"GoBee is doing exceptionally well. It won’t be long before it’s the largest social network platform." Zack spoke loudly, his voice echoing slightly in the cozy living room as he sat on the couch with his laptop propped on his lap.

For weeks now, Zack and Victor had been leaving the office early, choosing to finish their work from home. But it wasn’t just about comfort. They had deliberately set up their workstations in the living room, where Yuna used to stay.

"We have a reason to celebrate tonight. How about we whoop it up at the treehouse?" Victor suggested with enthusiasm, glancing at Yuna with a hopeful expression.

After the charity auction event, Zack and Victor noticed a change in Yuna’s routine. She no longer visited the treehouse, which had once been a regular spot for her. Instead, she spent her time tending to the garden, but the treehouse remained untouched. It was as if she couldn’t bring herself near it, avoiding even a brief stay.

"Pretty good to chalk out some fatigue."

Once again, Zack spoke loudly, his gaze fixed on Yuna, who was in the corner of the living room, absorbed in dismantling the robot cleaner. She was deliberately avoiding their attention, pretending not to notice them.

"Yuna?" Zack called out, his voice edged with frustration.

“Mix nuts and bacon ranch meatballs would make a great snack. I’ll prepare them for you,” Yuna said casually, dismantling the robot cleaner.

"How about you join us? And what’s with the robot cleaner?" Victor suggested, his curiosity piqued as he observed her removing parts from the robot cleaner. "You seem pretty engrossed in that thing."

“I want to go to bed early tonight,” Yuna said, holding up the detached head of the robot butler. “As for this, I’m just trying to figure out how to fix it. I’ve noticed there are a lot of broken robot cleaners in the stockroom, so I’m disassembling one to learn how to repair the others.”

“Do you think you can fix it?” Victor asked, his eyes widening in awe.

Both boys had always been impressed by how quickly and skillfully Yuna handled complex tasks. Her expertise made her seem like a seasoned professional, someone you could rely on for any challenge.

"Why go through all this trouble? We could get a new one if this one breaks," Zack said, puzzled by Yuna’s dedication to fixing something she barely used.

Yuna shrugged, a faint smile on her lips. "There’s no harm in trying. If I can fix it, I'll give it to a slacker like myself."

She unscrewed a component from the hardware system and stared at it in surprise. “Whoa! This must be the issue. Now I get it.”

Yuna reached down, grabbing one of the broken butler robots with dramatic motion. “I’ll take your head off just like I did with your buddy if you don’t move!” her voice dropping into a ridiculously spooky horror movie tone. Her exaggerated facial expression, with a theatrically wrinkled nose and curled lips, was hilarious and utterly entertaining.

When Yuna gave the robot her command, its eyes lit up in a comically exaggerated manner, like a puppet in a slapstick comedy. “Hello! Why am I here, and what am I supposed to do? Did I miss a memo or something?” it asked with a robotic whine, adding a hilarious scene.

Yuna raised her head to look at the two men who stood out conspicuously in the room. Victor and Zack were dressed in impeccably tailored wool suits, each a testament to high-end fashion. "See? It just needs some scare, not care." She said proudly.

Victor let out a dismissive snort. “Pfft. Impressive. How’d you manage that?” he said, stepping closer to get a better look at the butler robot.

“Because I can do just about anything when it’s fueled by love and a touch of desperation!” Yuna chuckled, her tone light and playful.

As she fiddled with the robot, she reminisced about her childhood, recalling how her father performed puppet shows for her and her two sisters.

“Haha, so, are we heading to the treehouse now?” Victor asked with a hopeful smile.

Yuna furrowed her brows. “I’ll prepare the food here,” she said, “and you can take it to the treehouse.”

“Forget about it. I’m ordering delivery, and we’re having dinner at the treehouse,” Zack said with a firm, almost icy tone. “First, go over there and clean off some dust.”

He knew she’d likely refuse a request, so he bypassed the possibility of negotiation by issuing a direct order. With a resigned sigh, Yuna stood up.

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As she climbed up and pushed open the glass door, Yuna’s brows furrowed in confusion. It dawned on her that there was no need for her to clean up any dust; the treehouse was already in perfect order. Her gaze swept around the room, realizing that someone must have been staying here regularly, maintaining it with an unexpected level of care.

She ran her fingertips along the corners of the treehouse, her brows furrowing in disbelief as she felt the smooth, dust-free surfaces. Her eyes then fell upon the coffee table, where a wooden toy car sat next to a small pot with a vibrant sunflower. The sight hit her with the force of a tidal wave. Overwhelmed, she stumbled back, her breath catching in her throat.

"How did you know to come back to your home?" she mumbled through her sobs embracing the wooden toy car.

As Yuna saw Zack and Victor approaching with the food, she hastily wiped her tear-streaked face, struggling to compose herself before they got inside.

“Thank you,” she muttered, her voice muffled as they settled in for dinner.

