Marianne Vega was exhausted as she walked through the hospital parking lot.

She tiredly pressed her car key, and her car lights blinked in response. Just as she was about to get in, a voice called out from behind her.

"Marianne!"

Marianne stiffened, fear instantly flashing across her face.

Sergei approached her with a bouquet of roses in hand and said worriedly, "You look like you’ve had a long day. I haven’t seen you in a while, so I came to ask this beautiful lady if she’d join me for dinner."

Marianne stared at the bouquet without accepting it, forcing a small smile onto her face. "Yeah... I just got reassigned here, so there’s been a lot of work and patients to attend to."

Not giving her a chance to refuse, Sergei gently placed the bouquet into her hands.

"Then my timing is perfect. I already made a reservation at your favorite restaurant."

Marianne hesitated for a moment but couldn’t think of a reason to decline. In the end, she followed him to his car.

Looking down at the beautiful roses, she felt a warmth bloom in her chest. It was the first time she had ever received flowers from him, and despite everything, it genuinely made her happy.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Sergei was attentive the entire time, chatting with her casually about random things.

Halfway through dinner, Sergei finally spoke in a careful tone. "That day when I visited Calin at the hospital... you were outside and overheard us, right?"

Marianne’s lips trembled, her eyes darting around nervously.

Before she could answer, Sergei reached over and held her hand reassuringly. "It’s fine. Please don’t be afraid, Marianne. Do you really think I’d harm you?"

Marianne’s eyes reddened, unsure of what to say.

"Look, I’m not blaming you for eavesdropping. It wasn’t intentional, right?" Sergei sighed softly. "I’m only asking because I don’t want any misunderstandings."

"M-misunderstandings?" Marianne muttered weakly.

Ever since overhearing that conversation, she had been unable to sleep properly. Fear gnawed at her day and night, leaving her too terrified to confide in anyone or decide whether she should tell somebody.

The constant anxiety had left her distracted to the point that she nearly made mistakes at work several times.

Sergei let out a heavy sigh. "Yes. Calin got into an accident while drunk, and the moment she woke up, she found out Allen was in a coma. She immediately blamed herself. You know how she is. My parents spoiled her too much, so she says reckless things she doesn’t actually mean. I was only going along with her nonsense when you overheard us."

Marianne still felt cold all over, but as she looked at Sergei’s seemingly sincere expression, the same face she had adored for years, her fear slowly softened.

Maybe she really had been too overwhelmed with work and had taken the matter too seriously.

With a relieved yet shy expression, Marianne explained that she had only gone there after hearing Calin had regained consciousness and simply wanted to check on her.

She also admitted that the things she overheard were the discussion about Natalia and Calin saying she wanted to get rid of Allen.

Hearing that, Sergei’s expression tensed for the briefest second, but he quickly masked it behind a gentle gaze.

"Allen belongs to a first-tier family, and we have no grievances against them," Sergei explained smoothly. "In fact, Calin regretted what she said and has been crying ever since."

Between Sergei’s gentle explanations, his coaxing tone, and the obvious feelings Marianne harbored for him, her already biased heart viewed him through rose-colored lenses polished to a dangerous shine.

In the end, she chose to believe him.

Still, there was one thing weighing heavily on her mind. Hesitating slightly, she finally asked, "Uhm... you and Natalia..."

Understanding immediately, Sergei let out a teasing grin. "Jealous?"

Marianne instantly blushed and lowered her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "If you already have someone in your heart..."

"Marianne," Sergei interrupted softly, looking directly into her eyes. "It’s true that I used to like Natalia, but that was a long time ago. Besides, she left without even telling me. That only made me realize she never truly cared about me."

He tightened his hold on her hand slightly, his gaze unwavering.

"If anything," he said quietly, "it made me realize that you’re the one I truly like."

Marianne froze, so stunned that she thought she must have heard him wrong.

Without waiting for her response, Sergei stood and walked toward her. He knelt beside her chair, reaching up to caress her cheek tenderly.

Marianne became so flustered that she abruptly jumped to her feet. "S-sorry, I just... I mean..."

"Do you hate it?" Sergei asked softly as he rose to his full height and stepped closer. Leaning near her ear, he whispered, "I like you, Marianne."

Marianne’s heart slammed violently against her chest.

Before she could even process what was happening, Sergei tilted her chin upward and kissed her, and she didn’t resist.

How many years had she waited for him to finally return her feelings?

The moment she had dreamed of for so long unfolded before her like a scene stolen from one of her fantasies, so overwhelming that she failed to notice the sharp glint of mockery and triumph hidden deep within Sergei’s eyes.

---

Time passed, and Calin was finally discharged from the hospital.

