"Then your only remaining option is to be your father's son," Tristan suggested.
The room fell silent.
Then, for the first time that day, both Shin and Prince Xati rejected the idea with equal conviction.
"No."
"Absolutely not."
---
At the Zhi Manor, when news of Yeri's supposed passing exploded across the internet the Zhi couple had just finished breakfast.
Their phones began ringing incessantly from relatives, friends, and acquaintances flooding them with calls, each asking if the news was true.
Madam Zhi was instantly outraged.
At first, she dismissed it as another malicious rumor, but when Yeri failed to answer her calls, her classmates could only provide vague and incoherent explanations, and even Nina sounded uneasy and clueless, panic finally set in.
Naturally, Venice and her parents arrived soon after, wearing worried expressions. Whether they were genuinely concerned or secretly delighted by the news was another matter entirely.
Jj also rushed home after repeatedly failing to reach Yeri.
Their anxiety only deepened when several of Yeri's classmates confirmed that Calin Ricci had indeed been there, although they said she had been in a terrible state herself.
Master Zhi immediately tried to book the earliest flight, only to discover that a blizzard had grounded all direct flights to the area where Yeri was.
"They said Shin Keir was there too. Why isn't he answering his phone?" Madam Zhi asked. She wasn't crying, but her trembling hands and quivering lips betrayed her fear.
"Mom, calm down," Jj said, trying to reassure her. "This isn't the first time someone has tried to smear Yz's name since her engagement to Shin Keir. Don't you think it's strange that the news spread online before her own family knew anything about it?"
"I knew there was something wrong with that Calin Ricci," Linda suddenly declared loudly. "Didn't she also target my daughter recently? What a lunatic. If she's unhappy, she'll drag someone else down with her."
She then turned to Venice and added, "Thank goodness it wasn't you she harmed."
Under normal circumstances, Madam Zhi would have pretended not to hear such remarks. But today, she had completely lost her composure.
She strode toward Linda and slapped her across the face with a loud, resounding crack.
"What do you mean by 'thank goodness'?!" Madam Zhi shouted, her eyes blazing red. "Are you satisfied now that something may have happened to my daughter?!"
The entire living room fell deathly silent.
A moment later, Linda let out a shrill scream and lunged forward, intending to slap Madam Zhi back but Master Zhi stepped between them.
"Klaus! Have you gone blind?" Linda shrieked. "Your wife just slapped me! Has she gone mad?"
"Was she wrong?" Master Zhi replied coldly.
The look in his eyes made Linda instinctively take a step back.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Nolan hurriedly stepped in.
"Enough. This isn't the time for us to fight."
Madam Zhi let out a cold laugh. "Who doesn't know what your family is really thinking? Do you take us for fools? Worried? I'd say the three of you came here to confirm whether the news was true so you could celebrate."
She turned to Linda.
"How many times have you called my daughter a dead girl? How many times have you shamelessly tried to seduce my husband?" Then shifted to Venice. "And you. How many schemes have you concocted hoping to humiliate my daughter?"
Venice, who had been unusually quiet the entire time, visibly flinched and lowered her head without saying a word.
Just as the atmosphere reached its breaking point, Master Zhi's phone suddenly rang.
It was Shin Keir.
Without another word, he hurried toward his study, while Madam Zhi immediately followed behind him.
The doorbell rang.
A maid hurried to answer it, and moments later, Xian stepped inside.
"Xian?" Jj greeted with a faint smile. "Mom told me you moved back next door."
Xian nodded, his gaze swept across the tense living room before he asked uneasily, "The news online... it isn't true, is it?"
"It shouldn't be," Jj replied, though he sounded far less certain than he wanted to.
Not long afterward, Master Zhi emerged from his study. The heavy burden on his face had disappeared, replaced by visible relief.
"Shin just called," he announced. "Princess is fine. She's just asleep at the moment."
"Asleep?" Linda scoffed. "Wasn't she on vacation? Why would she be sleeping at this hour? What really happened?"
Master Zhi shot her an icy glance before answering. "Calin did go there intending to harm her, but she failed. The investigation is already underway, and she's been apprehended. Princess was simply exposed to the snow for too long and came down with a fever. It's nothing life-threatening."
Linda clicked her tongue, mumbling to herself. "She's really like a princess, isn't she? Still so delicate at her age. I honestly don't know what Shin Keir sees in her."
Xian's expression remained unreadable.
After standing there for another second, he silently turned and walked toward the door.
"Brother Xian!"
Venice immediately chased after him.
"I mean... Xian Song. You don't mind if I call you Brother Xian, right?"
