"What about the others?" Shin asked, meaning whether she intended to overlook them.
Unlike Tiffany and Marco, who had repeatedly gotten on her nerves, Yeri was too lazy to care.
"I'll let you handle it," she said simply.
Shin smiled faintly. "Alright."
Truthfully, he didn't even need to do much. The collapse of those people's lives would happen on its own.
Take the Rhian family, for instance. They were notorious for their many less-than-honorable deeds. It wasn't wrong to say the Rhians were a family of villains.
Shin only needed to leak a few of their "business atrocities," and it was like slightly opening a door for their rivals, like starving wolves who immediately lunged at the chance to tear them apart.
Marco Fabian's family, on the other hand, was best described as parasitic. They latched onto those who could offer them benefits, sucked them dry like vampires, and discarded them once they were no longer useful.
It was no surprise that Marco had his eyes on Yeri. He thought he could use her to gain control over Zhi Corporation, an easy target, in his mind.
As for the rest, aside from Young Master Lin, they weren't even qualified to be considered third-tier families.
The Lin family was first-tier, which was precisely why Shin didn't bother to show him even a shred of face. Families of that level and especially the Four Nobles, had the most scandalous secrets hidden behind their refined facades.
Earlier, Shin had already gestured for his attendant to revoke the Lin family's membership from the establishment.
Anyone who dared to harass and insult Yeri wouldn't be spared. The only reason he had stayed calm earlier was because Yeri was there.
---
Not long after that mess, their parents returned.
Shin had originally planned to take Yeri home himself, but certain matters required his immediate attention, so he let her return with her parents instead.
Once the Zhis left, Master Keir was also preparing to go when he noticed another sleek black car parked behind his own, they were his bodyguards'.
He frowned. "Is this really necessary? Having this many bodyguards? It looks ridiculous."
"I told you about the recent infiltration at the hospital, didn't I?" Shin reminded lazily.
"And what does that have to do with me? You said that incident was because of that little internet girl," Master Keir retorted sternly.
"That was the initial assumption," Shin said, his tone calm but his gaze distant. The truth he learned from that corpse through necromancy suggested otherwise. "Anyway, the case isn't closed. The real target is most likely us and the people around us."
Master Keir frowned, his earlier irritation fading into caution. "You have information?"
Shin couldn't exactly admit he'd raised the dead to get it, so he replied smoothly, "Just an assumption."
Master Keir didn't pry further. He knew Shin didn't make baseless guesses. If he had gone as far as assigning bodyguards, then the situation was serious.
After his father departed, Shin returned inside the establishment. The indifference and gentleness he had shown Yeri were gone, replaced by a chilling, oppressive aura.
This was the Shin Keir known in Hexion.
It was as if the abyss itself had stepped into the room. The temperature seemed to drop, and the once-lively atmosphere vanished. Everyone moved carefully, barely daring to breathe.
"Who was it?" Shin asked quietly, lighting a cigarette. The smoke curled lazily between his fingers.
In front of him stood rows of Hexion personnel, heads lowered, sweat beading on their foreheads.
Most of them had never seen Shin Keir in person. He rarely appeared in Hexion and Tristan usually handled everything while Shin ran KGG.
Rig, standing beside him, swallowed hard. He had already heard what happened from Meril and was tense beyond reason.
Shin Keir hated anyone poking into his private affairs. That's why, after escorting Yeri Zhi to the VIP room earlier, Rig hadn't dared linger. But now… things had spiraled far beyond what he expected.
Meril stepped forward from the crowd, dragging an attendant by the arm, escorted by two men.
The attendant looked utterly confused, not understanding why he was suddenly being treated like a criminal. When he heard that Shin Keir was there, excitement briefly flickered in his eyes, he was finally meeting the legendary man himself!
But reality hit hard. This wasn't the kind of attention he'd hoped for.
Meril didn't bother with explanations. He simply pressed a button on the monitor, playing the surveillance footage.
As the video rolled, Shin's expression grew darker and darker, his aura more suffocating by the second.
From the monitor, the attendant's voice echoed:
"Sir, there must be some misunderstanding. This woman is just an escort—"
All color drained from the attendant's face.
When Meril scolded him earlier, he hadn't been told the full reason. Now, hearing his own voice played back in front of Shin Keir himself, he truly felt his soul leave his body.
"Who is the escort?" Shin's voice was cold and commanding, each syllable cutting through the silence like a blade.