During that period, she devoted nearly all her attention to preparing for her engagement banquet. Despite the rushed timeline, money worked miracles. The event became so extravagant and heavily publicized that the public began comparing it to Yeri’s engagement.

Fans from both sides flooded social media with endless arguments over which celebration was grander, more luxurious, and deserving of the title engagement of the century.

"What do you mean she sent an apology letter?" Calin hissed at one of the event planners.

The woman trembled slightly before lowering her head and handing over an elegant formal envelope.

Calin snatched it impatiently and hastily unfolded the letter.

Yeri wouldn’t be attending because one of her relatives had gotten into a car accident?

"It’s three days from now!" Calin exploded, throwing the letter onto the floor before stomping on it angrily with her heels. "What does some relative’s accident have to do with her anyway?!"

The planner flinched.

"Find out which relative it is," Calin ordered coldly. "I attended her engagement, so how dare she not attend mine?"

The woman quickly nodded before hurrying away to carry out the task.

Truthfully, she couldn’t understand why, out of everyone on the massive guest list, Calin seemed obsessively fixated on whether Yeri Zhi and Shin Keir would attend. She asked for updates about them almost every single day.

"Wait," Calin suddenly called out. "What about Brother Shin?"

The planner stopped and carefully answered, "The apology letter was sent jointly by both of them. They expressed their regrets regarding the sudden circumstances."

Calin let out a sharp laugh filled with irritation, unable to conceal the frustration twisting across her face.

No.

Those two had to attend, they absolutely had to.

For the rest of the day, Calin remained in a terrible mood. She snapped at nearly everyone around her, criticizing trivial details and finding fault in everything from flower arrangements to tablecloth colors.

The entire planning team moved around her like nervous prey circling a volcanic dragon in designer heels.

As if matters weren’t already bad enough, Bryce suddenly flew overseas to handle urgent business matters. Throughout the past few weeks, he had barely appeared to help with the preparations.

The supposedly romantic behind-the-scenes footage planned for their engagement promotions had to be halted midway, and several missing scenes were awkwardly replaced with AI-generated clips.

The more Calin looked at the polished edits, the more furious she became.

What was supposed to resemble a passionate love story now felt like an expensive theatrical production stitched together with lies.

At that moment, Marianne arrived carrying several luxury catalogues, her face bright with excitement.

"I found a few options for the engagement guest gifts," she said happily. "There’s customized perfume sets, imported crystal pieces, and limited-edition watches for VIP guests."

Calin immediately curved her lips into a sweet smile.

"Thank you for helping, Sister Marianne, but you’re a doctor. You should leave these matters to the professionals." Her tone sounded considerate, almost affectionate. "I’d feel terrible making you come here when you’re already so busy."

Marianne gently smiled and shook her head. "It’s alright. I’m happy to help."

Without noticing the strange look in Calin’s eyes, she walked over to discuss the catalogues with the rest of the planning team.

The moment Marianne turned around, Calin’s expression darkened like a venomous snake eyeing a prey.

Sergei had already told her before. It was Marianne, not Yeri, who had overheard their conversation that day in the hospital.

However, Calin disagreed with Sergei’s decision to keep Marianne around.

With Allen still lying unconscious in a coma and Marianne carrying dangerous information in her head, Calin constantly felt as though invisible blades were hanging above her neck, ready to fall at any moment.

Loose ends should never be left dangling. The best solution was to erase them completely.

---

Meanwhile, Yeri arrived with her mother at her uncle’s villa.

She had been shocked upon hearing that the three of them had gotten into a car accident.

Venice’s arm was wrapped in a cast, Linda sat stiffly in a wheelchair with one leg heavily bandaged, and Nolan had both a bandage across his forehead and a neck brace supporting him.

The moment Venice saw Yeri, her expression twisted with hostility.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped. "Did you come to enjoy seeing us miserable?"

"Venice," Nolan scolded sharply before turning toward Madam Zhi with an apologetic smile.

He gestured for the two of them to sit down.

Madam Zhi’s face darkened at Venice’s attitude, but considering their condition, she restrained herself.

"What exactly happened?" she asked calmly.

Nolan let out a heavy sigh, but before he could answer, Linda suddenly spoke up, her expression suspicious and grim.

"Someone wants us dead. Isn’t it obvious?" she hissed. "The police are already investigating, and we even hired private investigators to get to the bottom of this!"

Madam Zhi frowned in disbelief. "Are you implying our family had something to do with it?"

"Of course not," Nolan immediately interrupted, glaring warningly at both Linda and Venice before continuing. "Anyway, we were on our way home after dining out when some lunatic rammed our car from behind."

His expression turned ugly at the memory.

"At first, we thought the driver simply failed to brake, but then he deliberately crashed into us again before speeding away."