Y-you, how could you

Ellie stood in the shadows outside the dining room, her back against the cold wall.

She had been hiding there all along and had heard every word Oswald said.

Then came two gunshots, followed by Jason's scream and William's wail...

Her legs trembled as she realized that everything they had so carefully planned had fallen apart. Her mother had been brutally murdered, neither of her brothers would survive, and there would be no place for her in the Cobblepot family anymore.

Now she could only escape as quickly as possible.

Yet instead of immediately running out of the mansion, she rushed recklessly toward the second floor.

Even after everything that had just happened, she could not stop thinking about Ririko's jet-black hair.

Those long, sleek locks, black as raven feathers, were like hellfire burning in the darkness, setting her heart ablaze.

She had to kill that woman before anyone else discovered her, then escape with that head of long black hair.

She had already worked out a plan in her mind-

She would wear that hair on her own head and transform herself completely.

With this new look, she would secure her place in Gotham's high society.

She would outshine every socialite at the dinner party. The men at the balls would be captivated by her, and the reporters who cared nothing for the name "Cobblepot" would keep their cameras trained on her the longest.

And Bruce Wayne, too. She only needed him to catch one glimpse of her at the Iceberg Lounge. One glimpse would be enough.

Her hair would capture his heart for her and hold it tight.

She ran to the door on the second floor, pulled a key from her pocket, and shoved the door open.

The lights were off inside.

Light from the hallway flooded in behind her, casting a long black shadow across the carpet.

Ellie scanned the room, but Ririko was nowhere to be seen.

"Ririko?" Ellie called softly.

She pulled a sharp knife from her clothes, hid it behind her back, and took a step into the room.

"I'm here to get you out," Ellie said, a little louder than before. "We're both girls. You have to trust me... I won't hurt you."

Ririko's voice drifted out from the darkness at the very back of the room.

"I'm right here."

Her voice was still soft, with a hint of icy amusement, like the hollow echo of wind passing through dry bones.

"Come over here..." Ririko coaxed Ellie toward the shadows.

Ellie gripped the knife and advanced step by step.

Suddenly, she found she could no longer lift her feet.

Something had wrapped around her ankles.

It felt smooth and fine, like countless thin, resilient threads crawling up from her ankles, coiling around her and tightening.

She looked down.

Once her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she saw what lay beneath her feet, her pupils contracted sharply!

What had wrapped around her was a mass of long, fine strands of hair!

Black hair spread toward her feet from the carpet, beneath the bed, and the dressing table, like venomous snakes waking from hibernation, ravenously entwining the prey that had fallen into their trap.

She screamed, but a force dragged her knees forward. She lost her balance and fell face-first onto the carpet.

The hair instantly surged like a tide, wrapping around her legs and crawling up her body before cutting deep into her skin.

Ellie struggled, her fingers clawing at the carpet.

The knife she had hidden behind her back vanished beneath the strands.

The hair swiftly coiled around her waist, her abdomen, her chest...

Finally, the strands worked their way into her face, her ear canals, her nasal passages, her throat, her eyeballs...

Ellie's struggles gradually weakened. Her body lay still on the carpet, like a fish washed ashore by the waves.

Ririko stepped out of the shadows in front of the dressing table.

She walked over to Ellie and looked down at the woman on the floor, whose face had turned blue-purple from suffocation, her mouth slightly open. A lone knife lay beside her.

Ririko glanced at the system before her.

["Tomie Organization" special skill activated]

[Current skill: hair manipulation]

[Cooldown required after each use. Next available in: 72 hours]

Ririko did not look at the body on the floor again.

She turned back to the dressing table and tidied her black hair, which had returned to its original state.

By the time Butch followed the signal to the room, the door was already open.

He pushed it aside and immediately saw Ellie lying on the floor, her pale blond hair scattered beside her face and over her shoulders.

He crouched down and pressed two fingers to the side of her neck to check her pulse.

Judging by her contorted expression, she had been "frightened to death."

Butch stood, stepped around Ellie's body, and approached Ririko.

She sat on the bed. In contrast to Ellie's disheveled appearance, her fair face was as radiant as the moon, and a faint, carefree smile rested on her lips.

"Don't ask how she died," Ririko said, looking up at him.

Butch stopped before her. "It's all right. I'll take care of it."

He held out a hand to her, signaling that she could leave everything to him.

Ririko placed her hand in his palm and rose from the bed. The hem of her black dress slid off the sheets and fell around her feet.

As they headed out into the hallway, Ririko asked, "Is dinner ready yet? I'm hungry."

Butch shook his head. "You may have to wait a little longer."

Ririko sounded displeased. "Why is your boss so unreasonable? He left me here and didn't even have dinner ready."

Butch kept walking straight ahead.

"I'm afraid... you wouldn't want to eat what's downstairs."

The black Lincoln drove away from the Cobblepot mansion.

In the back seat, Ririko leaned against the window, leaving enough space for another person between herself and Oswald.

"You scared both of them out of their minds," Ririko said with faint disappointment. "They're no fun anymore."

Oswald sat beside her, his umbrella planted in front of his legs.

"All the better. Now no one else will lay claim to the Cobblepot name."

He declared the matter of the Cobblepot family settled.

He had forced Jason and William to finish all the meat on the table, then ordered the servants to dump them in the filthiest, most chaotic part of the Lower East Side.

Even police cars avoided that place. The vicious thugs roaming its streets would certainly not spare two pampered young men from the upper city with such soft, tender skin.

"Well, congratulations," Ririko said coldly.

Of course Oswald knew what she meant.

She was surely sulking because he had left her alone in the Cobblepot mansion.

He took a dark blue velvet box from his pocket and pressed it into Ririko's hand.

Ririko opened it. Inside was Miranda's absurdly large diamond ring.

Every facet of the diamond refracted tiny, dazzling flashes of fire, almost blinding her.

She calmly closed the lid, keeping her voice cold, though she could not quite hide a little delight.

"What's this supposed to mean?"

"A travel allowance." Oswald lifted his chin slightly, his gaze fixed on the road ahead rather than on her.

Ririko tucked the box securely into the handbag beside her.

"That's not enough..."

"Don't push your luck," Oswald said, pressing his lips together.

Ririko turned toward him. Just then, a streetlamp outside swept light across his face, revealing a faint blush.

"You said I could take my pick of a quarter of the Cobblepot family's fortune. Now all I get is one ring?"

Oswald's fingers tightened slightly around the umbrella handle.

"You wrecked my car, charged a whole load of ridiculous skincare products to my card, and stole my liquor at the lounge... I haven't even billed you for any of that!"

He had intended to keep her at the lounge to earn money and pay off her debts. Instead, she had repaid nothing, and now it seemed as though he owed her several million.

Ririko leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I don't acknowledge any of those debts," she whispered against his ear. "If you want me to travel for work again, you'll have to show me more sincerity than this ring."

Oswald kept his face rigid, but stole a glance at her hand from the corner of his eye.

"Why don't you put the ring on..."

Ririko said, "What, already trying to tie me down?"

"Wear it or don't. I don't care."

He stubbornly turned his face the other way.

A hand reached over, passed his pointed chin, and caught his face.

Then a kiss, cool as a drop of water, landed on his cheek.

"Y-you, how could you..." Oswald went rigid, feeling like a plump white dove caught in a bird trap.

He glanced at Butch in the driver's seat, only to see Butch quickly avert his eyes from the rearview mirror.

Ririko smiled seductively.

"Of course, that comes at a price..."