It felt like rain might fall at any moment.
The sky above the city hung heavy with clouds, pressing down like a low ceiling.
The night was quiet, but beyond that stillness, something vast and restless stirred in the air.
In the penthouse living room on the 20th floor, under the soft glow of ambient light, the four of them sat facing one another across a long table.
Jinwoo sat in silence, his fingers laced with Celeste's, his eyes fixed on her.
Daniel leaned deep into the back of the chair, his left hand slowly drumming the armrest.
Noah stood by the window. But the moment her lips trembled open, he stepped forward quietly and took the seat across from her.
No one spoke.
Silence reigned—so thick it felt like you could hear someone's heartbeat.
That quiet was deeper than words, slicing through the space between them.
Celeste tried to moisten her dry throat, but the wine tasted only of bitterness.
She set the glass down, drew a slow breath, and said softly,
"…Tonight, I'll tell you guys everything."
With that one sentence, the weight of the air seemed to shift.
"Noah's parents disappeared—but it wasn't just disappearance."
Jinwoo's brows slowly pulled together.
Daniel's fingertips began tapping the edge of the sofa unconsciously.
Celeste didn't avert her eyes. Not once.
"They were investigating a drug called Smart Pill—a substance quietly spreading among the world's wealthiest teenagers, marketed as a miraculous enhancer of concentration. But in truth, it dulled emotional pathways, numbed moral judgment."
"…Sick bastards."
Jinwoo's voice was low, hard.
"And they gave that to kids?"
"To expose it…Noah's parents started in the UK, traveled through the U.S. and Canada, and eventually came here to Korea. They met a whistleblower here. And right after that—disappeared."
Her gaze turned briefly to Noah.
"We tracked the whistleblower. In that process… Noah was stabbed."
The moment her words fell, the atmosphere cracked—like fractured glass.
Daniel's eyes slowly moved to Noah.
"…Then your leg—"
Noah gave a quiet nod.
In his eyes, there was no anger, no pain now—only stark resolve.
Celeste continued.
"What we uncovered was this—the drug's distribution wasn't just some gang-level operation. Behind it were international political networks, global foundations, and charity organizations with names you'd recognize instantly."
"…That charity party—was that what it was for?"
Daniel said slowly.
"The one you and Noah went to?"
She nodded faintly.
"Yes. That's where we met a key distributor—someone I knew."
"…Who was it?"
Jinwoo asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"…Luca."
She took a breath and continued.
"He worked under George as a personal secretary. Back then, Dad said he was just a distant relative—nothing worth questioning."
At that moment—Daniel half-rose from his seat.
"…Wait. Luca? Luca Belloni?"
His voice trembled.
"The Luca I know?"
Celeste furrowed her brow, startled.
"You… know him too?"
Daniel gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
"He was just an intern in my parents' lab. Polite to a fault. Quiet. Thoughtful. The kind of person you'd never suspect—because I didn't. Not even once."
His gaze drifted, unfocused, into the air.
"…The last time I saw him was just before my parents passed. He said he was heading back 'home.' That was it. That was the last time."
His voice trailed off into cold silence.
Celeste's hand slowly curled around the edge of the table.
A terrifying possibility—the one they were all thinking but none dared to voice—was beginning to chill the room, tightening the air like a noose.
Could it be…
That Daniel's parents, too—had died by his hand?
Outside the penthouse window, the first quiet raindrops began to fall.
And the pieces of a past that could never be undone began to emerge—one by one—etched in the stark patterns of a chilling truth.