For an entire morning, Xati bawled his eyes out over the missing red bonsai.
Elder Madam Keir eventually tried calling someone to find an identical tree, but Xati refused the replacement immediately.
"It won't be the same! It wasn't from Big Sister!"
Butler Steve and the maids tried coaxing him with other toys and even unopened presents from the banquet, but Xati couldn't have cared less.
"It was my dad who took it! I knew it was him!" Xati exclaimed.
Elder Madam Keir was confused for a moment before turning to a maid. "Call Tristan."
"Not Uncle!"
Elder Madam Keir frowned. "You mean Shin? I told you that demon isn't your father. If anyone hears you saying that, we'll have another scandal to worry about."
Demon?
The old woman and Xati looked at each other.
Elder Madam Keir quickly cleared her throat. "Well... let's just say he's difficult to get along with. Forget I said that."
"Great-Grandma is right! He's a demon! He's a thief! He stole my present!"
Elder Madam Keir felt a headache coming on. She hadn't meant to call Shin a demon in front of Xati, now he learned a bad word.
Her gaze shifted toward Yeri, who was lounging on the couch.
"You! Aren't you going to do something? You're the one who gave him that present. Why couldn't you just give him a normal toy? Who gives a bonsai to a child? And anyway, did Shin call you back?!"
Yeri scratched her nose awkwardly. "He isn't answering my calls. He must be in a meeting or something."
"It's not Big Sister's fault!" Xati immediately defended her. "I like anything as long as it comes from her!"
Elder Madam Keir pressed a hand against her chest. "Xati, you're being mean to me because of her?"
Xati blinked innocently. "Great-Grandma, if you'd seen the red bonsai, you'd love it too. But it's for your eyes only. It's still mine."
Elder Madam Keir "..."
She suddenly wasn't sure whether she was being comforted or threatened.
-
Meanwhile, at KGG, Shin's phone had been bombarded with messages.
Elder Madam Keir was scolding and cursing him for being so heartless as to make a child cry.
Not long after, his father sent him a message asking if he had really taken Xati's present.
Then Tristan messaged him, asking what was going on.
Yeri had also sent several messages.
Shin ignored every single one.
By afternoon, he was in the middle of a meeting when Secretary Yun suddenly rushed into the room and quietly leaned toward him.
"Boss, Miss Zhi is here. I let her wait in your office."
Shin raised an eyebrow but said nothing, allowing the meeting to continue.
Yeri had been accompanying him to KGG so often over the past few months that it had practically become routine for her to wait in his office whenever he was occupied.
Inside the office, however, Yeri couldn't have been more speechless.
The red bonsai was sitting right there on Shin's desk. Of all places, he had actually brought it to KGG.
"Miss Zhi, the CEO is still in a meeting," an assistant said as she entered. "Would you like some refreshments? Coffee or tea?"
Yeri checked her watch. It was already past three in the afternoon.
"No need. What floor is the cafeteria on? Is there a coffee shop there?"
"Yes, there is. There's another one on the ground floor too, although it might be crowded. How about I order something for you?"
Yeri waved her hand and picked up her purse. "It's fine. I don't know how long his meeting will last, so I'd rather wait somewhere outside."
The assistant nodded. "Would you like someone to accompany you?"
Yeri shook her head.
"No, I'll be fine."
--
At the ground-floor café, Yeri immediately caught people's attention the moment she walked in.
It wasn't only because she was beautiful. As Shin Keir's fiancée, her identity was already widely known within KGG and the public. Then there was the infamous Calin Ricci case, which had made her name even more recognizable.
Yeri simply found a table in the corner and quietly enjoyed her coffee.
"Gosh, she's really beautiful. No wonder CEO Keir fell for her," someone whispered.
People at neighboring tables stole another glance before nodding.
Yeri had left the villa in a hurry, especially with Elder Madam Keir clearly becoming irritated whenever she was around Xati.
So she had simply thrown on a knee-length floral dress, a pair of flat sandals, and left her hair loose.
One employee who happened to be particularly knowledgeable about luxury brands took one look at her dress and quietly drew a breath.
That dress alone cost six figures.
"So what if she's pretty?" another employee said dismissively. "Nowadays, anyone can be pretty if they have enough money. It's hardly rare. If anything, the question is why she isn't working in the company if she's supposedly that good at programming. Or is it simply easier to do nothing all day while spending her partner's hard-earned money?"
The employee who had been admiring Yeri's dress seconds earlier turned toward her colleague in shock.
