The night clung to Zahn's memory like spilled liquor on velvet, sticky and incomplete.
He had only meant to drink a little but alone, in that place, something inside him had unraveled. He remembered giving in, glass after glass, as if drowning himself might dull the ache clawing at him.
There was… someone.
A woman.
But her face? Gone. Her words? Lost, like smoke slipping through his fingers. The entire interaction existed as nothing more than a shadow in his mind.
"So it was Vanessa?" Zahn's voice came out rough, disbelieving. "How would she even know I was there?"
Across from him, Tristan said nothing at first.
Though he had managed to intervene at the hotel, he had arrived too late for what had already unfolded in the bar's VIP room.
Zahn shot to his feet abruptly, the chair scraping harshly against the floor.
It was as if his soul had snapped back into place, dragging his awareness with it, his gaze locked onto the screen in front of him.
There he was, unmistakably him, slouched on the couch, glass in hand, eyes unfocused.
Vanessa was sitting close. At some point, the footage showed her shifting, rising with calculated ease before settling onto his lap as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Zahn's stomach churned, his mortified face, reflected faintly on the screen. Like a man watching his own downfall unfold in real time.
"This…" He shook his head slowly, as if denial alone could undo what he was seeing. "What is this supposed to mean, Tristan?"
Tristan sighed, crossing his arms, he said. "It means exactly what it looks like last night."
"By the time I got to the bar, you were already gone." he added, typing on his laptop with few keystrokes, and another video replaced the first.
Behind-the-scenes footage.
The screen showed the VIP hallway with him being carried out by several men.
Zahn's mind struggled to process it, like a machine fed with incompatible code. Every thought stuttered, lagged, refused to align with what he was seeing.
"I…" He exhaled shakily. "This doesn't make any sense."
"Zahn, I won't pretend I understand heartbreak, but Shin already informed you about the Song family's intricate scheme." Tristan's gaze hardened, his voice edged with quiet reprimand. "As a surgeon, you've always been careful, always level-headed. So why now? Why choose this moment to let your guard down?"
Zahn dragged a hand through his hair, frustration bleeding into every line of his expression.
"What do the Songs have to do with Vanessa?"
Without answering immediately, Tristan handed him a stack of documents.
"It took some time to gather all this. Xavier Song has too many chess pieces in play. No one suspected Vanessa would be one of the key ones."
Moreover, her family may only be third-tier, but they maintained a good relationship with the Neris. No one anticipated she had married Xavier Song.
Zahn flipped through the files. The headache that had only just subsided came roaring back, splitting through his skull.
The words blurred, foreign and incomprehensible, yet one detail struck him with brutal clarity: Vanessa's connection to Xavier Song.
Everything clicked into place.
At the seaside restaurant, that accidental encounter with his mother and Xavier Song, Vanessa was also there.
"Does my mother know about this?" Zahn asked, his voice tight.
Tristan shook his head. "Knowing how ruthless your mother is, there's no way she'd allow Xavier's ex-wife to linger around him."
As soon as Tristan finished speaking, Zahn's phone rang.
Right on cue, Madam Neri's furious voice erupted from the other end, berating him without restraint.
She demanded to know how he could have such terrible taste in women, after Lianna, he chose someone like Vanessa, a woman with no real social standing.
Funny, because there had been many occasions when Madam Neri seemed to favor Vanessa, parading her around like the daughter-in-law she had always dreamed of.
And yet, in the end, it was all nothing more than a performance.
Perhaps it was simply an act for Xavier Song, to prove she wasn't someone who judged others based on status.
She mocked him relentlessly, even accusing him of being influenced by Shin Keir to lower his standards to someone from a third-tier family.
Zahn said nothing.
He barely had the chance to speak before Madam Neri's voice rose into an enraged roar that even Tristan could hear it from where he was.
A faint smile tugged at his lips. "She must've seen it already…"
Listening to her tirade, Zahn finally spoke, his tone cutting through the chaos.
"Did that boyfriend of yours never tell you he was once married?"
For a moment, the line carried nothing but Madam Neri's heavy breathing.
The irony was almost laughable.
Seconds ago, she had been tearing her son apart only to discover that the woman she looked down on was actually her beloved's ex-wife.
The call ended abruptly.
She hadn't even realized she never denied having a "boyfriend."
Despite everything Tristan had handed him, Zahn felt utterly lost.
It was as if his world had collapsed in an instant, his mind and body at war, unable to decide what to do first.
Tristan studied him, disappointment flickering across his face. It seemed the alcohol had done more than dull Zahn's senses, it had also dulled his judgment.
"Look on the bright side," Tristan said lightly. "At least netizens won't accuse Yeri of being the third party in your divorce anymore. Turns out you're the one involved with someone else."
