"The lion doesn't turn around when a small dog barks."
— Anonymous

Seo Ara wasn't one to easily be impressed by cool declarations nor sweetened vows, yet here she was with a restricted smile tugging on one corner of her lips. A touch of warmth gently patting her heart. Though she was hesitant to trust his words completely, it felt nice to have a sense of security—an extra layer of assurance—that she will find the truth and complete her objective.

"Hmm," she hummed, letting the heartfelt feeling pass. "You've been making a lot of promises lately, are you sure you can keep them all?" she continued as she glanced back at her husband with her usual teasing smirk.  

Baekhyun briefly met her gaze and matched her expression with a confident grin, "Of course. I may be far from being a gentleman, but I'm still a man of my words."

|| Friday the Following Week: Office of the General Manager ||

Having stared at the empty desk in front of him for good minute or so, Sehun shifted his gaze to the rectangular metal plate on the white surface and tightened his grip on the box of chinsuko, a famous Okinawan souvenir.

He had just returned from the island after accompanying Chairman Byun on a business trip, where he happened to pass by a pastry shop that sold the oval-shaped cookies that the lively Kim Yura once expressed regret over not having tried on her previous trip. He had made the purchase subconsciously but delivering the goods to its intended recipient rattled his mind more than any complicated task the old man had ever given him.

"Just leave it already," Baekhyun's familiar voice interrupted from the side. "I'll make sure to let Secretary Kim know it's from a secret admirer," he continued with a teasing smirk. For the past few weeks, his grandfather's assistant had been having fun with his emotions and pushing all the buttons he possibly could, but the tables had finally turned. 

Sehun instantly felt his ears grow hot. "No, I—it's not—" he countered almost immediately, but the ecstatic younger Byun simply widened the curve of his lips.

"Well hurry it up. I don't want to stay longer than we have to," Baekhyun added before retreating back into his lair.

Realizing a storm of teases were sure to follow, the young assistant released a defeated sigh, placed the package on the counter, patted his blushing cheeks, regained his composure, and followed his future boss into the empty office.

Baekhyun had called him some hours ago for a late Friday night meeting regarding who knows what, but the surprise waiting for him at the other side of the door was one he least expected.

"Ms. Seo…?" a confused Sehun breathed out upon laying eyes on Ara, who gave a faint smile as if to confirm his initial thought—that Byun Baekhyun had finally joined in on the hunt.

And so, with a satisfied expression, Secretary Oh cleared his throat and took a seat, "Then…let's get started, shall we? There's quite a bit to go over."

|| …………… ||

"Huh," Baekhyun breathed out as leaned back against the soft cushion of his office chair and reprocessed everything that had been said so far. It was now past 11:00 PM, and for the last hour and a half, Ara and Sehun had been taking turns filling him in on the witch's suspected crimes, the details they have gathered, and their current progress.

"I knew she was despicable, but I didn't expect her to give the word a whole new meaning," the newest recruit on Ara's team continued in disbelief. He had always recognized that the woman was craftier than all the other gold diggers he had met before, but he never imagined she would be on a league of her own. Seo Da Ye was more dangerous than he initially thought.

With brows slightly furrowed and a new thought drifting to the front of his mind, Baekhyun set his gaze on his wife. "But if Lee Byung Chul's fortune was what she was after, why even keep evidence that could take it all away?" he asked, referring to the copy of the actual will and testament to the restauranteur's estates the two had been trying to find.

Curious of the reason as well, Sehun looked at Ara. He had been helping the unfortunate daughter without question, but the more he learned about her mother, the more repulsed yet intrigued he became. He had met people from nearly all walks of life thanks to his job, but still, none of their stories allowed him to comprehend how such a wicked and greedy individual came to exist, and why her evil deeds had no end. His only source of explanation was the one who had seen and experienced it all.  

"A trophy," Ara answered casually, the calmness in her voice revealing similar questions had been asked before. "One of a kind custom-made shoes, limited edition handbags, rare black opal jewelry sets, diamond studded watches…my mother is twisted enough to keep mementos from past relationships she gained something from," she explained, meeting the curious eyes of the two men staring at her, "…and Lee Byung Chul's wealth is the biggest one yet."

"The large pot of gold at the end of her venomous rainbow," Baekhyun mumbled under his breath. He momentarily broke from Ara's eyes, made his way around the short side of his desk, and leaned against the cold slab. "So, what's next?" he asked shifting his gaze back to his wife then to her primary partner.

"The last pawn before the boss," Sehun answered, handing over a stack of transcripts and some pictures, "Attorney Shin Myungsoo of DR & Lee LLP, the last of Seo Da Ye's accomplices and the only one who may know the document's whereabouts."

The well-connected executive stared at the image in his hand and silently repeated the name that was slightly familiar to him. He had heard of the man from his senior colleagues but knew very little about him. All he could remember was that Attorney Shin was lawyer in his late thirties and a rising star within DR & Lee, but his track record still hadn't reached a point for large conglomerates to take notice.

Setting the pile of papers behind him, Baekhyun looked back at the veterans of the case, "Have you gotten in contact with him?"

"Not yet," Ara replied with a shake of the head, "Given the special relationship that they have, he's the most loyal to my mother. We need a bigger temptation to lure him away from the vixen's spell."

"A temptation greater than ual favors and a stack of cash?" Baekhyun clarified with lips arching themselves into a cunning smirk.

|| Monday the Following Week: Office of the General Manager ||

"Attorney Shin," Baekhyun greeted genially when the man in brown entered his office. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable," he instructed as he sat down on the armchair closest to his desk.

To test his theory from last Friday's meeting with Ara and Sehun, Baekhyun had called Shin Myungsoo