Her expression looked as though she had just seen a ghost.
Two other colleagues sitting across from them were equally stunned.
Yet, after a moment, Employee C actually nodded. "That's true."
Employee D joined in. "When it comes to programming, isn't our company's tech department manager the most outstanding?"
Employee B, who had made the original snide remark, immediately brightened.
"Right, right! And she's absolutely stunning too. I remember she was the only woman in the company our CEO allowed to go up to the corporate floor without permission. They also used to discuss company affairs quite often."
She sighed dramatically. "It's a pity she went abroad to handle operations for the past three years. Otherwise..."
"Yeah," Employee C added. "Wasn't there a time when people were shipping the two of them together?"
Employee A, who had been silently listening, looked as though every drop of blood had drained from her face.
She couldn't understand what these three were trying to accomplish by deliberately discussing this within earshot of the CEO's fiancée.
Were they really just doing it because they were familiar with the tech manager?
Employee A cautiously glanced toward Yeri. She looked delicate and almost fragile. Someone like her, especially a socialite from an elite family, would normally avoid public confrontations for the sake of reputation.
But was she really someone who would simply pretend she hadn't heard?
Employee A's neck seemed to shrink into her shoulders.
Anyone who could win Shin Keir over despite the countless women who had pursued him, including Calin Ricci, probably wasn't as easy to provoke as she appeared.
"Wait, isn't the tech manager back now?" Employee B continued. "I heard she reported back last week. There was even a welcome party held by her department."
"Now that you mention it, I saw it in the company group chat," Employee D said.
The three continued chatting when Employee A suddenly stood up.
"I... I just remembered I have something to do."
Without waiting for a response, she hurried away. She wanted absolutely no part in whatever trouble these three were deliberately creating.
Obviously, Yeri heard them.
But they were trying so hard to upset her that it was almost laughable.
Just then, her phone dinged with a message from Shin.
[Where are you?]
Yeri glanced at the time and realized an hour had already passed. She stood up and headed toward the elevators.
At the elevator area, she pressed the button for the CEO's private elevator, only to remember that she didn't have an access card.
That was because whenever she came here before, someone was usually already waiting to take her upstairs, or she was with Shin most of the time.
Yeri pursed her lips and was about to send him a message when a voice cackled behind her.
"Pfft. How embarrassing. She doesn't even have an access card. Does this mean CEO Keir doesn't trust her as much as the public is led to believe?" Employee B said, also waiting for the elevator.
"Well, we are talking about CEO Keir. He knows how to separate business from personal matters," Employee D chimed in.
"Then why does she come here so often?" Employee C asked. "Could it be she's afraid CEO Keir might have a change of heart, so she wants to keep a tight leash on him?"
"Gosh, already so controlling and clingy. But it does make sense if she's worried. There are still a few weeks before they get married. Better to keep an eye on him than lose him when it's only a few days away." Employee B covered her mouth.
"Our tech manager is so capable. It's understandable that other women would feel threatened."
The three of them laughed behind their hands, pretending to whisper as though they had absolutely no intention of letting Yeri hear.
Yeri crossed her arms, turning toward them just as the private elevator doors opened.
"You were here. Why didn't you reply?"
Shin walked out of the elevator and immediately wrapped an arm around her waist.
Yeri glared at him.
He was the one who often dragged her here for no reason, yet somehow the employees had interpreted it as her being controlling and clingy.
With Shin's sudden appearance, the three employees immediately fell silent, looking down as though they had just been caught stealing from the CEO's office.
Meanwhile, the other employees who had been watching with interest suddenly became extremely fascinated by their phones, tapping away as if every screen contained a life-or-death work emergency.
Yeri looked up at Shin. "Was the reason you've been dragging me here all this time simply to create rumors that I'm obsessively clingy and paranoid that your eyes might wander, so I have to keep watch on you?"
Shin frowned. "What do you mean?"
Yeri turned toward the three employees.
They looked like they desperately needed to pee but were too terrified to move.
She had originally decided to ignore them but they were the ones who didn't know when to stop.
Did they really take her tolerance for weakness?
"These three were saying I'm clingy and that I'm only here because I need to make sure there isn't another woman within your personal space. Otherwise, you'll suddenly snap out of it and realize I'm just another pretty face."
Deafening silence filled the lobby, broken only by the soft ding of the elevator.
The three employees looked as though they had just watched Yeri grow horns.
They hadn't expected her to be this blunt.