The air inside the room was stuffy. Yagi Takashi hung his head low as he tried to recall his memory. Although Ren didn"t have the patience to deal with this man, he still waited for him to speak. He turned around on his heels, once again facing the man."My sister... she suddenly brought back a baby after she was discharged from the hospital." With a quiet voice, he began. "I just knew that she met Tsubaki"s real mother there. As for the details, I didn"t ask her and she too kept quiet about it."
Ren knew he was telling the truth. Even in the entire year he lived in the village, this man would only come to Tsubaki when he needed money. A man as selfish as him, he doubted he would bother to care about his supposed niece"s origin.
But, it didn"t mean that he would let him off just like that. He still had a few questions for him. Whether he could answer it or not, it was not his problem.
"It seemed like Mrs. Hanada has always received postcards from a woman we could a.s.sume as Tsubaki"s biological mother. Her name was Nakamura Sumire although I doubt that was her real name," Ren glanced at his wrist.w.a.tch. It was already 1 AM. He needed to conclude this as soon as possible. "Do you know about this?"
"I... don"t know..." Yagi Takashi trailed off, his ears were buzzing and his mind was dizzy. Although his wound had been treated, it was still hurting. But, he didn"t dare to show it to this man. Unless he was courting death.
Ren eyed Yagi Takashi with a calm gaze. No emotion was written on his face except for indifference. If someone was trying to guess what he was thinking, he would fail miserably.
"So, you don"t know anything about her?"
Yagi Takashi"s shoulders jolted when he heard the icy tone. He quickly racked his brains, trying to find anything that could help him to appease the man"s fury. It was at this moment a faint image of an unfamiliar woman appeared in his mind.
"I saw a woman!"
Ren"s eyebrows raised in surprise yet he swiftly changed his face back to nonchalance. "When?"
"Err... I think it"s one month after my sister pa.s.sed away. Tsubaki was still in high school at that time," Yagi Takashi closed his eyes, he was recalling the memory despite his aching head troubling his effort to stay conscious. "A woman dressed in black stood outside the fence. I remembered because... she put something in the postbox. But, it wasn"t a postcard but a letter and..."
Without finishing his sentence, he quickly shut his mouth and averted his gaze to one side. He had almost revealed another thing.
Seeing his face full of regret, Ren knew too well he was hiding something.
He took a step toward the man sitting on the bed. Yagi Takashi was baffled when he felt a great pressure oppressing him on his shoulders. He instantly raised his eyes and he froze for a moment when he saw the fiery gaze of the man standing two feet away from him.
"Speak," Ren spat out a word through a clenched jaw. His strong hands were gripping the man"s shoulders, his sharp nails were digging into his skin.
Yagi Takashi was rendered speechless.
He had a feeling this man would do something more terrible to him if he dared to delay any longer.
"A small box was left with the letter! Inside... there was a gold necklace! In a half heart-shaped. That necklace... I..."
"You sold it?"
Yagi Takashi quickly lowered his head. There was no need for denying Ren"s suspicion.
Ren sighed inwardly. His brows knitted together.
He pushed that man harshly as he retrieved his hands. He lazily wiped his hands over his trench coat, as if trying to cleanse his hands from the man"s scent. His short bangs fell above his eyes, obscuring his gaze filled with danger.
"Have you read the letter before selling the necklace?"
When this man mentioned the existence of the letter, it wasn"t hard for Ren to guess it could be related to the unread letter addressed to Hinata. But, a necklace? Nagao Yuuto hadn"t said anything about its existence.
"I read it... if I remember correctly the letter only mentioned why she has to leave Tsubaki to strangers and... she wrote that the necklace was something she treasured and she wanted Tsubaki to have it..."
"You knew that the necklace was important," Ren couldn"t comprehend how a man could stoop so low, letting his greed to overtake his humanity. "But, you didn"t have the conscience to give it to its rightful owner. You"ve even thrown the letter out, right?"
The older man just nodded with a pitiful face. Ren scoffed in disgust. Such an important lead yet it was wasted in this man"s hands.
