The quiet of the bedroom was thick with Soo-jin’s frustration. The detective’s logical, evidence-based dismissal of her accusation felt like a door being slammed in her face. But she wasn't ready to give up. She had to make him understand the how, even if the when seemed impossible.

"Why?" Jae-hyun asked, his voice low and probing. He pulled a simple wooden chair from against the wall and sat, giving her his full attention. "Why are you so convinced it was her? Help me see what you see."

Soo-jin took a shaky breath, her eyes losing focus as she was pulled back into a brighter, simpler time—a time before the shadow of Selena Bakker fell over their family.

"We met her almost nine months ago," she began, her voice gaining a sliver of strength from the memory. "In our restaurant. An independent filmmaker was shooting a short film there. And there she was... the snake, Selena Bakker, acting in that short film."

Even then, Soo-jin explained, Selena possessed a magnetic, unsettling aura. "She was a good actress from the start. She knew how to control men. You could see it in the way she moved, the way she looked at the male lead, the director... everyone. It wasn't just acting for the camera; it was a performance for anyone in her orbit."

Her gaze shifted to an empty space in the room, as if watching the scene unfold. "My brother... he was lost from the first moment he saw her. It was love at first sight, or so he thought. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Her blonde hair, that delicate look she cultivates... he was mesmerized."

A flashback shimmered in the space between them:

The restaurant was closed for the filming. Min-jun stood by the bar, his eyes glued to Selena as she delivered her lines with a captivating passion. Soo-jin nudged him, a teasing smile on her face.

"Yah, Kim Min-jun. Why are you so obsessed with that one girl? She's just an actress."

Min-jun didn't even look at her, a dreamy, infatuated smile playing on his lips. "I think I am in love, Soo-jin. Her blonde hair... she looks so delicate, like a porcelain doll."

Soo-jin rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. You don't even know her."

But Min-jun's next words sent a chill down her spine, even in the memory. "I'm going to propose to her."

Soo-jin’s eyes snapped back to Jae-hyun’s, the memory solidifying her resolve. "And he really did," she said, her voice flat with the absurdity of it. "Just like that. It's like, what the hell? He barely knew her!"

She leaned forward slightly, wincing at the pressure on her belly. "My parents were always against him choosing her. They saw it, too. The... calculation in her eyes. But Min-jun was the son, the heir. They were always so careful with him, so afraid of pushing him away. They were afraid of saying anything to him that might make him rebel. So they said nothing."

She looked at Jae-hyun, her expression pleading for him to understand the dynamic. "They let the serpent into our garden because they were too scared to tell the master of the house to close the gate."