"Will you be attending?" Nina asked.
Yeri nodded without hesitation. "It's the weekend. Since she invited us, we might as well go and take a look."
Nina smirked. She knew Tiffany's intentions all too well, this wedding was nothing more than a grand display. Still, there was no harm in watching the show.
They left the boutique shortly after. Before Yeri could fully relax, the designer stopped her once more, reminding her to maintain her current weight. Just in case, there would be a final dress rehearsal two days before the engagement banquet.
Yeri "..."
Just thinking about it made her feel tired.
But when she met the designer's firm, utterly non-negotiable expression, she swallowed her protest and nodded obediently.
Outside, a car was already waiting for them.
"It's still early," Nina said as they approached. "How about we go shopping?"
Yeri thought about it for a moment, then agreed.
Inside the car, Carpet was already seated neatly, tail wagging happily the moment he saw them. His cheerful energy softened Yeri's mood slightly.
As the car pulled away, her gaze drifted toward the sidewalk.
She caught a glimpse of a familiar figure exiting a luxurious hotel, arm in arm with a man.
Yeri blinked.
Was that… Venice?
"Can you pull over for a moment?" Yeri called out to the driver.
The car smoothly stopped by the roadside.
"What's wrong?" Nina asked, confused.
Yeri didn't respond. Her attention was fixed on a black Bentley slowly rolling out from the hotel's entrance.
That area was known as a gathering place for the ultra-wealthy, surrounded by establishments so expensive they were practically untouchable.
It wasn't that Yeri doubted Venice's ability to afford such a place, what caught her attention was the man beside her.
As the Bentley passed them, the tinted windows revealed nothing. Yeri could only memorize the license plate.
"Nudge."
"Nudge."
Nina poked her arm repeatedly until Yeri finally snapped out of her thoughts.
"Earth to Yeri," Nina said. "You good?"
Yeri nodded absently, and the car soon merged back into traffic.
---
Meanwhile, in a private lounge, Shin Keir sat across from Zahn Neri.
Zahn looked exhausted. Dark shadows clung stubbornly beneath his eyes, and although his suit was impeccable, it did little to conceal the fatigue etched into his features. He leaned back, his expression returning to its usual cold detachment.
"Why did you suddenly ask to see me?" Zahn asked indifferently. "If this is about Yeri Zhi, haven't you already used me enough?"
When his assistant had informed him that Madam Zhi was inquiring about the side effects of medication he supposedly administered to Yeri, Zahn had been utterly baffled.
What medication?
What black spider-like veins?
The last time he had dealt with Yeri's treatment was back when she was still hospitalized.
It was only after he called Shin Keir to ask what had happened that he realized Shin had used him as a convenient excuse without offering a single explanation.
Shin ignored the irritation in Zahn's tone and calmly took his seat.
"How's your mother?" he asked instead.
Zahn frowned slightly, clearly not expecting the question. "She moved back to our ancestral home," he replied after a pause. "I haven't visited her since."
The air between them grew subtly heavier, as if something unspoken had quietly entered the room.
"Still no plans to divorce your wife?"
Zahn's expression tightened instantly. He stared at Shin with a mix of annoyance and barely concealed hostility.
"What does that have to do with you?" he snapped. "Since when did you become so nosy about other people's affairs?"
Shin regarded him quietly, eyes calm and discerning, as if observing a wounded beast desperately pretending it was still unscathed.
Without another word, he took out a file and placed it on the table between them.
Zahn glanced at it briefly but made no move to touch it.
"Afraid?" Shin asked coolly, his gaze deliberately provocative.
Zahn's jaw tightened. Instead of responding, he reached for the file. A vague sense of foreboding rose within him, crawling up his spine, yet he opened it anyway.
Page after page flipped past.
The composure he had painstakingly maintained cracked apart as his hands began to tremble uncontrollably, his face drained of color.
"You- " Zahn's bloodshot eyes snapped up to Shin, disbelief written plainly across his features. His body swayed, forcing him to lean back heavily into the chair. "Impossible… This- this isn't right. How could it be? It's all- "
"Fake?" Shin cut in calmly, his voice sharp and unyielding. "Zahn Neri, when did you become incapable of distinguishing truth from fabrication? Do you really think I'd waste my time forging documents?"
Zahn could not respond. He could only stare at Shin, his mind blank.
The Neri Medical Group had always been stable, untouchable even, a towering presence in the medical industry. There had never been rumors, never any signs of internal collapse.
