Facing the gazes of the crowd, Hiroto Akashi nodded calmly and spoke again:

“My wife’s death was indeed related to my father; it’s not wrong to say that he caused it.”

Seeing that no one spoke, Akashi Hiroto recalled the incident from that year and slowly told everyone the truth of what happened back then:

"That day, just like today, it was raining..."

"I have to drive to Tokyo for work, leaving my father and wife alone at home."

"My father suddenly woke up my wife, who was resting in bed because she was sick, and asked her to go out and buy something."

"because..."

When asked for his reason, Hiroto Akashi paused, clenched his fists, and unconsciously raised his voice, "Because he said he wanted to eat mushroom fried rice..."

"this..."

The story was only half told, but after hearing the first half, everyone present felt that Akashi Takeo had gone too far.

He was already bedridden, but just because he wanted to eat a meal of "mushroom fried rice," he woke the patient up and asked him to go buy something.

Moreover, it was a rainy day.

Ignoring the crowd, Akashi Hiroto paused briefly to calm his turbulent emotions before speaking:

"My wife could have refused my father, but she insisted on walking three kilometers to the supermarket with unsteady steps..."

At this point, Akashi Hiroto's emotions, which he had finally managed to calm down, began to fluctuate again, but he did not stop and continued:

"result..."

"As a result, my wife collapsed on the way back..."

"Once she collapsed, she never got up again..."

After telling everyone the whole story, Akashi Hiroto seemed to have a weight lifted off his shoulders and let out a long sigh.

It contains his longing, regret, and self-blame for his deceased wife.

Three years can be considered a very short time, or it can be considered a very long time.

It depends on the person.

For Hiroto Akashi, those three years felt like an eternity.

His wife's laughter seemed to still echo in his ears, but when he came to his senses, he realized clearly that her laughter had been gone from him for three years.

Everyone could see his deep affection, and they knew that he wasn't trying to gain sympathy, but was genuinely still thinking about his deceased wife.

"Mr. Hiroto, is it because of this that you killed Mr. Yanfu?" Uncle Mori asked.

Hearing Uncle Mori's voice, Hiroto Akashi snapped out of his reverie.

He shook his head slightly and said, "To be honest, I do hate my father. Even though it's been three years, I still hate him."

"I hate him because he wanted to eat mushroom fried rice, which made me sick and forced my wife, who was supposed to be resting in bed, to go out to buy things on a rainy day."

“But I never thought of killing him, after all, he raised me to adulthood.”

"Is that because?" Yamamura Misao asked, frowning.

He initially thought that Akashi Hiroto was motivated to kill because his father had killed his wife, but it seems that wasn't the case.

“What truly motivated me to kill was something else,” Hiroto Akashi explained. “That incident happened the day after my wife’s funeral…”

"That day, I saw my father alone, facing the Buddhist altar, talking to himself..."

He said, "Honey, I finally broke that one. Next time I want to find one that lasts longer..."

"A toy as durable and sturdy as a wide person."

After he finished speaking, he laughed.

“My father had no idea that I was standing right behind him, and that’s how I overheard what he was saying.”

When he said this, Hiroto Akashi appeared calm on the surface.

But everyone present could guess that Akashi Hiroto would feel pain in his heart if he told them this.

After all, the person who said those words was Hiroto Akashi's father.

This happened three years ago, when Hiroto Akashi was at least in his twenties, almost thirty.

The affection cultivated over decades was ruthlessly shattered by these words, and by the very father who raised him.

Few normal people could bear such a disparity.

While Akashi Hiroto treated Akashi Hisao as his biological father, the "biological father" in his heart was probably thinking about something else entirely.

"This 'toy' is really useful."

Thinking about this, even though they weren't directly involved, Sonoko and Ran felt that things had gone a bit too far.

They even imagined what it would be like to hear their father say those words.

As a result, my heart ached slightly.

They weren't the ones directly involved, let alone Akashi Hiroto, who was directly involved and heard his father say those words firsthand.

"That's too much!" Sonoko frowned and couldn't help but say.

“That’s really going too far,” Kōyū agreed.

If this situation happened to him, he might make the same choice as Hiroto Akashi.

Even just hearing about this kind of story makes me feel that it's outrageous.

Even just thinking about this scene is heartbreaking.

Hiroto Akashi, however, was a party to this story and personally experienced this feeling.

Driven by negative emotions such as disappointment, anger, and heartache, Hiroto Akashi made this incorrect, but cathartic, decision.

"Sigh..." Guangyou picked up his cup, took a sip, and sighed softly, "He's a pitiful person too."

Hiroto Akashi, who was adopted, treated Ichio Akashi as his biological father.

Akashi Takeo, who was his adoptive father, treated Akashi Hiroto like a toy.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!