That single remark snapped something into place.
Zahn's head jerked up. "Lianna! Do you think Lianna saw that footage?"
Tristan shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not yet."
Zahn didn't waste another second. He rushed out, fortunate that he was already at the Sin Miele Estate.
Outside, Tristan's chauffeur was wiping down one of the cars when Zahn strode over. "Give me the keys."
Startled, the chauffeur instinctively glanced at Tristan, who had just stepped out behind him.
"Drive him to his villa," Tristan instructed calmly, then added to Zahn, "Let him take the wheel. In your state, you'll only get yourself into an accident."
Zahn didn't argue, and slid into the car without hesitation.
The vehicle had barely left when another car pulled in a few minutes later.
Saeki stepped out, eyes gleaming with undisguised curiosity, clearly hunting for gossip.
Tristan casually informed him that Zahn had just left to see his ex-wife.
Saeki "…."
Without another word, he jumped back into his car and sped off toward the Neri villa like a paparazzi chasing a headline.
Tristan watched him go.
"…Should I follow too?" he muttered to himself.
---
At the Neri villa, the atmosphere was far calmer.
Lianna and Yeri stood side by side in the kitchen, a quiet domestic scene unfolding in stark contrast to the chaos elsewhere.
"Sean's still at school?" Yeri asked, helping arrange the utensils.
Lianna nodded as she carefully pulled a tray of freshly baked cookies from the oven, the warm scent filling the room.
"Sister Lianna, I really thought you'd leave the divorce with nothing. It's a good thing you changed your mind," Yeri said.
Lianna let out a soft laugh. "I was just following my lawyer's advice."
She paused, her expression turning thoughtful. "At first, I was so desperate to get divorced that nothing else mattered. But thinking about everything I endured during that marriage… It would've been naïve to walk away with nothing."
A faint, almost ironic smile touched her lips. Good thing Zahn was generous in this matter.
The doorbell rang.
Lianna wiped her hands lightly and went to answer it.
Behind her, Yeri reached for a cookie, only to flinch when the heat bit into her fingers. She quickly set it down, about to grab a pair of gloves when a sharp, furious voice tore through the house.
Another shout followed, louder this time, accompanied by the unmistakable crash of something being knocked over.
Yeri rushed toward the villa entrance.
Madam Neri stood in the center, her voice piercing as she pointed accusingly at Lianna, her words laced with venom.
"You scheming woman! Don't think I don't see through you!" she shrieked. "Acting like you wanted nothing from the divorce, only to walk away with half of my son's assets! You really had it all planned out!"
But Lianna was no longer the fragile, hollow daughter-in-law she once was as she shot back coldly.
"If anyone should be accused it's you. I haven't even begun to settle the matter of you drugging me. And the false accusations I endured? I will see that lawsuit through to the very end."
Madam Neri's expression twisted, rage eclipsing reason, her hand flew out slapping Lianna.
For a split second, everything stilled.
Then Lianna returned it, sharp and unhesitating.
The shock on Madam Neri's face was almost theatrical.
The Lianna in her mind was meek and docile.
"Y-you—! You actually slapped me?!" she hissed, her voice trembling with disbelief.
Lianna sneered faintly. "Why wouldn't I?"
Madam Neri hadn't even come for Lianna. In fact, she had come to see her son, unaware that the villa now belonged to the very woman she despised.
Earlier, during that furious phone call, she had already been on her way here. Learning about Xavier and Vanessa had left her in a foul mood, her pride bruised, her composure hanging by a thread.
And the moment Lianna opened the door, it was like fate had handed her a perfect outlet for all that anger.
Here, in Sin Miele Estate, one of the most heavily secured places imaginable, she felt untouchable.
"Someone!" she barked. "Come here and deal with this ungrateful wretch!"
"...."
Deal with… the owner of the villa?
Seeing no one appeared to do her bidding, her glare snapped toward her driver.
"Make her kneel!" Madam Neri ordered.
Yeri took a step forward, ready to intervene, but Lianna subtly raised a hand to stop her.
"It seems you've forgotten something," Lianna said softly. "This house is equipped with CCTV."
The driver froze mid-step.
Lianna continued, "Haven't you seen how curious the netizens are lately? They've been dying to know why I divorced your son. This would make excellent material. Don't you think?"
Madam Neri stiffened, then burned even hotter.
She had never been threatened like this, least of all by Lianna.
From the very beginning, everything had gone wrong because of this woman.
If Lianna hadn't insisted on divorce, Zahn wouldn't have started asking questions, wouldn't have investigated, wouldn't have begun looking into how she managed the hospital.
It was all connected, like a collapsing row of dominos with Lianna being the first piece.