Yet the documents before him told a different story. Illegal asset transfers, unauthorized bank movements, kickbacks and improper financial relationships, even fraudulent billing and false claims.
And at the center of every single transaction... His mother. Also a core member of the board of directors.
"Impossible…" Zahn whispered hoarsely, as if repeating the word might make reality retreat.
"How is it impossible?" Shin replied, his tone edged with quiet sarcasm. "You may be the medical director, but governance has always rested in your mother's hands. She can make decisions without ever consulting you."
Zahn's fingers curled tightly around the file. His throat bobbed as he swallowed again and again, but his thoughts refused to align.
He couldn't understand it. Or rather, he didn't want to.
Discovering that his mother had mistreated and abused his wife over the years had already dealt him a crushing blow.
And now this? It felt as though the ground beneath his feet had finally given way, revealing a rot he had never wanted to see.
Zahn suddenly recalled Lianna's words from their last confrontation: "Perhaps the only time you ever truly went against your mother… was when you insisted on marrying me."
The realization struck painfully true.
All his life, Zahn had never gone against his mother nor had he ever truly suspected her. He had remained within the boundaries set for him, fulfilling his role, shouldering expectations, and never once questioning what lay beyond his immediate responsibilities.
"Why… why would she do this?" Zahn asked hoarsely, his voice stripped of its former composure. He looked at Shin as though the man held answers to questions he himself was too afraid to confront.
"Greed has no bounds," Shin replied with a slight shrug.
Zahn's gaze dropped back to the documents, his mind reeling at the staggering figures involved. His hands tightened around the papers.
Only now did he understand why Shin Keir had chosen to intervene.
The ties between their families were not merely personal, they were deeply intertwined through business.
The Keir family held significant investments in the Neri Medical Group. In an industry as critical as healthcare, even a single misstep could trigger catastrophic consequences.
With Madam Neri's actions, the losses would be immeasurable.
"How long have you known about this?" Zahn asked quietly.
"For some time," Shin answered briefly.
He hadn't gone to Zahn immediately after Lianna handed over the USB. He had verified the data, cross-checked every claim, and conducted his own investigation to confirm its authenticity.
"Most of the information came from your wife," Shin added calmly.
Zahn's lowered head snapped up. His bloodshot eyes stared at Shin in stunned disbelief.
"I- I'll take care of it," he muttered weakly, lips trembling as if the words themselves might fall apart.
"Zahn Neri." Shin cut him off sharply. "I don't need to tell you what she wanted in exchange for that information, do I?"
Zahn looked utterly lost, still clinging to the fragile excuse that as long as he refused, the marriage would somehow continue as it was.
"Think about it," Shin pressed. "If she had approached you directly, would you have believed her?"
Zahn couldn't meet his gaze. In his heart, he knew the answer.
He would have dismissed her, assumed she had no business knowing about such complex matters.
"And if she hadn't approached me," Shin continued, voice steady and unyielding, "and you remained unaware, do you really think this would have resolved itself?"
Shin leaned back slightly. "The scale of what your mother has done is already enough to destabilize the Neri family," he said coldly. "How long do you think it would take before the entire Neri Medical Group is buried along with it?"
The words settled heavily between them, leaving Zahn with no place left to hide.
Zahn knew he could no longer remain passive.
What cut deeper was the realization that Lianna had chosen to bring this information to Shin Keir first rather than to him.
In her eyes, he must have been utterly detestable. Unreliable. Someone who could not be trusted to protect her.
It suddenly made sense why Lianna hadn't been surprised when he sued the servants who had harmed her, yet never once touched his mother. She must have anticipated it long ago.
Perhaps that, too, was why she never told him about his mother's illegal dealings, she had already judged his response before he ever gave one.
A bitter understanding settled in.
Somewhere along the way, Zahn finally grasped why he had never been able to get along with Shin Keir, where the root of that discomfort truly lay.
Unlike him, Shin Keir had always been in control of his own life.
They were both born into noble families, prominent and respected within their respective fields. On the surface, Zahn appeared flawless to outsiders, even to himself. Yet the truth was far less dignified.
Shin Keir lived by his own standards and convictions. He had never allowed anyone to dictate the direction of his life. He spoke what he wished, acted when he deemed necessary, and bore the consequences without hesitation.
Zahn, on the other hand, had lived beneath invisible strings, guided, restrained, and molded by expectations he had never dared to challenge.
And he had allowed it.