"We'll talk when you're sober," Shin said.
But that only triggered her further.
"I'm not going through with this wedding. I don't feel like it. You're lying to me!"
Shin sighed.
He was about to start the car when Yeri suddenly began fiddling with the door handle. When she couldn't get it open, she tried to climb out through the window.
"Yeri Zhi!"
Shin immediately grabbed her and pulled her back.
She slapped his hand away. "I want to get out! I don't understand you! I don't know what you want! I can't be with someone I don't trust. Not when you're hiding things from me. I don't know what your motives are!"
Shin stared at her.
He assumed she was simply spouting drunken nonsense.
He was already considering using his abilities to put her to sleep when her next words jolted him completely awake.
"We were already together in the demon realm..."
Yeri's eyes filled with anxiety as though she were reliving something horrifying.
"But you...don't think I don't remember how I died. You never told me who you were as a demon because you were that emperor..."
She choked on her words.
"The emperor who ended me with his sword!"
Shin's expression turned cold, his eyes becoming unfathomable. "Who told you I'm the demon emperor?"
Yeri seemed to sober up for a moment as she realized she had just spoken her thoughts aloud. Her gaze darted around nervously.
"Is that why you've changed lately?" Shin asked. "I've noticed that when you're not in a daze, you're either anxious, troubled, or distant. Sometimes you look at me as though you're confused or wary."
Of course, he had noticed every change in her, no matter how trivial.
She was the only person his gaze instinctively sought, even when she wasn't around.
"I'm not talking to you alone. I need a lawyer," Yeri muttered.
Shin's eyes darkened. "Do you think I'll harm you?"
"You already did..." Yeri swallowed hard. "Otherwise, why would you hide your true identity from me? What's the point of us getting married? Why would you marry someone you couldn't wait to get rid of?"
Her voice trembled.
"Regret? Guilt? Or is it because you could control me better if I'm powerless?"
Shin felt the madness within him stir. A terrifying aura suddenly emanated from him, dark mist swirling around his body in a frenzy.
Even if she hadn't said it, he already knew. It had to be that little abomination who had told her.
Taking a slow, deep breath, Shin forced himself to calm down.
"Your memories are fragmented. Anyway, we'll talk once you're sober."
"Fragmented?" Yeri exclaimed. "Isn't it intentional? Will you just talk to me when you get another chance to alter my memories?"
"If I wanted to harm you, I would've done it a long time ago. Don't you think it makes no sense that I came all the way to this realm to resurrect you when I'm the one who killed you?"
Yeri's head felt heavy, her thoughts tangled beyond comprehension.
She clutched her head. "I don't know. I just..."
"When you said you love me," Shin interrupted gently, "what exactly does that mean? What is love to you?"
Yeri "..."
Suddenly, that question seemed impossibly difficult to answer.
Shin quietly started the car again.
"Go to sleep."
She wanted to protest, but her eyelids suddenly grew unbearably heavy. Within moments, her consciousness began to fade.
Instead of returning to the penthouse, Shin drove farther away from the city.
He headed toward one of his unoccupied villas, a secluded property with excellent security and enough distance from the city.
After parking the car, he turned toward Yeri.
She was already fast asleep.
He remained there for a while, simply watching her.
Beyond the windshield, the night was calm, the sky scattered with stars.
What he had dreaded had finally come. It had always been inevitable.
Somewhere deep down, he had anticipated this moment and hated it long before it arrived.
He was afraid of the version of the past she would remember. Afraid of how she would interpret it.
Afraid of how she would look at him once she knew the truth.
But most of all, he was afraid of what she would feel toward him.
If things became too complicated, he could always seal her memories again. Perhaps he could erase them entirely.
But was that really what he wanted? Was this what he had long yearned for?
To finally have her remember him, only to take those memories away again?
Shin remained silent.
It was only when his phone rang that he finally snapped out of his thoughts.
Secretary Yun had sent him several company reports.
Shin glanced at the screen before he put the phone away, opened the passenger door, and carefully carried Yeri inside.
-
Before sunrise, news of Shin and Yeri arguing inside the car had already gone viral online.
With the ongoing case against Calin becoming such a huge spectacle, it wasn't surprising that relentless paparazzi had been following the two everywhere.
Photos and short videos showed a rare Ferrari parked by the roadside, its passenger window halfway open. There was little doubt that the two of them had been inside.
Netizens immediately assumed their relationship was already showing cracks because of the recent hearing.