The attendant trembled, opening his mouth only to choke on air.
It wasn't that he refused to answer. He simply couldn't. The dark mist curling around Shin was reacting to his rage, thickening until it pressed down like an invisible weight, crushing the man's lungs.
The others felt it too. The air grew heavy, stifling. But they just assumed it was simply Shin Keir's terrifying presence.
When the attendant finally collapsed to his knees, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, Shin exhaled slowly and withdrew the dark mist.
"Taking my fiancée for an escort aside," Shin said, voice icy and calm, "when did Hexion start forcing women into prostitution? Is this how we operate now?"
The word fiancée rippled through the room like an explosion.
Gasps echoed among the men. Even those who had served Hexion for years stared wide-eyed.
Meril had kept Yeri's identity vague, only saying she was a VIP to be treated with the highest respect. But now, they realized who she was.
It was as if a new world had opened before them. After all, Shin Keir had long been notorious as a misogynist, yet it turned out he had merely hidden his woman exceptionally well.
A silent wave of relief swept through them. Many thanked the heavens they hadn't been the ones to offend her.
The attendant, however, looked as if his soul had already left his body. His mind went blank. His entire being screamed to take back what he had said to Yeri.
Without waiting for judgment, he began slamming his forehead on the floor, blood smearing the tiles as he begged for forgiveness.
Shin said nothing. He simply took a drag of his cigarette, his crimson eyes reflecting the trembling figure before him.
Being a demon emperor, how could he possibly be merciful?
If not for the restraints of this dimension and for Yeri's need to live in this realm, the human world might have already ended, for all he cared.
If Meril hadn't intervened earlier, what might have happened? Yeri might have defended herself, yes, but she was just discharged from the hospital. Shin would annihilate anyone who caused her harm again.
Sensing the dangerous calm in his boss, Meril spoke carefully. "Boss, allow me to teach him discipline."
Hexion operated under rigid rules that followed a strict chain of command. In most cases, before any issue or problem reached Shin Keir's attention, the mafia executives would have already dealt with it.
The attendant, whether by fate or sheer misfortune, had just happened to hit the jackpot and crossed paths with Yeri.
Had he not been so eager to please Young Master Lin and violated Hexion's code, he wouldn't have ended up in such a situation. After all, while Hexion tolerated escorts and women seeking financial backers, coercion was strictly forbidden.
In fact, their underground casino even held auctions for women who willingly sold themselves, especially those offering their first night. The money involved was staggering, but as long as both parties consented, it wasn't illegal.
"F**k this!" Rig snarled. Seeing Shin agree to Meril's request, he yanked off his tie and kicked the attendant before Meril could do it himself.
The blow ignited a frenzy.
After him, several others followed, beating the attendant black and blue. Their reasons varied: some had probably done the same as the attendant and wanted to erase their tracks, others were simply loyal to Hexion's rules, while a few had relatives or lovers working there and feared they might one day fall victim to coercion.
By the time it ended, the attendant was unrecognizable, bloodied, swollen, and barely conscious.
Meril, as the executive in charge of the establishment, was officially removed from his post for negligence. Whether he'd be reinstated or not was uncertain but he accepted the punishment without protest.
The attendant, however, broke down completely when he heard he is expelled from the organization.
It wasn't merely about money. The benefits of being part of Hexion went far beyond financial gain. Despite his low rank, he was respected even among the upper class; some rich girls even competed for his attention. And there was the matter of protection, he'd made plenty of enemies over the years. Without Hexion, he'd be like a newborn lamb, helpless and ripe for slaughter.
Already half-conscious from the beating, he cried out and crawled toward Shin Keir. He would rather die than be removed from Hexion, but someone kicked him again, this time a young guy, his face twisted with rage.
"You'll kill him if you keep that up," Rig warned, grabbing the man's arm.
"Then let me!" the young man snapped, voice cracking. "This bastard had my sister assaulted here! I left her for a minute, just a minute and when I came back…" His voice broke, tears burning his eyes. "I couldn't touch him because of my low rank!"
Shin's gaze flickered to Meril, who looked genuinely stunned. Clearly, he hadn't known.
For an organization as vast as Hexion, some shadows slipped past even the executives' watchful eyes.
At that moment, Secretary Yun entered, leaning close to whisper something in Shin's ear.
Shin rose from his chair, exhaling smoke as he gave his orders with quiet finality.