Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

0Gayoon was on the laptop, looking for more information on Anna Kirishima while Junho and Shinjin pored over the books they had brought from the library. They had only two days in hand and they still did not know where Anyal would conduct the ritual. Sitting in Minho's study, they were researching the demon.     0

"Found anything?" she asked the men.     

"Nope," Junho sighed. "Nothing! Even the books on demons don't mention Anyal much."     

"And what about the Gates of Hell?" she asked.     

"Just that the gates are located within the World of the Dead but not exactly where," Shinjin muttered.     

Gayoon was now frustrated. "Minho said that in the World of the Dead, the deceased souls were stuck in the place where they died," she pointed out. "Is it the same for people who are taken to hell? What if they are kept captive in a dimension at the spot they died in?"     

"Possible," Shinjin stated. "But there's no mention of this blasted princess nor where she died. In fact, other than that one paragraph, there's no other evidence of her existence at all!"     

"It was common back in those days," Junho informed them. "If my guess is correct, she must have been pretty unpopular for some reason. If her brother's faction took over the throne after her death, they might have removed all traces of hers."     

"But there must be some clue!" Gayoon insisted. "What about the shaman who conducted the ritual?"     

"No name," Shinjin said. "What about Anna Kirishima? Found anything on her?"     

"No," Gayoon sighed. "Her name is obviously a fake one. She's been changing her identity in order to be with Anyal. I tried to call uncle Jason and ask but he's totally under their spell. I'm sure he won't talk."     

Junho shook his head in dismay. Minho had gone to drop Jina off at school while Kanji headed off to Haejong's old place to settle some of the Lin family matters on Haejong's behalf. Mina was in her room, probably resting.     

"You said that you met Anna when she was working with one of Minho's business associates," he pointed out. "Maybe he knows her?"     

"I tried asking him," Gayoon said. "But no luck. He's in no condition to say anything."     

"Why not?" Shinjin asked.     

"Coz, a few weeks after he was imprisoned, he killed himself," she revealed. "This was hushed up by the prison because it will cause a big scandal. Prisoners are not supposed to be in possession of even a pen let alone a large kitchen knife."     

"Anna must have bewitched him," Shinjin muttered. "To cover up her tracks."     

"Yep," Gayoon said. "That much is clear. I've asked a rookie officer to look her up and he'll let me know in a while. I just hope that we get her…"     

"She's our only clue," Junho said. "She's that demon's servant and with him all the time. If Anyal took over Kanji's body, that means that they had targeted him for a long time. Possibly had their eyes on someone close to the Hwang's ever since you guys met her in that meeting. Kanji fits their bill perfectly."     

As they were speaking, a shadow stood outside the door, listening to them. Mina slowly backed out and went back to her room. She sat on her bed, trying to piece the small puzzles she had been gathering over the past few days. Even though everyone was trying to act normal in front of her, she knew that they were working secretly against whatever it was possessing Kanji's body.     

She clenched her fists, balling the bed sheets. Kanji...her Kanji, was still suffering. Even in death, he was receiving no escape from his own demons.      

A single tear rolled down her cheek but she wiped it away. She fought back her grief with every inch of her willpower, not allowing herself to become weak. Not when she needed to be stronger than everyone else.     

"Kirishima Anna," she whispered. "It's time to meet you."     

She picked up her bag and quietly headed for the main door. Taking out her phone, she called Haejong's number which was now being used by Kanji. He picked up in one ring.     

"Is everything alright?" he asked from the other end.      

"Where are you?" she asked. "I need to meet you right now."     

"I'm at my old mansion," he told her.      

"Okay," she said. "I'm coming over."     

She hung up the phone and rushed towards her car when she noticed an officer standing at the main gate of the mansion, talking to a guard.      

Is that one of Gayoon's rookies? She wondered. The officer was walking towards the mansion when Mina stopped him.     

"Officer!" she called out. The man turned around and faced her.     

"Hello," he greeted. "I wanted to meet Detective Jeon. She asked for some information from me. I called her but her phone was switched off."     

"I'm her sister-in-law," Mina told him. "Hwang Mina. I'm afraid she's out right now. But I can hand it over to her if you want!"     

She took out her ID card and showed it to him as proof. The rookie read her credentials and nodded.     

"Alright," he said, handing over the file to her. "Please tell Detective Jeon that the information she wanted is in here."     

Mina thanked him and waited until he left. Quickly taking out the documents, she took pictures of them. The papers contained all the information on a sultry looking woman in her late twenties and Mina guessed that this must be Anna. She quickly put the papers back into the file and handed the papers to the guard.     

"Give this to Gayoon," she instructed. "But don't tell her that I read them."     

The guard was confused but bowed in obedience before heading into the mansion. Mina got into her car and drove off to meet Kanji at the Lin mansion. Half an hour later, she pulled up in front of the mansion.     

Kanji stood outside the mansion, wondering what Mina wanted.     

"She didn't tell you?" Haejong's voice asked him.     

"She sounded very disturbed," he muttered. "There's something wrong…"     

"There she is!" Haejong said. Mina was rushing towards Kanji with a worried look on her face. Even though Mina was pretending that the man standing in front of her was Haejong, she knew that it would be best to enlist the help of someone who knew that demon well.      

And who else would know him better than Kanji himself?      

But she must be careful not to let the truth slip. She did not want him to disappear forever. The moment his last wish was fulfilled, Mina knew that Kanji would be gone. To keep him with her, she was ready to pretend ignorance as long as possible. But that did not mean she was going to let a monster reside in his original body.     

She slowly walked up to him, her face impassive.      

"I need your help," she said. "I think Kanji is cheating on me and I need to know the identity of his mistress!"