She had been called many things in her life: ambitious, arrogant, a goddess, but "ugly and mean" was surprisingly childish.
And yet, it stung. In the first place, she was never a magnanimous person, so why should she lower herself to please a lunatic?
Crossing her arms, Calin sneered. "Madam Keir, Brother Shin isn’t your property. He belongs to no one. And in case you’ve forgotten, he is your stepson, not your biological son."
"Calin! What nonsense are you spouting?" Elder Madam Keir’s face turned pale as she indignantly scolded her.
Calin stiffened. She realized too late she had crossed the line.
That fact that Shin wasn’t Eleanor’s biological son was a family secret and not known publicly.
"Liar! You’re lying!" Eleanor suddenly screamed, her voice cracking.
Before the old matriarch could react, Eleanor lunged at Calin.
Startled, Calin pushed her back instinctively. Eleanor stumbled and fell, fortunately landing on the grass instead of the pavement.
"I... I didn’t mean—"
But before Calin could finish, Eleanor scrambled up and launched herself again like a furious tigress.
"Ahhh!" Calin shrieked as Eleanor grabbed a fistful of her hair. "You bad girl! I’ll punish you!" Eleanor cried, yanking and slapping her face with surprising force.
But Calin wasn’t the type to stay passive. At home, she had grown used to throwing things and screaming at maids when things didn’t go her way. Younger than Eleanor, stronger, and far less restrained, Calin fought back, grabbing Eleanor’s hair in return and kicking at her legs.
"Let go of me, you crazy old witch!"
"You bad girl, I’ll punish you! How dare you say Shin isn’t my son!" Eleanor screeched.
The two women became a tangled mess of hair-pulling, shrieking, and slapping on the pristine golf club lawn. Elder Madam Keir stood frozen in horror, her cane trembling in her hand.
Soon, hearing the commotion, guests rushed over.
"Who are those women fighting?"
"Wait...isn’t that Madam Keir?"
"And the other one... Calin Ricci?!"
"Oh my god, someone stop them before they hurt each other!"
The old matriarch’s blood pressure soared. Unable to bear the humiliation of seeing her family name dragged through the mud in public, she collapsed in a faint.
Gasps erupted all around. The chaos doubled, some tried to separate Calin and Eleanor, others rushed to the matriarch’s side.
The entire sports event came to a grinding halt. Someone called an ambulance, though the police were carefully avoided.
After all, the upper class had unspoken rules and scandalous matters should never be aired publicly, especially when they involved two powerful families.
Back at Shin’s villa, Master Keir’s phone buzzed with the urgent call. He froze as the words sank in: his mother had fainted, and his wife had been caught brawling in public.
Just when he thought things were finally going smoothly, he had even seen Shin and Yeri getting along at the gym, in what looked like a flirtatious moment between the two, now this?
A dark premonition gnawed at him. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed his coat. First stop, the hospital.
After that incident in the gym, Yeri decided the safest course of action was complete avoidance. She clung to Lianna like a lifeline, answering every word Shin directed at her with clipped politeness or, better yet, not at all.
Thankfully, Shin had left early that morning for business. It gave Yeri a chance to breathe freely until he returned in the afternoon to drive both her and Lianna back home.
The car ride was suffocatingly quiet. Shin sat in the driver’s seat with his usual calm, Yeri in the passenger seat and Lianna in the back, fidgeting nervously.
The silence pressed down like a weight, broken only by the hum of the engine. Lianna bit her lip, thinking perhaps the two didn’t want to talk because she was there. She felt like an uninvited third wheel caught in a lovers’ quarrel and wanted nothing more than to vanish into thin air.
When the car finally pulled into the Zhi manor, Yeri all but leapt out, helping Lianna inside. She lingered by the door, glancing around for Shin. The maid pointed her toward the garden.
There, she found him seated, patting Carpet, who was practically vibrating with joy. The dog wagged his fluffy tail so hard his whole body shook, nudging Shin’s hand insistently as if saying again, again!
Yeri folded her arms as she approached. "If you indulge him, he won’t leave you alone."
Shin didn’t look up, his hand lazily stroking the dog’s head. "It’s alright. At least he knows what he wants and doesn’t run away from it."
Yeri stiffened. Her brows twitched. Was he talking about her?
She pressed her lips together. "Dogs are simple-minded. That’s their nature. Anyway, I’ll be busy, so you should leave."
She turned to go, but Shin’s hand shot out, catching her wrist. Off balance, she stumbled, landing briefly against his lap.
