"Bang!"
The door was slammed shut.
The sound echoed through the quiet house.
Hei Yuqianying, carrying an axe, walked in alone from the entrance. A faint trace of loneliness lingered on her exquisite and beautiful face, a loneliness that, like a shadow, quietly crept onto her features.
The axe was casually tossed aside, and the beautiful woman curled up on the sofa, as if she had lost all her strength.
At this moment, she was no longer the Black Feather Thousand Shadows who had been chasing after her son, seemingly ready to kill her own family for the greater good, nor was she the once legendary and feared thief, Lady Shu.
She was just a little woman who silently devoted herself to her family, yet seemed to never receive the respect she deserved.
Her own son actually asked her to seduce other men.
How ridiculous and pathetic...
"What am I in this family?"
Kuroba Chikage couldn't give herself an answer.
Kaito's words, "You weren't originally named Kuroba," still echoed clearly in her ears, each word like a sharp knife piercing her heart.
The living room was deathly silent; so quiet that you could hear the ticking of the wall clock.
After an unknown amount of time, the figure curled up on the sofa finally stirred slightly. Kuroba Chikage took a deep breath, as if she had made a major decision, stood up from the sofa, and walked upstairs with somewhat heavy steps.
In the bedroom.
Kuroba Chikage walked smoothly to a secluded corner and took out a cell phone from a hidden compartment.
Her slender, graceful fingers hovered over the phone keypad for a long time before finally dialing that familiar number.
"It's me." Her voice was unusually calm.
A familiar breathing sound came from the other end of the phone. After a moment of silence, Kuroba Toichi's voice rang out: "Chikage? What happened?"
The voice that once haunted her dreams now sounds so unfamiliar.
Ten years have passed. Ever since Kuroba Toichi faked his death to escape the "Zoo's" pursuit, they have not met again and have only been able to keep in touch by phone or video.
Those brief exchanges seem so insignificant in the long years.
“Your son has grown up.” Hei Yu Qianying sneered. “He asked me to seduce a high school student, just for a copy of ‘The Dark Night Star Record’.”
"The Chronicles of Dark Night Stars?!" Kuroba Touichi's voice suddenly rose. "Wasn't that book already..."
“Kaito said he saw it, there’s a spider emblem on it.” Kuroba Chikage interrupted him, not wanting to hear his surprise and questions, “Guess who he asked me to get close to? Hanyu Nan, a student.”
I heard the sound of a cup being knocked over on the other end of the phone.
Kuroba Toichi asked urgently, "Is it... Hanyu Kusunoki, who has recently become famous in Tokyo?"
He faked his death, but that doesn't mean he lost contact with the outside world.
"What?" Kuroba Chikage curled her lips in a mocking smile. "You also think this is a good idea?"
"If we could really get our hands on the 'Dark Night Star Record'..." Kuroba Touichi's voice was filled with fervor, "Qianying, you know what that means! We won't have to hide anymore, we can..."
"What can I do?" Kuroba Chikage's voice was as cold as ice. "Can I reunite with my family? Or can I let you continue your pursuit of that damned gem?"
Her emotions finally erupted.
Years of pent-up discontent and anger erupted.
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
Kuroba Chikage could imagine Toichi's expression at this moment—just like every time they discussed the Pandora gem, his eyes were filled with obsessive fanaticism, as if the whole world consisted only of that mysterious gem.
“Chikage, I believe that with your skills, dealing with a young man should be quite easy…” Kuroba Toichi finally spoke, his voice low and deep, “Besides, for the sake of this family…”
"Home?" Kuroba Chikage suddenly laughed. "You call this a home? A husband who hasn't seen his wife for ten years, who didn't even show up for his son's coming-of-age ceremony? A husband who lets his wife seduce other women?"
Her nails dug deep into her palms, but she felt no pain.
"Qianying, listen to me..."
"No, listen to me," Kuroba Chikage interrupted her husband. "Your son wants me to seduce a high school student, all for some worthless book? And you... you actually agree to it?"
There was silence again on the other end of the phone.
Kuroba Chikage's heart grew colder and colder.
She suddenly realized that neither her husband nor her son cared about their own goals and had ever truly considered her feelings.
She had always thought that the home she was protecting was just a figment of her imagination.
"I just..."
Kuroba Toichi tried to defend himself.
“You’re just like Kaito, only thinking about yourself.” Kuroba Chikage took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound calm. “Fine, I’ll take this mission.”
The moment she hung up the phone, the beautiful woman felt as if all her strength had been drained away. She slid to the ground and stared at the family photo on the dressing table—a photo taken on Kaito's 8th birthday, which was also their last photo together.
In the photo, Dao Yi has his arm around her shoulder, his smile gentle.
Who could have imagined that three months later, he would "die" during a magic show, leaving her to raise her son alone, and watch him gradually follow in his father's footsteps...
"Oh......"
Kuroba Chikage suddenly found it utterly ridiculous.
She was once a legendary and fearless thief, but she gave up cooking and cleaning for love. What did she get in return? Her husband's faked death, her son's estrangement, and now she's being used as bait...
The beautiful woman looked up at the ceiling, her eyebrows curving into a smile.
The phone screen lit up again; it was a text message from Kaito: "Mom, I was wrong, but this time it's really important!"
Coming to her senses, Kuroba Chikage lowered her head and stared at the text message for a long time before suddenly dialing another number.
"Hello?" The call was answered quickly, and a boy's clear voice with a hint of laughter came through, "What's up? Has Xiao Qianying had dinner yet?"
A simple greeting completely shattered the already crumbling defenses in the Phantom Girl's heart.
That boy was always like that. Despite his devilish ways, he always managed to offer her warmth at just the right moment when she was most vulnerable and helpless, allowing her to see a glimmer of light in the darkness.
"Not yet..." she answered softly, unconsciously clenching the hem of her clothes.
"Still not eating so late?" A rustling sound came from the other end of the phone. "Should I prepare some food and bring it over? You won't be pretty if you get thin from hunger~"
The boy's gentle words, like a spring breeze, softly brushed against her heart, yet seemed to possess a magical power, causing the lady's tears to flow uncontrollably.
Humans are sometimes just that fragile.
What I fear most is the sudden tenderness that comes when I've been wronged.
"Owner......"
The name that once made Kuroba Chikage feel ashamed now brings her an unprecedented sense of peace when she utters it.
At that moment, she made a decision that followed her heart.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