"Why thank us? You should be furious!” Zack’s voice was sharp and edged with frustration. “If you’re angry, just let it out. Stop pretending like nothing’s wrong. What I really can’t stand is when people fake their feelings.”

He raised an eyebrow, his gaze unyielding and challenging, as though daring her to reveal her true emotions. Zack felt she was deliberately retreating from reality, isolating her feelings rather than confronting them. Despite the challenges she had faced over the past year, Yuna had never voiced any complaints, and her ongoing silence only intensified Zack's frustration.

Yuna’s smile was brief, a fleeting curl of her lips that quickly gave way to a more deliberate, guarded grin. “I don't want to talk about the matter you had in mind. But if you insist on criticizing me, we’ll address it after dinner.” Her gaze was steady, her voice calm but carrying an edge, like a warning.

Zack’s eyes narrowed, his irritation barely contained. “Here comes that facade display again. Are you for real?! Is there anything of my tone now that is worth smiling?” His mind was simmering with unspoken questions.

Zack's outburst, a sharp departure from his usual calm and analytical demeanor, stems from deep frustration and confusion. His frustration is fueled by what he perceives as Yuna’s emotional facade and her unwillingness to engage in open dialogue, which pushes him to act out of character.

Yuna sighed deeply, closing her eyes as she drew a slow, heavy breath. When she opened them again, her gaze was piercing. Without saying a word, she stood up from her chair.

With a sharp movement, she tossed the food off her plate into the dustbin, her actions abrupt and decisive. The clatter of the food hitting the bin was a stark punctuation to the tension that hung in the air.

Victor and Zack exchanged a look, and a shiver of dread raced down their spines.

Zack, normally so confident in his decisions, now felt a wave of regret. If he could rewind time, he would choose silence over the harsh words he had just spoken.

Victor, who had been trained to endure the worst torture, flinched at the harsh clatter of the plate hitting the sink. He struggled to swallow a piece of shrimp as his hand trembled.

“I am not numb or disconnecting myself from reality,” Yuna said, her voice unnervingly calm yet carrying a cold edge. “Because this is my reality. If I were to throw a fit every time I should be angry, would that mean I’d end up slitting my wrists next? Because, honestly, I know the worst is yet to come.”

Her tone was serene but laced with chilling intensity like a surface hiding a storm beneath.

“You should have known better that we can never have an honest and open conversation until you stop using me as a pawn for your goals. That's why I stayed silent when you used my name to manipulate the media, creating a storm to corner your adversaries. I also kept quiet when you wanted me to think that you had no control over your family—that they could drug and abduct you easily."

"Zack..."

She wasn’t yelling or showing overt anger; instead, her calm demeanor contrasted sharply with the weight of her words, making her message all the more piercing.

“No more! Please, stop.” Zack pleaded, his voice breaking with raw emotion. He buried his face in his hands, overwhelmed by the weight of Yuna’s words. His feelings were a chaotic swirl of regret and anguish, as though his heart had been cleaved in two.

Zack had faced countless dangers without flinching—whether it was the cold, calculated threat of his grandfather Owen sending an assassin to slit his wrist, or the bitter revelation that his mother had orchestrated his kidnapping during his childhood. He was hardened by a life where betrayal and treachery were as familiar as his reflection.

With a deep sigh, she moved slowly toward the door. The night air carried the weight of unspoken words and shared pain as Yuna sat silently.

“Every person in this world faces different obstacles every day,” Yuna began, her voice steady but carrying a weight of experience. “If all you ever do is complain and wallow in the heaviness of your circumstances, you'll never find any peace. You always have a choice in how you respond to the hard episodes of your life.”

She paused, her eyes drifting to Victor, absorbing her words with a tense expression.

“That’s why I chose to focus on the positive when Victor let people replace all the auction items with cheap good luck charms and the wooden toy car, I didn’t let it drag me down. Instead, I decided to find the silver lining in every challenge."

Victor's casual demeanor gave way to a rare, vulnerable admission of being caught in his web of deception.

He had been consuming poison since childhood, building an almost invincible resistance to it over the years. Yet, Yuna’s words struck him with a force he hadn't anticipated, paralyzing his entire body.

"I didn't resent you," Yuna said apologetically, her voice softening as she placed her foot on the first stair. "I fully understand the predicament I chose for myself."

The atmosphere in the treehouse, after Yuna left, was heavy with unspoken thoughts and realizations, leaving them to grapple with the gravity of the situation. The soft rustling of leaves outside contrasted sharply with the tense atmosphere within. The silence was thick, almost oppressive, as both men gasped.

“People like us have only one way to survive, Zack. If Yuna had let her emotions lead her instead of her intellect, you might not have seen the first hint of success in your plan. She’s sharp and calculative, and I’m starting to understand why she approached things this way. She knows that openness can be more lethal than deception. Maybe she’s not just playing a part but navigating a path with caution."

Zack's stomach churned with a nauseating intensity as Victor’s words sliced through the air. His eyes brimmed with tears, which he fought to keep at bay, but they escaped despite his efforts, trailing down his cheeks. His face was etched with agony.