"What's the matter?" he asked flatly.
Calin glared at him. "I just got into a car accident, and that's how you ask if I'm okay?"
Sergei crossed his arms, unfazed. "You just woke up?"
"What happened after?" Calin pressed, her voice sharpening. "How's Allen?"
Sergei studied her for a moment, his gaze almost amused, before a mocking sneer curled at his lips.
"You really know how to make yourself go viral," he said. "What is this? Your attempt to outdo Yeri's post? Or do you think if you end up in critical condition, Shin Keir will suddenly grow a heart and come running to you?"
"Just tell me the situation!" Calin snapped.
"Not good," Sergei replied coolly. "He's still in a coma. The police are investigating, and so far, both of you were confirmed to be under the influence of alcohol—"
"The police?" Calin cut him off, her expression tightening with unease. "Are you an idiot? Why would you let the police get involved? You could've handled it through the mafia instead."
Sergei's eyes darkened. "It was a car accident. Naturally, the police would intervene. What does that have to do with anything...?"
"You said he's in a coma?" Calin interrupted. "Do you know how long he'll stay like that?"
"I'm not his relative. How would I know?" Sergei snapped. "Calin, if I were you, I'd be more worried about how you're going to explain to the public why you were together at that hour. Don't you know there's already speculation that you've been fooling around behind the scenes, justifying Bryce Gate's actions with Vanessa?"
However, Calin didn't seem to care about any of that.
"Find out Allen's condition," she insisted. "Is he even going to wake up?"
Sergei was stunned. Then his brows furrowed as suspicion crossed his mind.
"You... could it be..." His voice lowered dangerously. "What did you do this time?"
Calin's eyes darted around, making sure no one was nearby and that the door was tightly shut.
Then she grabbed Sergei's sleeve and whispered, "What about the dash cam? Did the police already check it...?"
"Calin Ricci!" Sergei roared, looking as though he wanted to strangle her on the spot. "Don't tell me this wasn't an accident?"
Calin's eyes reddened. "I didn't mean it... I was drunk. He was going to leave me."
The moment he heard those words, Sergei realized she had truly crossed the line this time.
From Calin's recollection, they had argued inside the car, and in a fit of panic, she grabbed the steering wheel.
Allen was sober, and as a man, he naturally had more strength, easily pushing her away. He tried to pull over to the side of the road, but Calin suddenly used all her strength, yanking the wheel while stepping on the gas pedal.
The car slammed violently into another vehicle. Allen, seated in the driver's seat, took the fatal impact.
Sergei was trembling with rage now, veins bulging as he grabbed her chin harshly.
"Do you even realize the driver of the other car died on the spot? If you--"
"That's why you have to do something!" Calin cut him off.
Looking at her expressionless face, not a trace of remorse nor concern for the person who had died, Sergei suddenly understood that she was beyond saving.
Frustrated by her constant interruptions, he turned to leave, suffocated by disgust.
"Allen's engaged," Calin hurriedly said.
Sergei "...."
"Do you know who he's supposed to marry?" she continued with a mocking chuckle. "Saeki's sister. She's coming back from abroad."
Sergei slowly turned around, disbelief written all over his face.
Calin smiled sarcastically. "That's right... your precious Natalia is coming back. Unfortunately, it seems she doesn't care much about you waiting for her so faithfully. Really, brother, it sucks to be you. Actually, now that I think about it... was she ever even into you?"
Sergei glared at her coldly. "Allen told you that?"
Calin shrugged lazily. "Brother, don't you think I helped you in a way? I wonder if Natalia would even consider you once I tell her you kept a side chick like Marianne while she was away, or maybe she'll reject you simply because you're my brother... and I'm the reason her supposed fiancé is lying in a coma."
"Why can't you talk properly for once?" Sergei said through gritted teeth.
Should he feel relieved?
No.
Allen was also from a first-tier family. If his family discovered this hadn't been a mere accident and that Calin had caused it, the Ricci family would have a difficult time surviving their wrath.
Meanwhile, outside the door, Marianne Vega stood frozen.
The moment she heard Calin mention Natalia as the woman Sergei loved, her mind went blank.
Sergei... had someone in his heart?
Then what was she supposed to be?
Why had he never told her?
All this time, she had stayed by his side, looked after him, accompanied him on occasional dates, and even once took the blame for breaking hospital regulations because of Calin. Calin herself had repeatedly promised to help her get together with Sergei.
Marianne bit her lip aggrievedly. She refused to believe Sergei had never noticed her feelings.
So what had her existence meant to him all along? A placeholder? A convenient companion?
The thought lodged in her chest like shattered glass.
She hesitated, unsure whether to storm inside and confront them or speak to Sergei calmly later, when the conversation within suddenly shifted again.
