234 I will tell you a tale

"a monster like you?" mira smiles at her mother. "you killed your brother because you were jealous and afraid of him. is it strange that i am also a killer, mother?"

ayaka pales. how did yuki find out? who told him that? it's been more than sixteen years. even her father didn't know that heiji was killed. she glances at her husband. he is stepping away from the table slowly, terrified. 

"d-don't say strange things, yuki." ayaka lets out a nervous laugh. "i didn't kill him."

"oh, really?" mira bats her eyes. "you didn't? if you want to deny it, then i will let you do so. it doesn't matter to me anyway. however, i don't like people getting my name wrong. mother, i am mira. four years ago, it was yuki who drowned in the swimming pool."

it's impossible. daniel swallows. the child shouldn't know that. christopher wrote that diary a long time ago. how could this child find out about her brother's death that happened four years ago?

"no, you are lying." ayaka shakes her head, not believing her. "it was mira who died. i was in the kitchen. i should have locked the door. then, i found her…"

"your husband swapped our clothes that day." mira looks at daniel. this man revealed the truth to her in her past life. "say, did you feel content when you threw a two-year-old boy into the water?"

"how do you know that?" daniel asks with a shaky voice. "you were only two-year-old back then. you can't possibly remember."

"you are right." mira chuckles. "a two-year-old girl won't remember anything if she saw her supposed father killing her twin brother."

"what are you talking about?" ayaka stands up and hollers, "what is going on here, daniel? why is yuki saying strange things?"

"mother, i will tell you a tale of a naive woman." mira touches the bruises on her mother's face. "once upon a time, there was a woman who thought that she could escape from her father and the guilt of killing her brother. she went far away and met a man who made her believe that it was possible to find happiness. her life was like a dream until her husband demanded to have children. it turned out that she was having difficulty getting pregnant. she was so desperate to please him. she went to the fertility clinic and found out that she had low fertility. the husband and wife decided to take the treatment. one day, she found out that she was pregnant with twins."

ayaka purses her lips. that's her story. she doesn't know what to think.

"however, she didn't know." mira sighs. "her dream-like husband was sent to her as a punishment for killing the promising heir. he fed her pills. so, that she wouldn't get pregnant. he took her to a clinic where they had kept the frozen sperms taken from her brother's corpse. she didn't know that she gave birth to her biological brother's children. but the man wasn't satisfied with that. he started to give her pills to mess up her sanity while pretending to be the most loving supportive husband."

after a pause, she continues with a light voice, "when the woman's daughter became one of the candidates to take the throne of the consortium, he killed the son and made her believe that it was her daughter who died because of her negligence. then, he raised the girl as the boy. the woman was reminded of her sin whenever she saw her daughter who resembled her brother so much. she started to lose her sanity for real."

ayaka glances at her husband. it's cold, but her husband is sweating profusely. there's no disbelief, but shock and fear on his face.

the child is telling the truth.

"the 'concerned' husband brought her and her daughter back to the place where she killed her brother. from that day, her life became worse. her father abused her every day. she started to think that her son was her brother. her husband was content after seeing that she was living the hell that he created for her."

her knees become weak. ayaka puts her hands on the table for support. her body is growing numb. her entire life was a lie. the man she loved turned out to be her tormentor. her son was murdered. her daughter grew up as a monster. the father of her children is her brother. 

"you blamed your brother for taking everything away from you." the child's voice is vague and hollow. when she looks up, she sees her brother standing in mira's place. the pills are taking effect. her eyes become wet. christopher says to her with a warm smile, "i only wanted to protect you, ayaka. i wanted to keep you safe from the consortium. i took the burden because i didn't want you to get tainted by the darkness in our family. i wanted you to hate me because i didn't want you to become a sacrifice. i wanted you to live a beautiful life. i was going to let you go after i took the reins of the consortium. nobody could hurt you then. but you killed me before i could do that."

ayaka couldn't keep her eyes on christopher anymore. she covers her face and bursts into sobs. why did this happen to her family? why is she still suffering? she regrets it. yes, she has been regretting it since the moment she saw her brother's lifeless body. 

"he never wanted you to know that kirishima naoki wasn't your father." mira reveals to her mother with an empty tone, "your real father was sylvester ash. he's your mother's biological father. you and your brother are products of incest, just like yuki and i are."

numbed to the core, ayaka sits down on the chair. she feels the sharpness of fork on her throat. she looks at the child in front of her who is watching her with indescribable warmth in her eyes. 

"do you want me to release you from your miserable existence?" 

the woman nods at her. instead of killing her brother, if she had killed herself, she wouldn't have given birth to the demon in front of her.

"goodbye, mother. i hope that your soul can find peace."