And then Bryce Gate's taunting words from the hospital echoed in his mind, the last thread of restraint snapped.
"So you've gotten that close already?" Zahn said, his voice sharp with accusation as he looked at Lianna. "You're defending him now? What's next? Are you going to marry him too?"
Lianna froze at his words.
Zahn, too, immediately realized he had said the wrong thing.
"What I meant—" he started, panic flickering across his face as he tried to correct himself.
But Saeki was faster.
"Stone face, are you out of your mind?" Saeki blurted, staring at him in disbelief.
Then his eyes widened as if a realization had just slammed into him. "Wait… don't tell me the reason you didn't want me passing by your villa is because you thought I was hitting on your ex-wife?!"
Lianna bit her lip, her eyes reddened slightly as she looked at Zahn, disappointment and disdain settling in her gaze.
"Zahn Neri," she said quietly, "I really thought we could at least maintain a civil relationship for Sean's sake. But every time you open your mouth… you just make it harder."
"It's not like that, I was just—" Zahn tried to explain.
But Lianna shook her head and walked away.
Zahn hurried after her, while behind them, Saeki remained rooted in place, still muttering in disbelief.
"I can't believe this… Stone face suspecting me of having an affair- no, wait, it wouldn't even be an affair, she's divorced…"
Outside, Zahn caught up and grabbed Lianna's arm.
"Can you at least hear me out?" he said. "Look… there's just been a lot going on. I was overthinking."
Lianna said nothing.
Taking a breath, Zahn pressed on, his voice tightening with urgency.
"You two have gotten close lately, and it surprised me. You were never this friendly with men before. Even if you're considering new relationships now… I'm just worried you'll get hurt again. Saeki is a good friend, but not as a partner."
The more he spoke, the colder Lianna's expression became. She looked done with him.
Zahn quickly grabbed her shoulders, desperation breaking through his composure.
Bryce's taunts, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, had planted something ugly in his mind.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice softer now, strained. "I was wrong."
The words seemed to catch in his throat, but he forced them out.
"I know I was wrong. I just… couldn't accept it, Lianna. I know I don't deserve you. I wanted you to be happy, to pursue what you love, to reclaim everything you gave up… but at the same time… I can't accept that we're no longer together. I can't accept that you're moving forward without me. And even more so—"
Lianna gently removed his hands from her shoulders, her expression was firm.
"That's strange," she said calmly. "You were doing perfectly fine with your life and career, even when we barely saw each other during our marriage. So what exactly can't you accept? Is it just that being single now makes you feel lonely?"
"You know it's not like that," Zahn replied through clenched teeth.
"Zahn Neri," she continued, her voice steady, "I spent years trying to understand you. Trying to justify your actions. Convincing myself like a fool, that as your wife, it was only natural for me to tolerate everything."
She took a small step back.
"I'm not doing that anymore. Not this time… and never again."
She turned to leave, then paused.
"And you should be ashamed of the way you think about your friends. Today, Sean had a school presentation. He borrowed Saeki's dog, Lulu. When we heard you were at the police station, it just so happened that Saeki was there to pick up his dog."
Zahn opened his mouth to speak, but his body reacted first. He reached out to grab her, only for his hand to be firmly blocked by a burly man in a suit.
"My bodyguard," Lianna said coolly, a hint of arrogance in her tone. "After winning the lawsuit against her, and with how vindictive your mother is, I can't exactly afford to lower my guard, can I?"
There was also her father's mistress and that entire side of the family. Greedy, malicious people. Desperate people often resorted to desperate means.
Zahn "...."
He stood there, at a loss, as Lianna drove away. Only then did it occur to him that she and Saeki must have arrived in separate cars.
Perhaps Shin was right. He had been avoiding his own issues, hoping they would resolve themselves.
He had acted like the victim, the one who had been wronged, as if he still had the right to dictate Lianna's choices. Only now did he realize he had fallen back into his old ways, judging her, trying to make her feel guilty.
He was jealous… yet still expected Lianna to understand him.
A part of him clung stubbornly to that belief. Lianna was kind. Surely, she would soften eventually.
The realization struck him like a volley of bullets.
He didn't want to admit it, but he had been relying on Lianna's kindness, hoping she would pity him, that she would be the one to take the first step back. That their divorce was only temporary. That he would always remain irreplaceable to her.
A self-deprecating smile tugged at his lips as he gazed up at the heavy, brooding sky.