Others believed the Keir elders must have investigated further, and that Yeri's medical results from another hospital had revealed that she was pregnant, proving that Calin's lawyer's conclusions had been correct.
"Waiting for the netizen detectives to analyze this for me."
"Why is Yeri trying to get out through the window? How bad was the fight that they had to argue on the roadside? Too bad the window was up. Lip-reading is useless when you actually need it."
"It seems there won't be a wedding anymore. If you ask me, Shin Keir must've uncovered something that led to this argument, and Yeri was so afraid that she wanted to escape."
"Shin Keir, don't let that bitch escape! If she lied and fooled you, make her pay! Show us what you're capable of and stop being a love-brain! People like that often don't have a good ending!"
Just as the comments were heating up, sources claiming that the two had come from an upscale bar began circulating.
Someone who claimed to have witnessed the incident said that Yeri had gotten into an argument with Tristan's girlfriend, and apparently, the name of Tristan's son, Xati, had been mentioned several times.
The internet instantly transformed into a neighborhood gossip circle.
"Why would Yeri fight with Tristan's girlfriend? Could it be there's really something going on between Yeri and Tristan? Did Calin uncover something she wasn't supposed to, and that's why she's being targeted?"
"Yeri, you evil, scheming bitch! It's not enough for you to have Shin Keir? You also want to string along our Tristan?"
Before the situation could spiral any further, Tristan posted an image.
On the right side was the paparazzi photograph being circulated online.
On the left was a photo taken from the hallway's surveillance footage.
His caption was simple: The danger of a one-sided story.
Clearly, the paparazzi photograph had been deliberately taken from an angle that made it appear as though Yeri was confronting a woman, with Tristan standing between them.
What it conveniently omitted was Shin standing nearby, as well as the other woman involved in the confrontation.
Shin also posted on his official account.
Just a few casual words: "Had fun on my night out with wifey."
Not long after, Saeki commented:
"I knew Sister-in-law was already drunk when you two didn't come back. Why did she try to jump out the window? LMAO. So funny!"
Contrary to what the news outlets wanted to imply and what netizens desperately wanted the narrative to be, Shin's post alone was enough to confirm that there had been no argument between the couple, let alone a breakup.
--
When Yeri woke up, she immediately realized she was in an unfamiliar bedroom.
The room itself was enormous and spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows opening onto a balcony. There was a lounge area nearby, along with another set of sofas on the right.
There were two doors beside the bed.
When she tried the one on the left, it opened into a massive bathroom connected to a walk-in closet.
The door on the right led to another room, which eventually opened into what appeared to be an outdoor garden.
Yeri stared around in confusion.
Where the hell is she?
"Awake?"
She turned and saw Shin standing nearby in a simple blue shirt and black pants.
"Where have you been?" she asked. "You don't look like you've been to work or are planning to go."
"It's almost noon," Shin replied casually. "What do you want to eat?"
Yeri blinked.
She eventually freshened up and changed her clothes before following him to the dining area.
There was something she felt she had forgotten.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite recall it.
"Where are we?"
"One of my villas." Shin glanced at her. "What do you think of the place?"
Yeri paused.
"Of course it's amazing, but it's way too big. It's easy to get lost."
After the two of them finished their meal, Yeri happened to glance outside.
She suddenly stopped, her gaze lingered on the Ferrari parked outside.
Then, gradually, the memories from the previous night began returning.
The upscale bar, Shin's friends, the hallway, and then her conversation with him inside the car.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She hadn't been completely dead drunk like she had been the first time they met.
She remembered demanding that he stop the car.
She remembered confessing only to say that she didn't want to get married.
She remembered telling him about her anxiety, her thoughts, and the memories from her past that had been haunting her.
"Do you like that car? I'll give it to you."
Yeri flinched, she hadn't even noticed Shin approaching, her hands suddenly felt cold as she forced a smile.
"I don't have a driver's license yet. I mean, I know how to drive, but legally speaking, I can't."
"Good."
Shin's response was so low that she almost didn't catch it.
Yeri frowned, "What?"
"It means you can't just go anywhere," he added, seeing her confusion.
Yeri "..."
Why did that sound less like a comment?
"Why do you like giving your things to me?" she asked. "I mean, you can have many of them, but they're still things you worked to obtain, right?"
Shin shrugged. "Living the way humans do isn't the same as liking it. Nothing here is worth my interest."