He Was Quite Dumb, Wasn't He?

Even though what might Matsuzaki wanted to tell him was a small thing that could be told by the phone, Ren didn't want to alert Tsubaki by any of it. He was still frenzied with the thought of his wife knowing about it despite Tsubaki's reassurance to face them together.

Ren strode inside his office as soon as he exited the elevator while Matsuzaki frantically followed him from behind. Hibiki shook his head as he sighed inwardly. He too went inside the President's office while preparing for his Master's outburst.

Hibiki closed the door of the office. Once he stepped inside, he noticed the temperature around them dropped significantly.

Ren sat at his chair. He looked at both Matsuzaki and Hibiki in silence. His fingers linked together as he leaned his face against them. Both of his special assistants stood in front of him. Matsuzaki sneaked a glance at Hibiki as the latter nodded.

Matsuzaki coughed once, feeling his throat dry.

This wasn't going to be good.

As much as he didn't want to suffer his Master's wrath, he still needed to be professional.

"Lawyer Furukawa succeeded in getting the information from Mr. Sagara," Matsuzaki finally said. "About... your whereabout 5 years ago, Mr. Sagara said he received an anonymous tip."

Ren's brows knitted together. He asked heavily, "Did he investigate the source of the tip?"

Matsuzaki shook his head. "He said he tried finding the source but nothing came to him. In the end, he just used the tip to locate you."

"What's the time frame between him receiving the tip to finding my exact location?"

"In one week."

Ren leaned back against the chair. His right index finger tapped on the table unhurriedly. His eyes were distant as if he was thinking far back inside his mind, searching for his memory. Matsuzaki and Hibiki didn't dare to let out even a small sound. They just stood there like robots, waiting for the next orders.

"It could be considered quite long for him to take his action. I think Mr. Sagara was being careful before he tried catching me," said Ren after a long period of silence. "His men came to me at night when I had just gotten off work. They didn't say anything, instead, they just captured me and brought me straight to the city."

The memory of the night was so clear in Ren's mind as if it just happened yesterday. On that night, he knocked off quite late from the hardware store where he had been working for months. Tsubaki had told him earlier to meet her at the local cinema. They had just newly got married at that time and since he couldn't bring her to their honeymoon, he immediately agreed with her suggestion for a date night.

The local florist had just closed its door but after seeing Ren's begging face, the kind old lady allowed him to make his last-minute purchase. He bought a bouquet of red camellias. With such anticipation, he walked to the local cinema.

He had just turned around at a corner when he was suddenly attacked from behind. He tried to fight but the attackers swiftly subdued him with anesthesia and covered his head with a black bag. His last memory was being dragged inside a car.

When he finally woke up, it was on his bed in the old house.

He was going to get back to Tsubaki, knowing how his sudden disappearance would cause endless worry to her yet with all eyes were focusing on him from every direction, he knew it would be bad if they understood the importance of her for him.

And when he finally found the chance to contact her, only her disappearance came as the answer.

"But, seeing that he didn't know about Madam's existence, it seemed like the one who gave the tip to Mr. Sagara deliberately concealed the fact about Madam," Hibiki added after he noticed the change in expression on his Master's face.

"He was quite dumb, wasn't he?" said Matsuzaki in anger. "If he did investigate Master after he got the tip, he should already know about Madam."

"He won't pay attention to anyone insignificant," answered Ren, although his voice wasn't as confident as usual. "He would just deem her as someone I needed to come in contact with during my stay at the village, after all, he had always thought of me as someone who wouldn't care about anyone else."

That was why the cunning old man was fixated on making him into a puppet figurehead. And when he finally realized Ren couldn't be controlled by anyone and had even shown his genius talents in managing the company, he began his plan to retaliate before it would be too late.

The two assistants looked at each other. The reason was plausible but they didn't know that their Master had thought of another possibility in mind.

"Did he say anything else?"

"Nothing, Master," Hibiki answered. "The prosecution has already booked him for a court hearing. He would be quite busy later."

Ren nodded. He dismissed them both. Matsuzaki and Hibiki left to resume their work.

After they left the office, Ren stood up from the chair. He silently turned around to walk over to the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him. From his position, he could see the entire city. Fuse Corporation was one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city. And his office was located on the highest floor.

By overlooking the city, various things would come into his view. The people who were walking on the grounds, as well as the moving vehicles, all of them appeared like a group of ants to him. But, it didn't make him prideful. Instead, it made him thinking of humans' behavior and the thoughts hidden inside their minds.

Ren thought back to what Matsuzaki and Hibiki had relayed to him. The assumption he gave to them was quite rational enough given Mr. Sagara's personality. But, what he hadn't said out loud was; what if the mastermind deliberately concealed Tsubaki's existence in his life from the old fox?

To avoid creating turmoil? Or he was afraid to unintentionally catch the attention from whom he wanted to hide?

Ren slipped his hands inside his pockets. So many thoughts tangling inside his mind. He was still waiting for the DNA test results. Toshiro hadn't contacted him back. He had even given Satsuki's sample to him.

If it was proven that Tsubaki and Kouichi were total strangers, he could breathe in relief.

But, if they were related, he couldn't even think how many new questions would pop into his mind.

Ren turned his body slightly, his eyes landed on a wooden frame placed on his working table. It was a picture of both of them from Grandma's birthday celebration. A photographer commissioned by Grandma had taken a candid photo of them. It was when she shyly pushed him back after she came back from the restroom with Mrs. Souma after he teased her with his sweet words in front of the guests.

In the photo, Tsubaki's blushing face was so beautiful in his eyes. A warmth feeling chased away the darkness that started to creep inside his heart. Ren smiled fondly.

Just as he wanted to resume his work, his phone rang. Toshiro was calling him. He suddenly sensed a bad premonition just by looking at the name.

Ren answered the call.