Bryce’s secretary hurried forward to carry his luggage and draped a coat over his shoulders as he said urgently, "Miss Ricci has been trying to reach you. I was told the engagement banquet has already started. Boss, should we head straight to the hotel?"

Bryce absentmindedly waved him off, his attention fixed on the tablet in his hand as he scrolled through digital documents and sat down on a nearby chair.

The only times he looked up were to ask about company matters, which the secretary answered anxiously.

Just then, a commotion erupted in the distance, drawing their attention.

"What’s going on?" Bryce asked.

The secretary gestured for one of the staff to check. Soon after, the man returned.

"It’s Shin Keir. He arrived on his private plane, and the paparazzi are swarming to get photos of him."

Bryce sneered, his irritation only worsening.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind. Rising to his feet, he briskly headed toward the VIP exit and caught up with Shin Keir.

It wasn’t hard to recognize Shin Keir with his towering height and imposing demeanor that could command a crowd through sheer presence alone.

"Oh, my younger brother. What a coincidence meeting you here," Bryce called out from behind.

Shin’s security team immediately moved to block him.

"You’ve been working hard lately. Must be difficult trying to please your dear fiancée... does she spend all your hard-earned salary?" Bryce continued meaningfully.

Shin gestured for his bodyguards to stand down, and Bryce walked beside him with a chuckle.

"Not in a hurry to attend your own engagement banquet?" Shin asked casually, as though commenting on the weather.

Bryce smiled widely. "I feel honored. Shin Keir actually knows about my engagement."

"Life’s unpredictable. Who knows? This might be your last banquet," Shin replied coldly.

Bryce laughed. "Still upset about last time? I worry about you... don’t you know? Love-struck fools rarely end well."

Shin "...."

Camera flashes burst nonstop the moment reporters noticed the two together, instantly reminded of the chaos at the economic forum.

Could this be the continuation of that storm?

The paparazzi surged forward, throwing questions at them from every direction, but Shin ignored them completely while Bryce merely smiled and nodded.

"Are you both heading to the engagement banquet? What caused the delay?" one reporter shouted.

Bryce, completely unaware of Calin’s excuse for his absence, answered briefly, "Business as usual. Besides, flight delays aren’t something I can control. We should respect the people doing their best under such circumstances."

Then he turned to Shin with a grin. "See you at my engagement, bro."

Shin couldn’t be bothered entertaining him any further and boarded the waiting car without another glance.

--

Back at the banquet, someone hurried over to whisper in Calin’s ear that Bryce had finally landed at the airport and was already on his way.

Relief washed over her, though it wasn’t enough to completely settle her nerves.

Soon, her gaze landed on Yeri, and the calculating glint in her eyes was impossible to hide.

At that moment, the host stepped onto the stage and announced that they would be playing an exclusive interview segment featuring several guests.

Calin immediately brightened with excitement as the massive LED screen lit up, showing guests cheerfully answering questions about how they knew Calin and Bryce, along with their impressions of the couple.

After three more guests were interviewed, Calin quietly instructed the staff beside her, "Play the interview with the Zhi family now."

The staff member swallowed nervously.

Glancing around cautiously, he lowered his voice and said apologetically, "I’m sorry, Miss Ricci, but they weren’t included. According to the team leader, Miss Zhi kept asking too many questions and became somewhat suspicious, so they didn’t push the interview further."

If not for the crowd surrounding them, Calin’s slap would have already landed across his face, her expression twisted for a brief second before she forcibly suppressed it.

"Suspicious?" she hissed. "Did you useless idiots do something to make her suspicious? And even if that happened, couldn’t you come up with a reasonable explanation to make it harder for them to refuse?"

The staff member could only bow his head in silence.

"The banquet isn’t over yet. I want that exclusive interview with the Zhi family, otherwise I’ll hold you personally responsible for ruining my engagement," Calin said through gritted teeth.

The staff member hurried away as though fleeing a guillotine.

The moment Calin looked up again, she met Yeri’s gaze and her heart skipped violently.

How long had Yeri been watching? Did someone leak the truth about the interview trap to her?

Yeri merely smiled meaningfully and raised her wine glass toward her.

That calm little gesture felt sharper than mockery.

Calin quickly composed herself before gracefully walking toward the Zhi family’s table.

"Congratulations on your engagement, Miss Ricci," Madam Zhi greeted politely, while the others followed suit.

"Thank you for coming. I know everyone here is very busy, especially Yeri," Calin replied in a sweet, delicate tone. "Honestly, I felt terrible imposing on all of you like this."

Just then, her eyes landed on the girl sitting beside Jj Zhi, and her expression flickered ever so slightly.

Yeri, who had not taken her eyes off Calin the entire time, noticed it immediately.

Unlike Calin, Anri didn’t bother hiding anything. She enthusiastically stood up and hugged Calin while showering her with compliments about her appearance.

"Are you disappointed Brother Shin isn’t here?" Calin asked casually while secretly glancing at Yeri.

