190 Shouldn't be poking a sleeping lion

maddox was his teacher, his father, his brother, and his friend in his past life. he lived with maddox for ten long years. how could he have never heard about that man having a daughter? maddox had never mentioned about it. he always said that he only had yuta and yuan bo.

yuta sucks in the cold air. how much does he not know? he didn't know anything about maddox. then, it's not a surprise that the girl fooled him in his past life. even until his last moment, maddox didn't speak about his daughter. 

his mother has known it for a while that maddox has a daughter somewhere.

if his mother had used maddox's daughter to threaten maddox in that lifetime, she must have done the same in his previous lifetime. when she left home that day, she seemed confident that she would be free from dh. he always found it strange that maddox killed her personally. the dh usually sends hired assassins to finish the deed. 

who is his daughter? he has to know. did yuan bo know about her? yuan bo's disappearance could be related to her. yuta rubs the space between his brows. yuan bo has always been closer to maddox. he must have known about the daughter. yuan bo reappeared in his life around the time he met yuki. even the war between the two heirs for the throne of a dead underworld organization started around the same time. he had heard rumours that maddox was connected to that organization once.

nothing seems like a coincidence anymore.

what had he missed back then? in any case, if his mother threatened maddox again, then maddox will try to kill his mother again. that man wants to hide his daughter at any cost.

yuta blinks when he realizes. is his daughter one of the heirs?

then, it's not odd that maddox never told him about her. perhaps, he couldn't trust him. how is yuki related to maddox? is she the heir? is that why she's being raised as a boy? to keep her identity hidden?

if that's the case, then she killed him because he killed maddox in his previous life.

takeshi watches his brother and sister-in-law for a while. he can't hear anything. his nephew seems to be focussed on them. he pats his nephew once before he goes to the kitchen to make dinner. his brother and sister-in-law need a moment together. 

"i don't know where she is." rie continues, "i have been observing him for five years. i saw him buying a dress for a little girl once and mailing it. i tried pinning down the parcel, but he was good at hiding tracks."

"that's not enough to conclude that he has a daughter." kiyohira scratches his chin. "but, he reacted when you threatened him. i guess that you are right."

but, she doesn't want to use his child against him. if she doesn't have any other option, only then, she has no choice but to use his child against him. "if we find out his true identity, we can make him quiet."

he stares at her. "people like him will always be suspicious. he is your enemy now. your existence is not beneficial to him. he will try to kill you and everyone else who knows about his daughter."

"how can you tell?" she furrows her brows. 

"you destroyed dh for our son's safety." kiyohira tells her, "he is keeping his daughter hidden. i don't know maddox's history. he must have enemies. to keep my child safe, i would silence all mouths that might bring her danger. i know that you would do the same."

rie is quiet. kiyohira isn't half-wrong. still, she finds it strange that maddox is protective of his daughter. in the past, he seemed like a person who didn't care about anything other than money and power.

"he won't stop until you are dead." kiyohira pauses for a moment. "he will kill anyone who knows."

at the moment, only two of them know. but, maddox might take her son away after killing them. she won't let it happen. this enmity between her and maddox has been inevitable from the moment she found out about yuta's past life.

"i will kill him by my hands," rie breathes out.

"i have hired people to go after maddox." kiyohira smiles at her. "but, i don't think that he will be easily caught."

"he has yuan bo to protect him and..." the rain has stopped. "he's also good. i don't think that your people can get him. they can only keep him busy at most."

he chips in, "we need time."

"i wonder if i should invite him to dinner and poison him," rie grumbles. "i should have killed him when he visited us."

kiyohira sighs. he's talking about murdering someone with his wife on a quiet night like this. what can he do? perhaps, they can talk about other stuff when maddox is gone. "he isn't an idiot, rie. should we try finding his daughter?"

"it's useless now." she hangs her head low. "he must have hidden his daughter somewhere safe by now. there's one more thing. maddox is connected to an old cult. i found out when i was looking into tsuchiya san. she was also a part of that old cult before it was dismantled. in reality, dh is born out of the ashes of that organization after it died."

yuta slams his forehead. he didn't know that about tsuchiya tsumi either. what is this old cult? it had been dead for more than two decades. why are they trying to come back now? 

"there's another rumour." rie squints her eyes as she begins to gossip. "the loyal members from that dead organization is lying in wait for the heir who will reawaken the old power. the new power is looking for the heir to kill him before he gathers powers. i am guessing that there will be a power war between the new and old underworld organizations in the future."

"..." dark hackers have been more than enough to handle. now, there is going to be a power war in the future and somehow, they might get involved because of maddox. what kind of things did she get herself involved in? "you have been looking into people's secrets."

yuta has been reading their lips for a while. he sits on the edge of the window and frowns. he was part of the new power. in his past life, the new power wanted to nip the seed before it could grow. they tried to find the heirs with all their might. he had never been interested in the heirs or the power war. 

if maddox's daughter is one of the heirs, then maddox must be related to the last boss of that organization. in that case, the loyal members might come for them if they touch maddox. that's not the worst part. if that child wins the battle for the throne, she might come and wipe his entire family in the future.

"i wanted to know what i got into." she pouts.

"you shouldn't be poking a sleeping lion." he scowls at her.

"it's done already." she crosses her arms. "if we look into tsuchiya san more, we can find out who maddox is. it never hurts to know more about our enemy. i will ask nina to dig into that dead organization from her hiding place."

they are already involved in this. yuta leans back. he has to tread carefully toward the future. his family must stay out of the battle between the heirs for the throne. the war between the old and new organizations will come after that battle. 

he doesn't believe in coincidences. he will learn about yuki first. is she related to maddox or not? if she is maddox's daughter and the future heir who will start that messy war, he will kill her right away. maddox is less dangerous than the future war for power. his family's safety comes first. 

he needs to analyze that woman's personality again. nobody is 100% perfect. he might have overlooked something when he was with her. the reason behind his death could be connected to maddox.

if it was revenge, he can forgive her. didn't he also take revenge on maddox for killing his mother?