"One cannot plan for the unexpected."
— Aaron Klug

Days after the media reported his passing, it was later confirmed that the restaurant mogul, Lee Byung Chul, died of natural causes—but the unedited autopsy report Oh Sehun just forwarded to her told a different, more sinister story.

"Presence of leukocytosis, and evidence of abnormal liver and venul function…liver and lung specimen sent to the lab for testing…cause of death: multiple organ failures, resulting from possible ricin poisoning…"

"Poison?" Ara mumbled into the speaker just before her mind went numb.

"Ricin. It's a byproduct of caster seeds and a highly potent toxin," she heard Sehun explain from the other end of the line. "I've managed to intersect the lab report, and the organ samples came back positive for traces of the toxin," he continued. His voice was steady and clear as always, but to her, every word sounded muffled and foreign.

"But how could she…? She was…she was out of the country when he…No one else stayed in the main house…so…how…?" she found herself half-consciously trying to reason.

Ara had prepared for this moment, yet somewhere deep inside her conscience—perhaps even her heart—there was a grain of hope, a speckle of desire, that her mother was not the mastermind. That she did not have blood on her hands. That she hadn't wandered too far down the path of greed. That, despite her ways and heartlessness, she was innocent. And that she wasn't a monster.

Sensing her reluctance, Secretary Oh paused briefly. "Depending on the dose and frequency of exposure, respiratory failure and eventual death could result days after the initial ingestion or inhalation," he stated, followed by a lengthy silence to let the unfortunate daughter process her emotions.

"…Which makes it possible that it was her after all," Ara clarified moments after her rationale overcame the emotional denial. Seo Da Ye was not one to act on impulse. Since moving to Seoul, the worth of everyone she met was thoroughly calculated. Each individual she had befriended was carefully selected. And everything she had done—including her own husband's death—was meticulously planned.

Realizing this, Ara took a deep breath and exhaled the last drop of hesitation residing within her. There was no time to waver. She needed to accept the truth.

"Now that the dices are rolled, it won't be long until my mother catches on. I think we should get as far a head start as we can," she continued, her tone now just as steady as his, "I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but—"

"I understand," the young secretary interjected, already aware of her intentions, "I'll head to Macao tonight."

|| …………… ||

"Thank you. Please be careful," Ara added just as she and Sehun finalized their next move.

Once the call ended, she lowered the phone to her lap and stared at the open, half-filled luggage in front of her. As much as she hated to go on this unfounded "vacation", she knew she had to. It had been way too long. She needed to tell Chaeyoung the truth—regardless of Baekhyun's wishes—and this trip may be her only opportunity do so, at least for the foreseeable future.

Ara released a deeper sigh, closing her eyes in the process. She was trying to visualize and prioritize all the remaining tasks and new additions to her bulleted agenda, but a voice danced their way into her ears before she could begin.

"Can you not last a day without talking to him?" Baekhyun interrupted as he leaned against the doorframe. Both hands were tucked inside his pants pockets, the black Ralph Lauren Purple Label suit jacket slung on his arm—telltale signs that he had just gotten back from work.

His unamused wife regained her vision and turned to him, but just as she opened to comment, he briefly directed her gaze to his feet, which remained outside the uncrossable boundary to her room. Then, meeting her cold dark lenses once more, he grinned.

Ara returned a similar expression, mocking him. "What can I say? His voice is just music to my ears," she replied calmly—a response that wiped the arrogant smile off her husband's face. She then got up off the floor and pushed past him, letting the curve of her lips straighten in the process.

"Are you two really seeing each other?" Baekhyun inquired casually as he followed her to the living room. He tried to mask his curiosity, but there was no chance she would have missed the hints of it in his tone.

Once again, Ara summoned a smirk and turned around, freezing his feet to the dark wooden floor. "Why?" she answered, letting her condescending smile grow, "Does it matter to you if we are?"

|| Flight 404: Bali, Indonesia ||

His little victory this morning was definitely one for the books, but now that they were inching closer to their destination, Baekhyun needed a plan.

For the past seven hours he and Ara were up in the air, his mind had been preoccupied with every possible scenario that could play out over the course of four days, each worse than the previous.

Baekhyun rubbed his temple and let out a qui