Calin… have you seen my husband?" Serenity asked softly, voice trembling like an abandoned puppy.
Calin's jaw tightened. "Serenity Keir, I'm engaged now. If you can't control your husband, put him on a leash. I don't know where he is, and I don't care."
Serenity blinked.
"Oh~"
She turned to leave, but not before letting out a taunting chuckle that lingered in the room long after.
Calin glared at the door long after Serenity had disappeared down the corridor.
'Another lunatic,' she thought.
---
Meanwhile, back in the banquet hall, Shin stood at the center, his presence alone pressed down on the room like a lid over boiling water.
"Tonight," he said calmly, his voice steady but carrying across the hall with effortless authority, "our family's matter was unfortunately aired for everyone to see."
A ripple of uneasy silence passed through the guests.
"But I trust everyone here understands discretion. I hope what you witnessed tonight remains confidential."
Many guests nodded immediately, smiles stretched across their faces with varying degrees of stiffness.
After all, this was the Keir family.
Even if Shin Keir was truly an illegitimate son, as long as the Keirs backed him, his position remained as immovable as a fortress built on granite.
No one present was foolish enough to offend them over a scandal that would be buried before sunrise.
At that moment, Hiro stepped forward, his expression tight with displeasure.
"Grandmother fainted," he said, his voice edged with accusation. "Yet you seem completely unconcerned."
Shin's gaze drifted to Hiro, then slid past him toward Ellis standing behind.
"There are medics on standby," he said evenly. "If she requires further treatment, will the two of you accompany her to the hospital?"
Then, with perfect politeness, he added, "I thank Uncle in advance."
Ellis and Hiro both looked awkward.
Was there no way to unsettle this bastard? Was he not even a little anxious about his legitimacy being exposed? Was he even human?
They had hoped to paint Shin as heartless in front of everyone, indifferent to the elderly matriarch who had just collapsed. At the same time, they wanted to pressure him into leaving the banquet so they could take control of the situation.
But now the trap had flipped.
If someone needed to leave the engagement banquet, it certainly shouldn't be the groom.
The two men looked momentarily embarrassed, their carefully prepared script unraveling.
Hiro opened his mouth to speak again, but Tristan appeared at that exact moment.
"Grandmother has woken up," he announced lightly. "She's asking for her dear son and grandson."
Ellis "…"
Hiro "…"
Already awake?
Hadn't the old woman truly fainted this time?
The thought flickered across their minds. For a second, they considered sending Hadi in their place but Hadi had vanished somewhere in the chaos.
With no better option, the two men forced polite smiles and excused themselves.
As they walked away, Yeri watched them thoughtfully.
Something about their interaction with Shin felt off.
She tugged lightly on Shin's sleeve. "Are you okay?"
Shin glanced down at her. A faint smile curved his lips, almost lazy.
"Not really," he murmured, then he leaned closer. "Can you give me a kiss?"
Yeri stared at him. Did it look like she had asked a joke?
"I mean it," she said.
"I mean it too," Shin replied smoothly, leaning closer.
The distance between them shrank.
Truthfully, none of this had shaken him in the slightest.
He knew exactly who had arranged for Eleanor to leave the sanatorium tonight and orchestrated the spectacle.
Moreover, the person truly terrified of his past becoming public had never been him. It was the old matriarch.
Yeri held his gaze, her heart racing as she stood there, waiting for his kiss.
Now that they were engaged, she felt she should make him believe he had her support. Yet she was conflicted about whether to avoid his slowly approaching face or not.
Did he really mean it?
"Yo, Shin!"
Zoren's voice sliced through the moment like an overly enthusiastic trumpet.
Several of his friends also approached, chatting as though the evening hadn't just hosted the social equivalent of a meteor strike.
Yeri swallowed, feeling slightly embarrassed, unsure whether to feel relieved or slightly annoyed at the interruption.
From across the hall, her eyes wandered, and spotted Zahn Neri standing beside Lianna.
And chatting with them… Madam Neri?
The three of them were speaking quietly, their expressions calm, almost cordial.
To any outsider, it looked like an ordinary family conversation.
No tension, resentment or discord.
Yet this calm feels like the stillness before a storm.
---
Outside the hotel, the atmosphere buzzed like a hive struck with a stick.
People lingering for hours, forced to survive on scraps of rumor drifting out from the tightly sealed banquet, particularly those with the press and entertainment media.
Then the ambulance rolled into the underground VIP parking entrance.
Like a match tossed into dry grass, the crowd instantly ignited.
Everyone already knew the hotel had been sealed for the grand engagement banquet.