Her eyes widened. Heat surged to her face. She scrambled upright in an instant, glaring. "Are you crazy?!"
Shin leaned back casually, that infuriating smirk tugging at his lips. "Was it hard... or not hard enough?"
Her mind blanked. Was he talking about his thigh?
Yeri’s face burned. She cursed herself silently. She should have known provoking him earlier would come back to bite her.
Before she could retort, Carpet decided to join in the "fun." With a gleeful bark, he bounded forward, jumping against Yeri’s back.
She lurched forward again straight toward Shin. This time, she almost landed face-first in his lap, barely saving herself by planting one hand against his upper thigh.
Shin froze. His jaw tightened. Clearing his throat, he muttered through clenched teeth, "As much as I don’t mind... I don’t think this is the right place for you to do that."
Yeri blinked in confusion until she realized exactly where her hand had landed.
Her breath caught. As though scalded, she yanked her hand away, stumbling back. Her cheeks flamed crimson, her ears hot enough to cook an egg. She couldn’t even bring herself to meet his eyes.
The world seemed to go deathly still for a moment, except for Carpet, who continued to bounce around in circles, barking happily, entirely oblivious to the scandal unraveling.
"I—I didn’t mean it..." Yeri stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. "It was Carpet."
Shin tilted his head, unbothered, his tone smooth. "It’s fine. It’s not like you haven’t seen or touched before." Updates are released by novelꞁire.net
"You—!" Yeri shot him a death glare, her teeth grinding. "I don’t remember anything, so stop making things up! Besides, you said yourself you have great self-control."
Shin’s smirk faltered, his gaze darkening. "Well... not anymore."
Yeri blinked, startled. There was something in his voice... low, edged with a raw honesty that unsettled her.
Back then, he had been restrained, unreadable. But now... now there was heat in his eyes, a weight in his words.
"What do you mean ’not any—’" Yeri stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening. She pointed at him in disbelief. "You—you— are you a hooligan?!"
Shin scoffed softly, as though amused by the accusation. "I’m perfectly normal. Perfectly functioning down there. You’re the one who seduced me this morning and now you’re touching me there, of course I’ll have an erec—"
Before he could finish, Yeri slapped her hand over his mouth, horrified. Her heart thundered as she darted frantic glances around the garden.
If anyone saw them now...
Her entire face burned scarlet. "Don’t say it so casually," she hissed. "Besides, it wasn’t intentional! I barely touched you!"
Shin’s muffled words vibrated against her palm. "It will go away soon... but if you keep touching me..."
Yeri’s eyes widened. She yanked her hand back as though shocked by electricity, her mind in chaos.
She sat down across from him, glaring as if her eyes alone could burn him into ashes. Her face was so hot she thought steam might actually come out of her ears.
Meanwhile, Shin leaned back against the chair, one arm lazily resting along the armrest as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Carpet happily bounced around their legs, convinced this was all part of a game.
"Stop looking at me like that," Yeri hissed, fanning her cheeks. "You’re the one who made it weird!"
Shin raised a brow, the corner of his lips tugging up into that infuriating smirk.
Back then, his memories had been sealed, but now that he knew the truth of their past together, it was almost impossible to control himself whenever she was near.
She wasn’t just any woman, she was his Empress, his wife for hundreds of years. Yet now, not only did he see her rarely, but she was also drawing a clear boundary between them. And though Yeri technically just reached adulthood, she was a succubus who had lived for thousands of years.
If she could only remember the life they had shared, he wouldn’t have to keep holding back anymore.
"Weird? I only stated the truth. Unless you prefer I keep silent while you... explore." Shin’s voice dipped in quiet amusement.
"Explore?!" Yeri nearly choked on air. "I wasn’t exploring! I tripped! It was Carpet!" She jabbed her finger accusingly at the dog, who wagged his tail in delight, oblivious to being blamed for a scandal.
Shin’s gaze followed Carpet for a second before returning to her, "Carpet seems to like seeing us together,"
Yeri rolled her eyes and chose silence. At this point, saying anything would only fuel Shin’s smugness.
The two of them sat side by side like an old married couple enjoying the scenery, though inwardly, Yeri was already rehearsing the best way to kick him out.
There’s a saying that women lose their minds when they fall in love. Yeri stiffened, suddenly struck by her own thought.
As if that applied to her.
No, her case was different. Shin wasn’t just cunning, he was seasoned. With his experience in dealing with people, he always twisted their conversations until she ended up losing arguments, not because she gave in, but because he cornered her every time.