Chapter 268 - If I hadn't tried to change it

Talking to his mother won't work. He must talk to his father. For the rest of the day, Yuta stays inside his room. Maddox's daughter is in the same house as him. How could he accept this? Aerie is the daughter of his mother's murderer. She's also a candidate for the Consortium's next leader. He doesn't want his family to get involved in that mess. His father and mother have finally found happiness after a long time. There's Sho. He has too much to lose.

"Yuta, open the door."

After he hears his father's voice, Yuta opens the door. He coils his arms around his father's legs. "Father, you must send Aerie back to the orphanage."

Kiyohira has heard of this matter from Rie. They are both sure that something big had happened. Their son won't speak of this without a good reason. Kiyohira picks Yuta in his arms and steps inside the room. After closing the door, he sits down on the bed with Yuta on his l.a.p. "Now, tell me what's going on."

"Aerie…" Yuta wrinkles his brows and looks at him anxiously. "She's Maddox's daughter."

Maddox's daughter… His blood becomes cold as he digests Yuta's words. There's only silence between them. Yuta continues to tell him about what had happened that afternoon, "Yuan Bo came to see her. I saw it myself. I don't know why he sent her here. Father, we can't keep her here. I am sure that the Consortium and Yuan Bo have some agenda. Our family shouldn't get involved with their business. Aerie is a candidate. There's going to be a dirty battle between her and Mira. If Mira wins, our entire family would be wiped out along with Aerie. If Aerie wins, Mira will…"

Yuta doesn't want to care about that woman. There are many reasons to despise her. But he also doesn't want her to die. 

"You wanted to bring Mira into this family." Kiyohira retains his calmness. Aerie is already in their family. They can't avoid it anymore. "You wanted to give her a good life and raise her into a better person. You also wanted to find some way to deal with the consortium. Then, why can't we do the same with Aerie?"

"Father, can you accept the daughter of your wife's murderer?" Yuta asks him with a low voice. "Maddox killed my mother. He…"

"That happened in your past life," Kiyohira interrupts him. "In this lifetime, Mira killed Maddox. Your mother and I are still alive. You did not kill anyone. This life is different from your past life. Don't mix it up."

It's easy to say this. His past life is still his past. In his eyes, Maddox is still his mother's murderer. "Things would have gone the same if I hadn't tried to change it."

"That's what we need to do." Kiyohira strokes his son's head. "Sending her back won't change anything. We have already involved with Mira. Now, it's Aerie. The Consortium will find some other way to get to us if we send her back. Instead of sending her back, we should raise her as our daughter and prepare for the future."

"But…" Yuta purses his lips uneasily. Things aren't as simple as they seem. However, his father is right. Their family is already dragged into this mess. Even if they send Aerie back, there's no guarantee that the Consortium would leave them alone. He can keep an eye on Aerie if she stays with his family. There's a chance that she might turn out to be a better person. How would Mira react if she finds out that Aerie is here? 

"Aerie thinks of us as her family," Kiyohira says to him. Aerie's love and care for everyone in the family seem genuine. Sending her back to the orphanage is too cruel. He also thinks of her as his daughter already. "We will raise her as a daughter of the Kamiyama family. She won't turn out like Maddox. I will make sure of that."

They don't understand. It only takes a moment for a person's heart to change. Taking chance on someone like this is not worth it. There's too much to risk. But he can't see any other way either. The Consortium has plans for his family. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent Aerie here. But who can answer him honestly? There's only one person -- Mira Kirishima. 

There's been no news of her after what happened. The police had assumed that her father had killed her and buried her somewhere in the forest. They had never found Maddox's body. Is she with the Consortium? But why would they send Aerie instead of Mira? Logically, they know that he knew Mira. Did she not want to come? 

Mira wouldn't have sent Aerie to his family. That day in the cave, she made it clear that she didn't want to have anything to do with him. Sending her cousin and getting his family involved with the Consortium shouldn't be her doing when she clearly knows that he is also reborn like her. 

Does it mean that Mira doesn't know? Since they sent Aerie instead of Mira, there's a chance that Mira is not with the Consortium. Do they fully support Aerie instead of Mira? 

But why his family? Do they want Aerie to choose a sacrifice from his family? Deep lines form on Yuta's forehead. That old cult! He should have paid attention to the battle in his past life. He would have found out about both Mira and Aerie then. He did hear something about sacrifice. Mira must have sacrificed him or… who knows what was on her mind? All he knows was that she didn't love him.

"Don't think too hard." Kiyohira pats his son's shoulder. "There's still time. We will find a way."

Since it is already like this, it can't be helped. Yuta gives him a nod. He has to take his next steps cautiously. He will protect his family from the Consortium, even if it means going against Mira in future.