This time, panic flashed across Anri’s face as she kept sneaking nervous looks toward Jj, who was currently chatting with another guest nearby.

"Why would I be disappointed?" Anri laughed awkwardly. "Big Sister Calin, I don’t want Senior Yeri to misunderstand. You know... I was just a fan. But now that he’s engaged, it’s time for me to step back and respect his private life."

Calin ???

"Also..." Anri scratched her cheek awkwardly. "It’s honestly embarrassing when I think about it now. As a fan, I might’ve overstepped my boundaries back then and... uhm... anyway, from now on, I’m no longer a fan of Shin Keir."

Calin: "..."

What was going on?

She clearly remembered Anri being obsessively infatuated with Shin Keir.

During the economic forum incident, Anri had practically caused a disaster behind closed VIP doors, embarrassing her father and offending Shin directly.

And Calin knew Anri’s personality perfectly well: Impulsive, spoiled and too proud. A princess syndrome wrapped in luxury brands and unchecked delusion.

There was no way someone like her would back down this easily.

Before Calin could think further, Anri had already hurried away toward Jj Zhi, eagerly asking whether he wanted her to refill his wine glass seeing it empty.

One glance was enough to understand everything. Even a fool could see the feelings written all over her face.

If Anri were a dog, she would probably be wagging her tail hard enough to generate electricity while vibrating with pure joy every time Jj looked her way.

"Hahaha~"

Yeri’s soft, crystal-clear laughter drifted into Calin’s ears.

It seemed Calin had failed to take into account one crucial thing:

Anri was still a teenager. Her temperament was unstable, her emotions fickle, and her interests painfully shallow.

Maybe she really had liked Shin Keir before, but it was merely admiration built on appearances alone. The kind of obsession that burned brightly for a moment before instantly shifting toward someone who fit her "ideal type" even better.

And now, apparently, that target had become Jj Zhi.

"Yeri seems to be enjoying the banquet," Calin remarked with a strained smile.

Yeri nodded lightly. "Isn’t she something? Even I’m surprised."

Calin knew Yeri was referring to Anri. But at the same time, it felt as though Yeri was calmly informing her that one of her carefully arranged chess pieces had turned out to be utterly useless.

Only now did Calin begin to realize that perhaps she had underestimated Yeri all along.

Back then, Yeri always carried an innocent and gullible demeanor, soft like harmless snowfall drifting in the wind.

But now? That softness felt more like frost concealing razor-thin ice beneath it.

Anger and frustration churned violently inside Calin’s chest as nothing seemed to go her way that night.

Just as she was calculating how to wipe that smug expression off Yeri’s face, one of the socialite madams suddenly approached her.

"Calin, why did I hear earlier that Bryce had some kind of problem with his suit?" the rather tactless madam asked curiously.

"Yes," Calin answered smoothly. "But he’ll be ready soon."

The madam frowned while lazily fanning herself with a designer hand fan. "Was the suit specially imported or something? I just saw a video of him arriving at the airport saying he had important business to handle."

Calin’s smile froze completely.

The madam continued chatting away, oblivious to the increasingly awkward expressions around her.

In truth, several guests had already seen the airport footage online and were equally confused by Calin’s earlier excuse.

It didn’t take a genius to piece things together.

Calin had clearly been trying to save herself from humiliation.

After all, how embarrassing would it be if everyone discovered that Bryce Gate had prioritized business over his own engagement banquet?

A subtle shift spread through the atmosphere. The sparkling banquet hall suddenly felt less romantic and more like a gossip battlefield.

Calin immediately sensed something was wrong and excused herself at once.

The moment she entered her private backstage lounge, her personal assistant hurriedly informed her of the situation in detail.

Calin’s expression shattered.

"Bryce Gate!" she shrieked, grabbing the nearest object and hurling it across the room.

Crash!

The livestream comments had already exploded into chaos. If anything, the online audience knew the situation faster than the banquet guests themselves thanks to how quickly media clips spread across the internet.

"I don’t understand. Didn’t Calin say Bryce only had an issue with his attire? But there’s footage of him at the airport, and he was even seen with Shin Keir. What, was his suit chartered overseas?" one netizen mocked.

"I think Calin’s just too embarrassed to admit her fiancé doesn’t care much about the engagement."

"Insider info: apparently Bryce was barely involved during the planning process."

The comments flooded endlessly.

--

Meanwhile, Sergei finally found an opportunity to speak with Saeki, though he couldn’t spot his sister anywhere in the banquet hall.

"Saeki, I thought I saw Natalia with you earlier?" he asked while scanning the crowd.

Saeki merely shrugged. "Hmm, she was here a while ago. No idea where she disappeared to."

"When did she come back to the country?"

"About a month ago," Saeki replied casually.

Sergei froze.

A month?

Natalia had returned that long ago, yet he hadn’t heard a single thing about it. Worse, she hadn’t contacted him even once.