The doorbell wakes up the family. Yuta groans and rolls over, covering his head with the pillow. Rie pats Yuta"s head and glances at the clock. 3:47 AM.
Rubbing his eyes, Kiyohira sits up. "You have friends who come at this time?"
She shakes her head. n.o.body should be ringing the doorbell right now. Tsuchiya Tsumi is already gone. She has no friends who would come at this hour.
"It"s probably not bad people either." Her enemies won"t ring the doorbell this impolitely. They will directly barge in and shoot them.
She and Kiyohira go to the door. He pushes her behind him and opens the door. His gaze falls on the back of a man. "Who are you?"
The man turns around and looks at him. He mimics Kiyohira"s tone. "Why are you here?"
"Maddox." Rie glowers at the man. "He"s my husband. Why can"t he be here? You tell me why are you here."
"I thought that you divorced him." Maddox points at Kiyohira. "Rie chan, did you forget about me that easily? I saved your life five years ago. Do you not love me? I have loved you for so long. You have betrayed me and went back to your old love."
Kiyohira"s face contorts in anger. He doesn"t believe a word. He knows Rie well enough. She isn"t looking at this man the way she looks at him. This person"s tactics won"t work.
"What nonsense are you speaking?" Rie crosses her arms, not inviting the guy inside. "You didn"t help me for free. I have paid back by debt to DH. What love? Stop joking. I will ask for the last time, Maddox. Why are you here?"
Kiyohira is observing Maddox. Something isn"t right about this man. This man says one thing, but his gaze is speaking otherwise.
"The boss sent me an email." A smile appears on Maddox"s lips. "Let me come inside. Do you want the entire neighborhood to hear?"
Rie sighs and steps aside. Maddox walks in. He peers at Kiyohira and grins sardonically. Kiyohira raises his brow. What is he grinning at? Kiyohira won"t get affected by these flies. His wife only belongs to him. She hasn"t looked at any other crab in the past five years. Will she look now when her favorite crab is here?
"He heard rumors that you are going back to J country with your husband."
Already heard rumors? Rie widens her eyes. The shock disappears from her eyes in a second. The leader must have been keeping a watch.
"What does that got to do with the boss? I might be a DH"s member, but I can live my life with whoever I want and wherever I want. I am not a slave of DH."
"Haha!" Maddox shakes his head lightly. "You are not a slave, but you are not completely free either. Just like me and others. You might be a little special, but all the laws of DH won"t change for you, Rie Chan."
Rie has expected this more or less, but Kiyohira didn"t. He glares at Maddox. "What does that suppose to mean?"
"She can"t go back." Maddox sits down on the chair, making himself comfortable. He smiles darkly at Kiyohira. "A lot of people know that she was Merciless_B. People will get curious where Umezaki Rie, the wife of Kamiyama Kiyohira, disappeared after that night. Someone will ask questions. Others will start digging. Our boss cannot provide 100% protection there. Our boss might get annoyed and just decide to..."
Maddox trails off, not saying the final word. The threat is clear. "Rie chan, it"s the same for me and others. We can never stay in one place. It"s just not about the work. DH has enemies -- not just law enforcers. Have you ever wondered what will the enemies of DH do to you and your family? What will happen if they ever find out that you are instant? Do you know who your biggest enemies are?"
"DH," Rie utters softy. "The inner circle."
"In DH, trust is wielded as a double-edged sword." He smiles at her. "Any member of the DH can go against you including me."
"I want to talk to your leader." Kiyohira stares at him calmly.
"My boss doesn"t want to talk to you. He knows what you will ask for. You want her to leave the DH." Maddox shrugs and looks away. "That will never happen. If she tries to, she will be killed. We weren"t the only members of the Dark Hackers."
"Basically, I can"t go back because Umezaki Rie is dead to the world and boss is worried that they will find out I am Instant. The other members of DH might try something." Rie reveals a sly smile that doesn"t meet her eyes. "But my son can go, right? He needs to start school."
"How will your husband explain where his son come from if you are already dead?" Maddox returns the same smile.
"If Umezaki Rie"s dead, then he can"t have a child with other women?" Rie isn"t letting this snake have his way. "Is there a lack of women in the world, Kiyohira? Can"t you come up with a reason if anyone asks you?"
Kiyohira gives her a nod. "I will say that my wife froze her eggs. There are plenty of reasons. Yuta will always be Umezaki Rie"s and Kamiyama Kiyohira"s son."
Rie purses her lips. This guy! It doesn"t matter. Whatever works. "I hope that our concerned boss doesn"t have a problem with this."
Maddox creases his brows, looking worried. "I think that mother and son --"
Rie interrupts before he can finish his words. "If he has problems with my decisions, then I have some big problems with DH too."
Maddox blinks his eyes. "Are you threatening us?"