Seeing that Sergei was finally listening, Calin lowered her voice.
"Find out whether the police managed to access the dash cam. I remember Allen once told me it had encrypted recordings. If he hasn't changed the password... I think I know what it is." Her gaze turned cold. "Otherwise, find a way to destroy it."
"And what if Allen regains consciousness?" Sergei asked grimly.
Calin fell silent for a moment.
She stared blankly outside the floor-to-ceiling window before slowly turning back toward him, resolve settling into her expression like ice hardening over black water.
"Then he'll still get engaged to Natalia," she said softly. "Don't you think?"
Sergei immediately understood what she meant.
As expected, Calin not only knew how to shift the blame, she also knew exactly how to force his hand.
"You want me to deal with him?" Sergei asked seriously.
Calin lowered her eyes. Recalling Allen's attitude toward her, his firm refusal, and the certainty in his eyes when he said he no longer wanted anything to do with her, bitterness twisted inside her chest.
If he couldn't have him, then no one else should.
"Whether he lives or dies..." she murmured quietly, "that's his fate."
Outside the room, the hand gripping the doorknob trembled violently.
Marianne's eyes widened in horror as she clamped a hand over her mouth, her legs turning weak.
She had thought Calin was reckless and spoiled, but this...
This was madness.
Taking a shaky breath, Marianne carefully turned the doorknob, trying to close the door without making a sound.
Click.
The tiny noise sliced through the silence like a blade.
The conversation inside abruptly stopped, then footsteps approached.
Marianne's face turned deathly pale as all the blood drained from her body.
Panic surged through her veins and she hurried away.
Sergei yanked the door open.
The hallway was empty.
His expression darkened instantly, sharp and vicious, as he strode forward to check the corners and even the neighboring rooms.
That floor only housed ICU wards and patients in vegetative or critical conditions, making the corridor unnaturally silent.
Even the fluorescent lights seemed colder there, humming faintly like a morgue waiting room.
Hearing faint footsteps from the opposite side, Sergei quickly rounded the corner and abruptly met a familiar gaze.
The other person also looked startled.
Tilting her head slightly as if recalling who he was, she gave him a polite nod.
Sergei narrowed his eyes. "Yeri Zhi. What are you doing here?"
Yeri lightly frowned and pointed toward a nearby office.
Following her gesture, Sergei finally remembered that Zahn Neri's office was located on that floor.
Annoyance flickered across his face.
"Did you see anyone pass by here just now?" he asked coldly.
Yeri recalled the strange female doctor who had nearly bumped into her when she arrived earlier.
Still, she merely shrugged. "I just got here."
For a moment, Sergei stared at her intently.
His gaze shifted between Yeri and the tightly shut office door behind her, as though debating whether he should open it or not.
Then, without another word, Sergei turned and left, leaving Yeri bewildered by his strange behavior.
Although she was no longer as frail and sickly as before, she still followed her scheduled medical checkups to reassure her parents, and today happened to be one of those appointments.
--
Back inside Calin's ward, Sergei returned looking visibly frustrated, dragging a hand through his hair.
"So?" Calin demanded immediately.
"No one was there," he replied irritably. "Although I did see Yeri Zhi waiting outside Zahn Neri's office."
Calin's expression twisted instantly.
Yeri. Yeri. Yeri.
That bitch simply refused to leave her alone, didn't she?
"So it was her?" Calin snapped. "If she was alone, why didn't you drag her in here? Or deal with her immediately?"
Sergei looked at her as if she had completely lost her mind.
"Why would she even be outside your room?" he said coldly. "No, more importantly, does she even know which ward you're in?"
However, Calin only became more agitated.
"Are you stupid? Why else would she randomly be here? You think it's just a coincidence?"
Her breathing became uneven as paranoia poured out of her uncontrollably.
"Don't you know what's been happening to me lately? The filming incident, the snakes in my hospital bed... I've always suspected it was her! She's held a grudge against me ever since the economic forum incident. And with Shin Keir backing her, messing with me would be easy!"
The more she spoke, the more unhinged she sounded.
"I wouldn't even be surprised if she's working together with Doctor Neri!"
Sergei stood there utterly dumbfounded, genuinely unable to piece together her chaotic logic.
"And now she's here again," Calin continued hysterically, "probably planning to mess with me while thinking I'm still unconscious! But instead she overheard something even bigger! What do you think is going to happen now that she has something against us?!"
"Can you stop yelling for one second?" Sergei barked back. "Shut up and let me think."
Calin sneered mockingly. "Or are you just being a coward again?"
Despite being the Ricci family's heir and the leader of his own mafia organization, Calin knew one humiliating fact about her brother.
Sergei hated blood. He couldn't even stand the sight of raw meat without feeling nauseated.
Pathetic.