"There are no secrets that time does not reveal."
— Jean Racine

Early the following morning, Seo Ara and Oh Sehun left paradise with a blank check and a thirst for information. They took an hour car ride to Bali's capital city of Denpasar, where one of her mother's closest underlings was waiting to exchange condemning evidence of murder for the right price.

|| Mauri Restaurant ||

"And here I thought I was going to reunite with a vengeful Lee Min Jung," Hyun Bin, Lee Byung Chul's ex-secretary, greeted once the door to the private dining room opened, revealing the older of the two sisters.

Ara smirked disdainfully at his comment. "Sorry to disappoint," she replied as she looked back at the man who clearly did not do justice to his name. Unlike the charming actor who stole the hearts of millions, this Hyun Bin was stubby in stature, balding at the top, and had a belly just a little smaller than the pregnant Min Jung. He reeked of mischief and had just enough charms for a second-long conversation.

"Have you finally decided to take down your mother?" the former assistant continued with a widening, almost mocking grin. He had been privy to the relationship between the mother and daughter, and had witnessed firsthand just how strained and toxic it was.

"No," Ara answered as she and Sehun took the seats across from him, "I'm here to set things right." She then leaned back against the metal chair and put on a mask suited for his game, "You've wandered freely long enough, so let's cut to the chase. No bull. No lies. Just the truth. What do you have?"

Hyun Bin released a short chuckle. "You really are your mother's daughter…just as vile and riveting," he commented as he scanned her with his lecherous eyes, "So what's in it for me?"

"What are your terms?" Sehun asked, directing the ert's attention away from Ara.

The former assistant met Secretary Oh's never changing icy appearance. "Two hundred million won," he answered, taking Ara by surprise. Chairman Byun pretty much gave her the keys to his coffers, but there was no way in hell she would pay that amount to the sleazy bastard.

"Twenty-five million," Sehun countered, still unfazed.

Hyun Bin laughed once more, this time much louder that the first. "What kind of a ing offer is that?" he spat out. He snatched the thick enveloped in front of him and stood up. "Go shove your ₩25,000,000 up your . I'll go see how much Da Ye would pay to know who's after her," he threatened as he began to make his way to the sliding door.

"I'm surprised you'd prefer to live the rest of your life having to constantly watch your back," Sehun stated without the slightest change in expression, halting the pot-bellied man. "I'm sure you're well aware of the man I work for," he warned, meeting Hyun Bin's now petrified lenses.

At the mention of BYN Group's chairman, the former assistant cleared his throat and took his seat once more. "Fifty and anonymity," he offered with a tone much more civil than before.

Having prefilled the check without Ara's knowledge, Secretary Oh slid the payment and motioned for the packet, which Hyun Bin obediently tossed over.

Inside the thick clasp envelope were pages after pages of damning evidence proving Seo Da Ye's crimes. It included a series of phone logs and messages documenting the process and acquisition of ricin, contact information for the black market vendor, multiple withdrawal receipts for large sums of cash, an NDA signed by the coroner who ruled the cause of the death, a wire transfer receipt to a well-known law firm, and a record of explicit messages exchanged between Da Ye and Lee Byung Chul's estate lawyer.

"If that's all you need, I'm gonna take my leave. I hope we never run into each other again," Hyun Bin interjected and made his way to the door once more.

"Likewise," Sehun replied coldly as he stuffed the contents back into the packet.

After waiting a few minutes to let the ex-assistant make his final disappearance, Sehun and Ara also took their leave.

"Is the chairman really that scary?" Ara asked as they went down a flight of stairs. The fear in Hyun Bin's eyes was just too intense for her to ignore and forget.

The young secretary lowered his head and held in the desire to laugh. "Scary" was a child's way of describing Byun Won Sul—an affluent man rumored to have connections that stretched deep into the underground.

Sehun eventually met Ara's questioning gaze. "Why do you think even Baekhyun finds it difficult to refuse him?" he answered with a slight smirk.

|| …………… ||

Chaeyoung glanced at her phone screen for the nth time today, and still, the device remained silent. Dead silent. There were no missed calls, messages, nor a single indication of existence from her best friend.

She had been counting the hours of Ara's and Sehun's absence since their unannounced departure this morning, and had been wondering nonstop just what it was the two were doing in this romantic island together. But most of all, she had been stressing—stressing over the possibility that her best friend had succumbed to the temptation of carnal desires.

Just as she battled with herself to check up on Ara, the two emerged from the distance just as they did yesterday. They were walking close with soft smiles, their eyes locked on each other. They were engaged in a seemingly intimate conversation—one that ended the moment they arrived at the dinner table.

While Ara excused herself to fetch some hors d'oeuvres and a glass of wine, Chaeyoung took the opportunity to approach the reserved secretary.

"You know she's married,