"Stay here and don"t make a fuss," Ren turned his back, he was no longer in the mood to interrogate this filthy human being. "I still have so many questions for you. I"d bring Kurosawa here and let you two meet."
Yagi Takashi"s mouth parted in shock. He looked at the man"s back with frightful eyes. "I"ve told you what you wanted to know! Why can"t you release me? You can"t imprison me here!"
"You think that"s all I want to know?" Ren let out an eerie laugh. His low and deep voice resounded in the quiet room. It brought shiver to whoever heard him. "You can"t fool me. There are still secrets that you hid. Especially about the night of the incident."
"What?! You!"
Before he could protest, Ren had already left the room. The heavy door closed with a loud sound, startling the man sitting on the bed. Within a second, the sound of a padlock being locked with a chain entered his hearing.
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Did he know... the truth?
Outside the room, Toshiro and Akashi were still waiting for their friend. Once they saw his dark face, they glanced at each other and threw a knowing look.
"You haven"t finished, right?"
Ren grunted, he sat on a single couch opposite the two of them. His long hand reached out for the mineral water placed on the coffee table.
"It"d take a long time if I wanted to finish questioning him tonight," He uncapped the bottle and downed a few mouthfuls of water. "I"d bring Kurosawa here. I want to see if they would contradict each other."
"The village head? Well, he has taken the bait. He would arrive in the city soon for a development project. I"ve noted where he would stay for the time being," Akashi fished out his phone from his jacket pocket, his eyes were searching for the related information. "All clear. So, do you have a new inkling after meeting that man earlier?"
Ren nodded. "I"ll tell you once I"ve gathered my thoughts. There"s something that I need to recheck."
"Alright." Toshiro chimed in understanding. He glanced at his watch. "Hibiki would supervise the transfer of Mr. Yagi to my private lab. It"d be a ha.s.sle to bring him to the hospital if something untoward happened. It"s safer if I brought him to my lab."
"Do what you need. Contact me if anything happens," Ren focused his gaze on Akashi who was still sitting comfortably on the couch. "How about the family? Have you found anything new?"
"I"ve been tracing anyone who knew them or the people who used to work for them. It"d take a while since this matter needed absolute secrecy."
"Alright, call me immediately once you found anything."
"Aye aye, sir!"
The three of them parted ways. Hibiki was still busy with the transfer so Ren didn"t bother him. He immediately went home since the clock had turned to 2:15 AM. Kaede hadn"t contacted him so far so he guessed everything was alright at home. But, to be on the safe side, he made a call in the car.
"Yes, Master," A male bodyguard"s voice could be heard from the end of the line.
"How"s Madam?" Ren turned the car into the left intersection, he was just entering the expressway heading to Spring Garden.
"Kaede has just checked on Madam. She"s still sleeping."
"Okay. I"m on my way back."
Ren turned off the Bluetooth speaker and focused on the road ahead of him. The expressway was almost empty from any vehicle. The golden light from the high streetlights fell on a side of his face as he drove, casting shadow that hid his heavy gaze.
His mind was troubled by what Yagi Takashi had spilled.
First, Nakamura Sumire had personally sent the letter to Tsubaki"s house, the timeline matched with what Nagao Yuuto had told him before. Both Tsubaki and Hinata received the letters around the same time.
But, how about the necklace? Tsubaki was supposed to receive one but did Hinata get it too? Or the existence of the necklace was something n.o.body knew? If Yagi Takashi didn"t tell him earlier, he would never know about the necklace.
Second, he was curious over the ident.i.ty of Fujioka Masami. That woman didn"t seem like a simple character in this mystery. What was her role in this matter? Was she a friend or a foe?
Third, he wanted to know why did Tsubaki forget about him once she woke up from her coma. He believed the accident had traumatized her but to the point of erasing his existence in her memory? After all, he was an important person to her.
What if... she had subconsciously chosen to forget about him?
His gripped on the steering wheel tightened as he was reminded of the dreadful possibility that had haunted his mind since her nightmare in the mountain cabin.
No, it shouldn"t be...