The sanctuary of the home was shattered the moment Mrs. Takahashi stormed into the kitchen. With a snarl of repressed malice, she lunged at Naea, grabbing her with such violent force that she threw her across the floor. Naea hit the ground hard, her breath hitching in a gasp of pure pain.
Hearing the commotion, Grandma hurried into the hall, her heart sinking at the sight of Naea collapsed on the floor. She rushed to her side, helping her up with trembling hands. "Naea, my child, are you alright? How did you fall?" she asked, her voice laced with motherly concern. But as she looked up and saw the murderous glint in Mrs. Takahashi's eyes, her tone sharpened. "Have you no shame? Why would you put your hands on her like this?"
"Why don't you ask your precious 'daughter' what she's been hiding?" Mrs. Takahashi spat, a cruel smirk dancing on her lips.
"Naea has done nothing that requires an interrogation," Grandma countered firmly.
"Oh, you have no idea who she really is, do you?" Mrs. Takahashi laughed—a cold, jagged sound. "As if my Kenji being in a coma wasn't enough of a burden, Ryu finally told me the truth today."
The color drained from Grandma's face. "A coma? What are you talking about? Naea said he was stable... she said he was fine." Her voice wavered as she turned to Naea, desperation in her eyes. "Naea, tell me she's lying. Tell me Kenji is okay."
Naea stood in a hollow, crushing silence, her gaze fixed firmly on the floor. Her refusal to speak was the only confirmation Mrs. Takahashi needed. "See? Her silence is her confession! She lied to you about the coma, and she lied to Kenji, forcing him to claim that Minato's death was a 'self-inflicted' shot. Ask her! Ask her if she didn't manipulate the truth . After hearing this Grandma's world was spinning. The weight of the two revelations—the coma and the potential tampering with Minato's case—left her paralyzed. "Naea... please, say something," she whispered, but the girl remained a ghost."The Grandmother was paralyzed with shock at the revelation, retreating immediately to her room. She left Naea and Mrs. Takahashi alone—a decision that was perhaps the most devastating mistake of her life." The Grandmother had already retreated to her quarters, and seizing the opportunity created by her absence, Mrs. Takahashi prepared to strike.", Mrs. Takahashi finally had the opening she had been waiting for. " Mrs. Takahashi lunged again, seizing Naea by her hair and dragging her toward the bedroom. "If you won't speak to her, you'll speak to me. I'll teach you what happens to liars in this house!"Yumi, having just finished a call with Yamato, ran into the hallway only to see the horrific sight of Naea being dragged away. She sprinted toward the door, but Mrs. Takahashi slammed it shut and bolted it from the inside . The air in the hallway shattered as Mrs. Takahashi lunged. Her fingers tangled into Naea's hair with a violent yank, dragging her toward the bedroom like a broken doll. Naea's breath hitched in a sharp, jagged gasp as her scalp burned.
SLAM!
The bedroom door was kicked shut and the bolt slid home with a heavy, final thud.
Inside, the silence didn't last a second.
SLAPP!
The first strike was so sudden it whipped Naea's head to the side, her glasses skidding across the floor. Before she could even process the sting, another one landed.
SLAPP! SLAPP!
"You cursed girl!" Mrs. Takahashi hissed, her face contorted into something demonic. "My son is dying in a bed because of you! You brought this bad luck into my house!"
Naea tried to raise her trembling arms—a pathetic, instinctive attempt at self-protection—but her muscles were leaden from exhaustion. She hadn't eaten; she hadn't slept. She was a ghost fighting a whirlwind. As she moved to cover her face, Mrs. Takahashi's rage only intensified. She grabbed Naea's wrists, pinning them against the wall, and delivered a blow that sounded like a whip cracking in the small room.
THWACK!
Naea's head hit the wooden paneling. A warm, metallic taste flooded her mouth. A thin trail of crimson began bleeding from the corner of her lip, dripping onto her white collar. She didn't scream. She couldn't. Her throat felt constricted by a desert of grief and shock.Realizing the madness wouldn't stop, Yumi screamed for Ryu. It took several agonizing, powerful heaves, but Ryu finally broke the door down .But inside, the madness was deafening. Mrs. Takahashi wasn't seeing a daughter-in-law anymore; she was seeing a scapegoat for her son's sins. She rained down blows until Naea's legs gave out. Naea slumped, her body sliding down the wall, her eyes fluttering as the world turned into a gray, hazy blur.
SLAPP! One final, brutal strike landed across Naea's bruised cheek. Her head lolled forward. The strength to hold herself up was gone. She wasn't just unconscious; she was broken—physically and spiritually. She hung there, a limp weight supported only by the grip Mrs. Takahashi still had on her hair.
When Ryu finally splintered the door open, the sight was nauseating. The "Clean" Takahashi household was stained. Naea lay in a heap, her face swollen, the bleeding from her lip leaving a dark smudge on the floorboards. She looked smaller than she ever had, a fragile flower crushed under a heavy boot.Yumi shoved Mrs. Takahashi aside with a primal scream of "The both of you—you and your son—are absolute monsters."as she scooped Naea's cold, lifeless hand into hers. "Ryu, move! She's fading!"
As Ryu lifted Naea's battered body, her head fell back, revealing the true extent of the damage. In that moment, the "Perfect Daughter-in-law" was gone. There was only a victim of a house built on blood and lies.The raindrops of a sudden evening storm began to smear against the windshield as the car tore away from the Takahashi estate. Yumi sat in the back, her fingers trembling as she brushed a stray, blood-matted hair from Naea's bruised forehead. "Ryu, don't take her to the hospital," she commanded, her voice thick with unshed tears and a sudden, sharp clarity. "Take her to Takshi's private residence. Naea is never stepping foot in that mansion again. Not after this."
She turned her gaze toward Ryu, her eyes narrowing with a dangerous suspicion. "Tell me the truth, Ryu. Did you feed that monster inside? Did you tell Mrs. Takahashi that Akira was the one who shot Kenji?"
Ryu kept his eyes fixed on the road, his knuckles white against the steering wheel. "No," he muttered, the weight of his mistake hanging heavy in the small space. "It was false information. The police already have the real killer in custody. Master... Master lied to me. He told me he was going to meet Akira, but it was a trap. He used her name as a shield."
Yumi let out a shaky, jagged breath of relief, but the horror on Naea's face pulled her back to the grim reality. "Then why?" she whispered, her voice breaking. "Why did she do this to her? What did you say that gave that woman the excuse to become a butcher?"
"I only told her that Miss Naea pressured the Master to rule Mr. Minato's death as a self-inflicted shot," Ryu confessed, his voice hollow. "I didn't think... I didn't know she would use it as a weapon."
Yumi closed her eyes, a bitter sob escaping her throat. She understood it now. Mrs. Takahashi didn't need a murderer; she just needed a flaw. She had been waiting for years for a single crack in Naea's perfection so she could shatter her entirely. The "Minato Secret" wasn't just information—it was the permission Mrs. Takahashi had been craving to finally destroy her daughter-in-law.
The car screeched to a halt in front of Takshi's secluded home. The porch light flickered on, casting a pale, yellow glow over the driveway as Takshi stepped out, still wearing his clinical coat. His professional composure vanished the moment the car door swung open. There stood Yumi, her face a mask of grief, and Ryu, stepping into the light with Naea's limp, broken body cradled in his arms.
"Takshi, help her!" Yumi cried out into the rain. "They've broken her, Takshi. They've finally broken her."