So an ambulance?
That could only mean one thing, something had gone wrong inside.
"What's happening?"
"Did someone collapse?"
"Was there an accident?"
The murmurs layered over each other, growing louder as speculation brewed into full-blown theory.
A few minutes later, the ambulance emerged again, siren silent but urgency unmistakable.
Right behind it rolled a black car.
Hiro Keir, who had become the family's "it person" following the old matriarch, sat inside.
As they passed the crowd of reporters, the driver's window happened to be half-open.
Just enough for sharp-eyed journalists to catch a glimpse.
"Wait- did you see that?"
"I swear that was Ellis Keir!"
"No, I think it's his son. Hiro Keir!"
"Why are they following the ambulance? Someone from the Keir family must need medical attention."
"But tonight is a joyous occasion. Who gets sent to the hospital during a celebration like that?"
Inside the car, Hiro clicked his tongue and pretended to snapped irritably at the driver.
"Close the window!"
The driver immediately rolled it up.
Hiro leaned back comfortably in his seat, a sly smile playing at the corner of his lips.
He wondered how long Shin Keir could maintain that cold, indifferent composure.
Did he really believe this matter would disappear the way it had before with too many witnesses?
Outside, the people continued buzzing like startled birds.
Then, almost simultaneously, several journalists from the larger, more influential media companies felt their phones vibrate.
Their expressions shifted instantly. Some reporters' jaws dropped open in stunned disbelief. Others inhaled sharply, eyes gleaming with excitement.
A few even laughed under their breath. Schadenfreude spread across their faces like ink in water.
----
As the party slowly came to an end, the once lively ballroom began to empty.
Shin stepped into a quiet hallway to answer a phone call.
When he finished, he happened to run into Calin, who had just stepped out of the lounge.
Calin froze for a moment, her eyes quickly swept behind him, checking if anyone else was there.
He gave her a small nod and was about to pass her when she suddenly spoke.
"Yeri Zhi… what do you like about her?"
The question slipped out before she could stop herself.
Her own words surprised her, but the thought had been haunting her for a long time.
Besides, Shin Keir was not someone she could easily meet, and tonight might be the only chance she would ever have.
Shin paused, he looked at her for a second before replying simply.
"No reason. Just because she's Yeri Zhi."
Calin stared at him, disbelief filling her face.
Her eyes reddened and her chest tightened as the image from earlier flashed in her mind: Shin kneeling in front of everyone, proposing to Yeri without hesitation.
No reason? Did such a thing even exist?
"How can you be so sure she feels the same way?" Calin asked, her voice tight. "That she's with you without motive? That no one pushed her into this?"
"Miss Ricci should focus on your own important matters," he said evenly, "so you won't get caught off guard next time."
Calin realised what he meant.
Eleanor mistaking her for his fiancée, the slap and humiliation.
But what stunned her was not the reminder. It was the realization that he remembered her at all.
For so long she had felt like she did not exist in his world. Like she was a passing shadow that never caught his attention.
Could it be… he already forgotten what she had done before? The time she had drugged him?
Calin's lips trembled slightly, and somehow she took his words as a kind of concern.
Seeing that he was about to leave, she quickly reached out and grabbed his arm, then just as quickly let go knowing he hated being touched.
"Wait," she said quickly. "I… I have something to say."
Shin looked at her, impatience already in his eyes.
"I know I've done some despicable things before," she said, lowering her voice. "I regret them now. You probably don't care about it, but I still want to say something."
She hesitated for a moment.
"You shouldn't blindly trust anyone. Especially people you've known for a long time."
Shin looked at her quietly.
"You should give that advice to yourself."
With that, he walked past her and left.
Calin stood there, biting her lip.
She wanted to call out and stop him but tonight had already given her something she had not had in years.
A real conversation with Shin Keir.
If she pushed any further, she was afraid the little attention she had finally received would turn into complete disdain again.
Lost in her thoughts, Calin slowly raised her hand and touched her face.
The recent surgery procedures had been subtle, but Shin must've noticed the faint traces of Yeri's features on her.
What if this was the reason Shin did not ignore her just now?
The idea settled in her chest like a small spark, dangerous and comforting at the same time.
Just then her phone vibrated.
It was an email that appeared like spam, but she knew it was from Bryce.
[Plan successful, proceeding with the next step.]
She read it once, her expression indifferent, her mind still wandering elsewhere.
Her fingers moved almost automatically as she typed a reply.
[Okay.]
Her thoughts remained tangled in the same place, already forgotten something rather important: Shin had already seen her 'after surgery face' when he went to confront Bryce.