin wrapped an arm around her waist.
The group: "…"
Yeri: ???
What was with this deafening silence? Why was everyone staring at her? Did she accidentally commit a crime?
"Looked enough?" Shin's chilling tone and murderous glare snapped the group out of their stupor.
Or… it should have. Instead, their shock only deepened.
"Ah… hahaha…" one man coughed awkwardly, looking anywhere but at them.
Eldest Young Master Lin cleared his throat, though his eyes stubbornly refused to look away.
Maybe it was the atmosphere, maybe the dramatic lighting, or maybe Shin's aura, but sitting next to that celestial beauty, he looked exactly like a villain who caught a fairy.
And more importantly: Who in their circle didn't know Shin Keir's notorious indifference toward women?
Some of them had known him since their school days. They knew his temperament. Romance? Softness? Women? Laughable.
Saeki, who had somehow joined the wrong room and gone with the flow, chuckled. Yeri truly did have star potential. Pity she wasn't interested in the entertainment industry. He made a mental note to ask again someday, maybe she'd change her mind.
"Big bro, why aren't you introducing Yeri?" Saeki piped up, loud as always. He took it upon himself anyway. "Anyway, this is big bro's girlfriend, Yeri."
"Fiancée," Shin corrected calmly.
CRASH.
A glass shattered somewhere.
Silence fell again, so absolute it felt physical.
Yeri, who had no real understanding of how Shin's circle perceived him, or the reputation he held, could only sit there, feeling utterly, helplessly weird.
"Hello," Yeri greeted politely, unsure how else to respond to their collective meltdown.
Her existence and the revelation that she was Shin's fiancée, was more shocking to them than an earthquake or any natural calamity.
But as reality settled, it also proved one thing: Shin Keir was not some inhuman creature devoid of desire. He was not immune to beauty, nor was he made of stone.
Gradually, the group snapped out of it. Sharing the same dawning realization, they all shifted back into "normal mode" and greeted Yeri in unison.
After all, the woman in front of them was celestial enough that even Shin Keir, the man who ignored celebrities, heiresses, supermodels, and socialites, could not pretend to be blind.
"The two of you look perfect together, truly a match made in heaven!"
"Shin! Don't forget to invite me to your engagement ceremony! I'll give you my newly bought villa as a gift, may you both have a lifetime of happiness!"
"How did you two meet?"
"Yeah, yeah! When's the engagement?" Eldest Young Master Lin chimed in, pulling out a bank card and eagerly offering it to Yeri.
Seeing Shin's possessive arm around this woman, he felt absolutely certain now: the key to fixing their collaboration with Hexion was this fiancée, Yeri.
Yeri's confusion was written all over her face. Her lips twitched as she glanced at Shin, completely unsure how to reject the random bank card being shoved at her.
Was this man supposed to be her uncle? Why was he giving her his money?
It felt like she'd suddenly walked into a family reunion, surrounded by overly enthusiastic relatives showering her with blessings.
She already found Saeki's friendliness strange and overly familiar. Who knew all of Shin's other friends were exactly the same?
"All of you, shut up," Shin said, his sharp gaze sweeping across the room. "Mind your own business."
In truth, they weren't normally like this. Whenever someone brought a girlfriend or date, they would openly comment, gossip, or even criticize. They never held back their suspicions.
But who would dare question Shin Keir's woman to his face?
And seeing Saeki's friendliness and Tristan's calm silence, they understood immediately, these two had known about Yeri long before this night.
Their upbringing and experiences made them naturally observant. They didn't need an interrogation to understand Yeri wasn't some random passerby Shin dragged over for amusement, nor some wealthy heiress pushed onto him.
This woman… was real.
Meanwhile, Calin, forgotten and ignored felt as though someone had snatched away the spotlight that rightfully belonged to her.
She was used to being the center of attention, both in front of the cameras and behind them. Even when she wasn't present, she was praised as the epitome of beauty.
Yet suddenly, Yeri appeared like some wildcat emerging from nowhere and stole everything.
Worse, these blind fools were praising her without hesitation. For years, Calin had pulled strings, built connections, done favors, and maneuvered endlessly just to be closer to Shin and accepted by this circle.
Yet this vixen… this nobody… managed in one night, no, in less than an hour to make everyone clamour around her.
"Miss Zhi is indeed Brother Shin's fiancée," Calin finally spoke, forcing a smile as she tried to reclaim ground. "The Keir elders approved of her after all."
Her words were sweet, but her intention was sharp: she wanted them to realize Yeri was only here because of the clan elders not because Shin Keir chose her.