"Yo, stone face, got abandoned again?"
Saeki's voice cut through his thoughts. Zahn turned around.
"Well, first of all, I'm not your enemy or your rival," Saeki said, raising his hands lightly before adding, "Wanna grab a drink?"
Zahn said nothing. He simply followed Saeki to his car like an obedient child.
----
The next day, Calin's voice rang through the room as she hurled files and anything else within reach.
"You don't know who it was? You don't know?!"
Early that morning, she had rushed to the company after hearing they had reached a conclusion about what happened at the cliff, only to be fed this nonsense.
Her manager tried to interject, "It's confirmed that the harness was tampered with, but the perpetrator was wearing a hood. It was difficult to identify him. Also, that area doesn't have any CCTV—"
"Fuck that!" Calin snapped, glaring at the legal team. "So that's it? Someone tried to kill me, and this is all you have? I assume he's also the one who left those snakes and insects on my hospital bed, and you're treating this like it's trivial?"
Her manager frowned but maintained his composure. "The case has already been handed over to the police and even the mafia organization."
Just as Calin continued venting her fury, one of her PAs hurried in and whispered something nervously to the manager.
"Have the PR team handle it," he said quietly.
Calin's eyes narrowed as she noticed their exchange. "What is it?"
The PA flinched, avoiding her gaze.
Just as Calin was about to lash out again, the manager handed her a phone displaying an online article.
It was about Vanessa.
Since the economic forum and her subsequent suicide attempt, Vanessa had gained significant attention online. Even now, she continued insisting that Bryce Gate had mistaken her for Calin.
This time, Bryce himself had issued a formal statement, apologizing for the incident and claiming it was his fault for misidentifying Vanessa.
Calin's expression twisted, fury blazing across her face.
Before the manager could say anything, she hurled the phone against the wall, shattering it instantly.
"Calin!"
Ignoring him, she stormed out into the hallway and ducked into an empty dressing room, dialing Bryce with trembling hands.
The moment the call connected, she exploded.
"Bryce Gate, explain yourself!" she shrieked. "You bastard! What do you mean you mistook Vanessa? Are you trying to downplay your cheating? To acquit that bitch? Do you even understand what this will do to my image?!"
Only after her voice grew hoarse from shouting did Bryce finally respond.
"Can you calm down for a moment?"
"You're my fiancé! You're supposed to take my side, to protect me! Anyone who humiliates me should suffer! Why are you turning me into a liar? Don't you know what people are saying about me? That I'm a shrew?!"
A pause.
Then Bryce's voice came through, edged with irritation.
"Are you going to let me explain, or not?"
Calin cursed at him vehemently, her chest rising and falling with agitation. Ever since he cheated with Vanessa, she no longer bothered maintaining any pretense of affection or civility.
She hated him, and she hated that bitch Vanessa even more.
A soft, almost amused chuckle came from the other end of the line.
"Apart from cursing, do you have any better ideas?" Bryce said lazily. "Should I just admit I cheated? Do you have any idea how much that would affect the company? At least if we frame it as a misunderstanding, people will assume I wasn't sober and simply acted out—"
"Fuck your excuses!" Calin snapped. "So it's fine if the blame shifts onto me? That I couldn't get over Shin Keir and turned you into his substitute? Is that what you're implying?!"
"Did you even read the full article?" Bryce replied coolly. "I never admitted to that."
Calin let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. "Just because you didn't say it outright doesn't mean people won't talk! By calling Vanessa 'misunderstood,' you're practically validating her!"
There was a brief pause before Bryce spoke again, his tone turning sharper.
"Are you really angry because of Vanessa… or because she told the truth about how you feel toward Shin?"
For a split second, Calin froze. Then the anger surged back twice as strong, crashing over her like a tidal wave.
After hurling a few more curses at him, she abruptly ended the call.
The room fell into a suffocating silence.
Calin paced back and forth, her heels striking the floor in restless, uneven rhythms. Her mind churned, fury and calculation tangling together like barbed wire.
Then, suddenly, she stopped. A thought flickered through her eyes.
Without hesitation, she pulled out her phone and dialed Madam Neri.
That bitch Vanessa really thought she could target her again and again and she would just swallow it like a bitter pill?
Dream on!
----
Meanwhile, Yeri hurried toward the school's back gate after seeing Shin's message.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, slightly out of breath.