"By the way, if that's the case, then the light cord in his bedroom is..." Uncle Mori said after a moment of silence.

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant, including Akashi Hiroto. He continued looking at the fishing knot on the lantern rope and said:

"Yes, only the light cord was connected by my father himself. He doesn't like us touching things in his room."

"He just tied that knot randomly; I couldn't untie it at all."

"So, I had no choice but to cut the light cord with scissors."

"If the knot on that light cord was a fishing knot tied by my wife..."

When emotions run deep, tears flow naturally. Akashi Hiroto did not suppress his surging emotions, letting his eyes well up with tears, his nose sting, and his vision blur.

Under the lamplight, glistening tears reflected a faint glow.

Akashi Hiroto's voice trembled slightly as he spoke haltingly:

"If that knot was a fishing knot tied by my wife..."

"I might..."

"I probably won't be able to cut that light cord..."

By this point, Akashi Hiroto's eyes were already brimming with tears.

Now he can only see the halo of the lights, blurry figures, and the outlines of his own living room furniture.

He frowned deeply, stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall.

But when he uttered his next sentence, the tears that had been building up in his eyes suddenly and uncontrollably streamed down his dark cheeks.

"Maybe..."

"Maybe this incident won't have happened."

After saying that, he closed his eyes, as if that would stop the tears from flowing.

But things didn't go as planned. Even though he didn't want to, tears still seeped out from the gaps in his eyelids and dripped onto his clothes.

It also touched the hearts of everyone.

No one would laugh at or mock this man who could choose to give up revenge because of a simple conclusion that all fishing enthusiasts would reach.

Most of the people present felt that he was both pitiful and hateful.

The pitiful thing refers to what happened to him:

His beloved wife passed away due to illness, and the cause of all this was his father, whom he had respected since childhood.

The father's betrayal was initially seen as evidence that his father treated him as his own son, despite his unreasonable and willful reasons.

But it turned out they just wanted to use him.

"If...if my father only sees me as a 'toy,' I will be very sad, and perhaps I will quietly leave..."

"But I would never do something like this today."

"My wife...she's innocent!"

Under everyone's gaze, Hiroto Akashi closed his eyes tightly, clenched his fists, and shouted loudly, as if venting his anger.

After venting, I felt a sense of powerlessness.

Because everything has already happened.

His wife has been dead for three years.

Even without cremation, they would have long since become a pile of lifeless bones.

Because he realized this, Hiroto Akashi, a man in his thirties, cried very sadly.

He was silent, but his tears flowed uncontrollably.

At this point, Akashi Hiroto's emotions had collapsed.

The people in the living room remained silent.

Unlike the others, Guangyou only felt sorry for him.

He couldn't choose his birth, nor could he choose who adopted him.

His only option is to move out and live with his wife like a normal father and son after he becomes an adult, and occasionally go back to visit.

Or perhaps it's to repay the kindness of being adopted that they're willing to give up some things.

Without a doubt, the sentimental Hiroto Akashi chose the latter.

The person he loved also chose the latter because of love.

There are no bright lights or upscale restaurants in the deep mountains; even going to the supermarket requires walking three kilometers.

But his wife still chose to stay with him.

But then an unexpected incident occurred.

In Kōyū's eyes, both Akashi Hiroto and his wife were pitiful, and the only one who was hateful was Akashi Tsuyoshi, who treated others as tools.

"They deserved to die."

This is Kōsuke's evaluation of Akashi Takeo.

Silence fell over the living room again. The wall clock continued to tick away, but this time it was different from before.

There were more low, whimpering sounds from men.

This time it was a real sob, a sob that came from extreme grief.

However, it was impossible to let him cry forever, and Hiroto Akashi knew this very well.

Because of his affairs, a lot of time has already been wasted.

The truth of the case has come to light, and the "prey" has been found by the "hunter".

Now, it's time to leave.

The sobbing gradually subsided, and after some time, Hiroto Akashi calmed down a bit—at least he stopped crying like before.

He raised his head, his face, wet with tears, facing the crowd without any attempt to hide it.

Then, with this expression on his face, Hiroto Akashi said to everyone, "I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself just now."

"It's alright, I understand," Uncle Mori said.

There were no many words, just this simple sentence.

"Thank you." Akashi Hiroto turned to Yamamura Misao, who had been standing silently to the side, and said in a deep voice, "Officer, let's go."

"Oh, oh." Yamamura Misao then took out handcuffs from his pocket, preparing to cuff Akashi Hiroto and take him away.

"Officer, if possible, please wait a moment," Akashi Hiroto suddenly said, as if he had just thought of something.

"What's wrong?" Yamamura Misao stopped what he was doing. The handcuffs on his hands were off, gleaming silver in the light.

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