Chapter 63 - She's dead?

"53% burns. 10 broken bones. Internal bleeding. A miscarriage." Kiyohira mumbles monotonously. "Nearly died from inhaling smoke."

"Miscarriage?" Takeshi widens his eyes.

"She was two weeks pregnant."

It's only been an hour since Kiyohira found out that she was pregnant with his child. He is sure that Rie didn't know either. Currently, she is having surgery. They don't know whether she will survive the surgery or not.

"It's my fault. I should have stayed inside the car." Yuhara Kozue apologizes to Professor Umezaki. "I am sorry, Professor."

"If you hadn't run away, they would have poisoned you too. You noted the vehicle number." Umezaki Yushiro sighs. Ren is in stable condition. "Ren is not dead because of you."

The four men sit and wait quietly. Each one is thinking differently. Takeshi doesn't know what to feel. A few days ago, she was his stepsister. He was looking forward to playing games with her. Then, he found out that she wasn't his stepsister. Still, he can't unthink of her as his sister.

Yuhara Kozue is sick of his gynophobia. If he has been normal, this outcome could have been prevented.

Kiyohira is numb. He thinks about the culprit. The villa is registered under Takeuchi Miwako. The woman is already dead. That other woman must have been behind the kidnapping.

Umezaki Yushiro makes a silent decision.

***

"Take her away?" Kiyohira glowers at Umezaki Yushiro. "You are only her therapist. I won't let you take her away."

Rie's surgery ended 7 hours ago. She hasn't regained her consciousness. She might never wake up.

Umezaki Yushiro stares at him. "What do know about her birth parents?"

Kiyohira becomes quiet. It's not a secret that Rie is adopted. Hamada Midori told him about Rie's biological mother.

Uesaka Saori was a close friend of Hitomi and Midori. After they finished studying at the university, they went on their separate ways. Hitomi married Takeuchi Seiji. Midori worked as a chef. Midori and Hitomi stayed in contact, but they lost contact with Saori. After a year, Soari reappeared in their lives with a baby. She begged Hitomi to take the baby and keep her safe. She wanted to make sure that Rie's biological father would never find her. She told them that Rie's biological father wanted to kill Rie and Saori. Saori left after giving Rie to Hitomi. They found out that she was hit by a car when she was running away from someone. To protect Rie from her biological father, Hitomi never said a word to anyone and kept her adoption a secret until she died.

After hearing Kiyohira, Umezaki Yushiro sighs. "I shouldn't be surprised that she said that."

"Do you know Uesaka Saori?" Kiyohira asks him slowly.

"She was my wife." Umezaki Yushiro speaks with utter despair. "I met her on a blind date. We got married after dating for a month. When we started living together, I started to find her stranger. She hid it well until the last moment."

Kiyohira listens to him quietly.

"She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia." Umezaki Yushiro's eyes become misty. "She tried her best to hide it from me. At the same time, I found out that she was carrying out first child. She stopped taking her medicines. When I asked her to continue taking the medicines, she treated me like her enemy. After Rie was born, she gave that name to her during one of her sane moments."

He closes his eyes and wipes his tears. "She was gone one day. The caretaker was hurt badly. I tried to find her everywhere. When she was found after a few days, she tried to escape. She got into the accident and died. I couldn't find my child anywhere. When I found her, she was already in a vulnerable state. If I had told her that I was her father, she wouldn't have believed me. She was already hurt so much. I didn't want to give her another shock. I was going to slowly develop our relationship and tell her the truth after her recovery."

Kiyohira doesn't know who to believe. Umezaki Yushiro brings out a picture from his wallet. It's the picture of his wife, Saori in a hospital gown. In the picture, she is carrying a child in her arms.

"This photo was taken the day Rie was born. It was one of the moments when she was sane."

Her mother is smiling in the photo. Rie has her eyes and nose.

"If you still don't believe me, I will ask Saori's brother to meet you." Umezaki Yushiro looks at him with honest eyes. "But, you must help me. I don't want my daughter to suffer anymore. She deserves a lot better. I know that you love her, but you have to let her go. I will take her far away from this place. She needs to recover first. To be honest, I am afraid of what she will say when she wakes up. I don't know how that person broke her again. I can't keep her here where she might get destroyed again if she wakes up. She is my only child. After so many years, I got her. I don't want to lose her again. Help me, Kiyohira. I want my child to live a happy life. Her mother also wanted the same for her."

It's been difficult for Umezaki Yushiro to pretend that Rie was only his patient. He lost his wife. He looked for his daughter for 26 years. If Yuhara Kozue hadn't shown him one of the leaked videos of her episode at the restaurant to ask him about questions about the trauma that Rie might have suffered, he would have never found out. She looked so much like his wife. When he met her, she was already broken by the world. He wanted to hug his daughter, but he couldn't. He didn't know how she would react to the truth with her fragile mind. He wanted to heal her slowly and carefully.

***

"She's dead?" Chisa stretches her back and arms. It's 9:16 in the morning. She didn't have a good sleep last night when she heard that Rie didn't die in the fire.

"Yes." Her secretary tells her quietly, "She breathed her last around 5 minutes ago."

Chisa feels bad for losing her toy, but a broken toy is good for nothing. It's good that Rie died. If she lived, it would have become a thorn in her path. Kiyohira might become more difficult after Rie's death. Since Miwako is already dead, Kiyohira will figure out that there is someone else who abducted Rie yesterday. It's more fun if it is like this. He must be blaming himself for being incapable of catching her. The high and mighty Kiyohira, who would even look at her, is always one step behind her. She will forever keep him on her tail and then, she will destroy him.

She asks her secretary sternly, "Miwako didn't leave anything behind that might bring problems in the future, did she?"

"I got hold of the secret phone that she used to contact you. I have already destroyed it." Secretary Morikawa replies with an expressionless face, "Takeuchi Miwako was good at handling matters. She didn't leave behind any link. Even her family isn't aware of her real job. The money source is clean. She never told about you to her family."

Takeuchi Miwako, the owner of the secret playhouses, pretended to be an ex-wife who lived off alimony. She even fooled her parents and ex-husband. She hid her relationship with Chisa since elementary school. Where could she find a person like that again? If Takeuchi Rie was her favorite toy, Takeuchi Miwako was her favorite accessory.

"Morikawa, find someone appropriate who can handle Miwako's duties."