Ren was exhausted by the time she got home. It had been another exhausting day at Oracle and she was no closer to figuring out who the Madame was and what her connection to the Consortium was. Lee Soo-hyuk was right though – this sort of hatred didn’t just appear out the blue. Something must have happened. If the Madame was 20, they could safely assume the incident happened with her parents or someone close to age with the Presidents.

It was so depressing going home like this. Ren liked a challenge but she wasn’t sure if she could find out the truth before the Woo Estate made it’s next move. Aish, she had nothing to eat as well. Ren couldn’t remember the last time she’d been shopping. There was stale wine in her fridge – which she fully intended to have tonight. Living on the Song Estate wasn’t bad. Free rent, a whole cottage to herself and all she had to put up with was the whims of Song Minah and her mother. Taehyung’s parents pretty much kept to themselves and were only present for meals and special occasions.

Most of the time she missed dinner, so she would grab the plate of food the chef left for her and eat it while watching variety shows. It was her secret . People wouldn’t think that she liked to laugh, but there was nothing that made Ren happier than to laugh. In her line of work, there was so much gloom and doom, that she needed to let go once in a while. Things had been easier when Song Gaelin had lived on the Estate. They would sometimes watch shows together but Gaelin had a preference for the soppy dramas. They really were different from the image they showed the public. People thought they were scary and called them horrible and terrible.

Ren was smiling at that as she carried her tray out the terrace doors and down the path to her cottage. “What are you doing here?” she almost dropped the plate when she saw Julian waiting for her.

“I wanted to have it out.”

“You didn’t make an appointment so kojo.”

Julian masked his pain and lifted the bag of takeaway and drinks. “Come on Ren, I came all this way.”

“No one asked you to do that.” Ren unlocked the door but she didn’t protest when he followed her in. “I already have dinner.”

Julian eyed the prepared plate of