Xian didn't even spare her a glance. He continued walking as though he hadn't heard a single word.
"Are you really that worried about Yeri?" Venice hurried ahead, blocking his path. "Do you like her? She's already with Shin Keir. Don't let that fragile appearance fool you. She's not the person you think she is."
Xian "..."
Ever since they had met at the Zhi family dinner not long ago, Venice had been making every effort to get close to him.
Seeing one of his prey willingly approach him, he had simply played along. That was why she now acted as though they shared some special familiarity.
But at this moment, he had completely lost interest. He no longer had the patience to continue the charade.
He stepped around her, already thinking about how to get in touch with Yeri. Yet Venice stubbornly moved to block him again.
"Brother Xian..."
"I like her. So what?" Xian's gaze was as cold as winter frost. "Her fragility isn't an act. It's her condition. I've known her since childhood. Did you really think I wouldn't know that?"
Venice's eyes widened.
He continued, "You're the one I should be asking. People like you who think the world owes them something. You resent those who were born into a better life, convincing yourselves they don't deserve their happiness simply because they never suffered the way you did."
Venice "..."
"Venice, when you saw the news claiming Yeri had died... you were happy, weren't you? You must've thought that, at last... you could replace her."
Venice instinctively took a step back, her face gradually turned pale.
"To you, she has always been the enemy standing in the light while you remained in the shadows. To you, lowering your head because of your mother's identity became an excuse for every failure in your life. You blamed your own incompetence, your resentment, and your misery on the most convenient person."
Venice shuddered violently. Why did it seem he know so much about her?
"And you refused to admit that despite despising your mother so much, you've been walking the very same path."
She stumbled backward with every sentence until her back slammed against the wall, nowhere left to retreat.
Xian suddenly stepped closer, planting one hand against the wall on either side of her.
Venice's body stiffened. Despite the cruel words he had just spoken, anyone passing by would easily misunderstand the position they were in.
But the next moment, that thought vanished from her mind. Xian leaned toward her ear, his voice low and devoid of emotion.
"What were you thinking when you heard a newborn crying from your hospital bed? Were you devastated because it was your unborn child? Because that child was your ticket into the upper class? Or... because it escaped the life you had already decided it would live?"
Venice's legs gave out as she slid helplessly to the floor, her entire body trembling.
"H-How..." she stammered, her lips turning pale. "Did... did Yeri tell you?"
Xian merely looked down at her, turned around and walked away.
Venice bit down hard on her lip until she tasted blood.
Was she wrong for resenting Yeri?
Yeri had never actually done anything to hurt her but neither had she ever helped her.
Yeri had everything, possessed so much she had spent her entire life desperately reaching for. Yet she had never shared even a tiny piece of it.
---
That very day, every article claiming that Yeri and Calin had died was swiftly taken down.
Soon afterward, Shin Keir personally released a public statement, declaring that the rumors were completely fabricated. He warned that anyone who continued spreading the false information would be held legally responsible and face criminal prosecution.
Although the clarification immediately settled the issue, it only made netizens even more curious about what had truly happened.
People with connections soon leaked that Calin Ricci had indeed flown to the Arctic.
Not long afterward, several authenticated photos surfaced online showing her being wheeled into an ambulance on a stretcher, her left arm missing.
"How did Calin lose an arm? Yeri isn't strong enough to sever someone's arm, is she? Did she have some kind of hidden weapon?"
Another netizen expressed disbelief. "I can't believe Calin has fallen this far. She used to be the brightest star we all admired. She was my inspiration growing up. This is honestly so heartbreaking... 😭"
As public speculation intensified, a marketing account with millions of followers, claiming to have insiders within high society, posted what it called "verified information."
According to the post, Shin Keir had begun hunting down everyone involved in his mother's death.
Although many details were distorted or exaggerated, enough real events had been woven into the story that countless people accepted it as fact.
The account claimed that Ellis Keir, Shin's uncle, was one of the person involved.
It also pointed out that Bryce Gate had recently been rushed to the hospital in critical condition after an apparent suicide attempt in relation to this matter.
The biggest surprise, however, was the allegation that Klaus Zhi, Yeri's father, had somehow been involved in the incident years ago.
Outside KGG headquarters, Ellis Keir had barely stepped out of the building before reporters and paparazzi swarmed him from every direction.
"Ellis Keir! Are the allegations true? Did Shin Keir's mother's death benefit you in any way?"
"Our sources confirmed that Bryce Gate is currently hospitalized after attempting to take his own life. Were you involved in what drove him to that point?"