169 Did you even wash your hands?

[the call cannot be connected.]

nina slams the phone on the concrete. why is this happening? where did rie go? she should pick up the call.

she looks at the unconscious man sitting inside the car. she has thought a lot. rie won't do something stupid when she has ren. if she had done that to her, then she would have been waiting for her call. she would have sent someone to save ren. most likely, rie doesn't know that ren is with her. 

then, who is it? damn it! she can't find out now. there's no time. where the hell should she hide in this world? she can't keep running. she's sure that her name must have been leaked to both authority and the underworld. 

she exhales and inhales. the death will be an easy one. a shot to the head? easy! she won't even know. maybe she won't even feel pain. she's not afraid of death. how many times had she contemplated killing herself back then?

she has to breathe first. she tells herself with a quiet voice, "nina, we have faced darker times. we can get through this. we won't go down easily."

her parents were killed by her uncle for some business deal. at the age of 11, she had to pay with her body to her uncle and cousin brothers. her aunt couldn't care less. her uncle would send her to entertain his business partners. her cousin brothers would bring his friends. it was truly a hell until she heard her uncle drinking and laughing about how he killed her parents and turned her into a whore. that was when she changed. she used her body to ensnare them. when they thought that they had her body and mind, she poisoned them all. 

she smirks. if she dies, she won't die alone. she will take each of those bastards with her. dark hackers? she will take them all with her. she won't be a lonely grave. 

if it's a game of chase, she will be the winner. she wants to see how long she can survive until she brings the end. 

she turns her head and glances at ren. he's her trump card. she will control rie using him.

***

yuta's ear twitches when he hears the sound of the door opening. he opens his right eye slightly. he relaxes when he sees his father carrying his mother with a smile. 

"tired?" kiyohira whispers to his wife as he lays her on the seat. "i thought that women in thirties have a lot of energy."

she peers at him confidently. "i still have energy."

he looks at her crotch. "i guess that you still have energy if you can still speak."

"don't overdo it." she turns her head away, grumpy.

kiyohira chuckles and fastens the seat belts around her. "i will check on yuta. take some rest."

"mmm." she closes her eyes as exhaustion takes over her. he plants a kiss on her forehead before he walks toward yuta. yuta is still pretending to be asleep. kiyohira sits beside him. there's silence. yuta wonders whether he should open his eyes or not. which moment is normal? 

"we will arrive in fifteen minutes." kiyohira breaks the silence first. "did you have good sleep?"

"could i?" yuta taunts, glaring at his father. 

"my apologies, son." kiyohira rubs his head. "i am trying to keep my promise to you."

"i think that you are working too hard." yuta grunts. "did you even wash your hands?"

kiyohira is stupefied by his question. "of course, i did."

they have a son. they wouldn't be that careless. wait! why is he discussing this with his four years son? his son keeps surprising him.

"i am glad." yuta exhales sharply and shuts his eyes. he can feel his father's gaze on him. it's unnerving. he isn't used to being stared at. 

"how old are you?" kiyohira asks him in a low voice.

"four." 

"give me an honest answer." kiyohira glances at rie's direction. she seems to have fallen asleep. 

"why?" yuta won't make it easy for his father. particularly, because he's annoyed. "do you have a doubt that i might be too old to be your son?"

"you are my son without a doubt." kiyohira smirks at him. "your mother won't be with anyone else other than me. she loves me that much."

"you are quite overconfident." yuta rolls his eyes. it is true though. "father, what do you think that i am?"

"i wonder." kiyohira scratches his chin thoughtfully. "even if you were a genius kid who knew a lot, you wouldn't have the expression that only a man can carry. i want to know why you had such pain and hatred in your eyes when you saw maddox."

"you have observed me a lot in a short time." yuta smiles unconsciously. his mother has raised this body for four years. she hasn't noticed the change, but his father has noticed it in one day. after rebirth, he's been with his mother for two weeks before he met his father. find authorized novels in webnovel，faster updates, better experience，please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.

in those two weeks, he decided to be quiet and act like his mother expected him to. though she was surprised when he demanded to see his father, she was able to accept it as the quirks of a genius child. his father was another challenge. his father must have been observing him quite closely since they met. it's not like he was doing a good job of hiding. 

since their lives have already taken a different route, he doesn't have a complete idea of the future. to protect his family, he needs an ally. 

kiyohira tells him quietly, "son, you will always be our son. you can tell us anything without worry."

"i know that you won't burn me on pyre if you hear the truth, father." yuta lets out a low laugh. "mother will kill you if you do something like that."

kiyohira agrees. "i don't doubt it."