pdf-ebookys Chapter 20 Do you have other daughters?
Chapter 20 Do you have other daughters?
"How is that possible? If that hair belongs to Sonoko, that means..."
Xiaolan muttered to herself, her eyes filled with disbelief and shock.
A moment later, she snapped back to reality, grabbed Lin Xiuyi's sleeve, and questioned him sharply.
"You...you wouldn't really be with Sonoko's mother..."
Lin Xiuyi was pulled slightly to the side by her, and his gaze fell on the girl's tense face, making him feel somewhat embarrassed.
"Um, I remember Sonoko Suzuki's mother, wasn't her name Tomoko Suzuki?"
"That's right!"
Xiao Lan nodded emphatically, her almond-shaped eyes fixed on Lin Xiuyi, waiting for his answer.
Lin Xiu scratched the back of his head, his gaze drifting involuntarily to the outside of the car window.
Faced with his daughter's persistent questioning, he found it difficult to speak, and his words came out haltingly.
"Speaking of Tomoko Suzuki, I think I really did back then..."
Seeing his hesitant and clearly guilty attitude, Xiaolan's last shred of hope vanished.
"...Sister Judy, take me back to the Mouri Detective Agency!"
"Ran, Eri was very worried about you because you haven't been home all day..."
Lin Xiu looked cautiously at her daughter's gloomy face, speaking softly, afraid of upsetting her again.
"Are you sure you want me to go to Mom's, and then I can't help but tell her about Sonoko?" Xiaolan snorted coldly, turning her head away from him.
At this moment, her furrowed brows and tone of voice were exactly like those of Eri Kisaki.
"...Okay." Lin Xiuyi immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Judy, let's change direction and go to the Mouri Detective Agency."
For the rest of the journey, an eerie silence fell over the carriage.
Xiaolan leaned against the car window, her arms crossed over her chest, her face as black as the bottom of a pot, too lazy to even glance at the street scene flashing by outside the window.
Clearly, the shock of discovering that her best friend from childhood was actually her half-sister was no less than the shock she felt yesterday when Eri told her that Shinichi Kudo was her younger brother.
Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly awkward, Lin Xiu could only cough twice and try to ease the tension.
"Actually, having more sisters is quite nice. My biggest wish when I was little was to have more older sisters and younger sisters..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xiaolan's already gloomy face darkened even more.
"Several sisters... Do you have other daughters somewhere?"
"N-no, it was just a joke, a joke!"
Lin Xiuyi was startled by her reaction and quickly waved his hand.
"Bang!"
Xiaolan, unable to bear it any longer, slammed her fist hard against the back of the front seat of the car.
The force was so great that the entire seat made a muffled thud, and even the car body trembled slightly.
Caught off guard, Judy jerked the steering wheel sharply, causing the car to carve a slight S-shape across the road.
She hurriedly steadied the steering wheel, and although she was driving, her gaze couldn't help but drift to Xiaolan in the rearview mirror.
What's going on? Where did this little girl get such strength?
"Don't make jokes like that again!"
Xiaolan spoke with a stern face, each word deliberate and succinct, her eyes brimming with anger.
"I understand..."
Lin Xiu swallowed hard, secretly marveling at her daughter's incredible strength. Even though her body had reverted to that of a child, her strength hadn't diminished at all.
……
Judy drove Ran back to the Mouri Detective Agency.
Before getting off the bus, Xiaolan specifically reminded Lin Xiuyi not to leak the details of the garden.
From the girl's perspective, Sonoko's current life is happy and stable, with loving parents and no worries about food or clothing.
Once her true identity is revealed, this peace will inevitably be shattered.
Nobody knows what will happen in the end.
She absolutely couldn't let her best friend get into that situation!
Lin Xiuyi naturally wouldn't object to this, and he had also given Judy a veil to keep quiet.
However, the female secretary couldn't be bothered with things that had nothing to do with Vermouth, especially since it involved an innocent girl.
"Oh, right, Ran!" Lin Xiuyi called out to his daughter as she got out of the car, "Eri has already contacted Teitan Elementary School for you today. She'll take you there tomorrow. Get ready tonight."
"What?"
Xiaolan was stunned. Her expression, which had eased somewhat, instantly crumbled upon hearing these words.
Her eyes widened, and she pointed at herself in disbelief, checking again.
"I... am going to primary school?"
"Yes, first grade."
Lin Xiuyi shrugged helplessly and spread his hands to explain.
"At your age, if you don't go to school, someone might report me and your mother for child abuse."
"……All right."
Xiao Lan slumped her shoulders and nodded with a complicated expression.
Watching the girl walk dejectedly into the Mouri Detective Agency, Judy started the car and drove away with Hayashi Hideichi.
……
At Eri's apartment, seeing that Hayashi Shuichi had returned so late, and that he had been brought back by Jodie, the female lawyer's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.
It wasn't until Lin Xiuyi produced the paternity test report between him and Kudo Shinichi that this "unbeatable queen of the legal world" temporarily suppressed her displeasure. Her attention was instantly drawn to the report, and she quickly took it and carefully examined it.
"That's strange. If Shinichi Kudo isn't your son, then why did Yukiko say she was pregnant with your child back then?"
Eri Kisaki frowned, her fingers tapping lightly on the table as she pondered deeply.
"This can also be explained by the fact that Yukiko didn't want to lose to me, so she said it on purpose..."
"But what about Shinichi Kudo? Whose son is Yusaku Kudo?"
"Of course, Yukiko should get it. Eri, it's getting late, let's go to sleep early."
Lin Xiuyi yawned, rubbed his eyes, and didn't want to continue discussing the issue.
Eri rolled her eyes at him: "Hmph, back then, Yukiko and I fought so fiercely, and you don't know who it was for? Don't try to change the subject!"
The female lawyer moved forward slightly, her tone becoming increasingly serious.
"As far as I know, Yukiko went abroad just a few days after Shinichi Kudo was born, leaving Yusaku Kudo alone to raise the child. This is clearly very unusual!"
"So what if it's abnormal?"
Lin Xiuyi reached out and pressed down on the female lawyer's shoulder.
"Eri, everyone has secrets. As for whose child Shinichi Kudo is, since it has nothing to do with us, let's not pursue it to avoid unnecessary trouble."
After his repeated persuasion, Eri Kisaki finally relented and stopped dwelling on the issue.
Lin Xiuyi had just breathed a sigh of relief when the female lawyer abruptly changed the subject.
"You just said everyone has secrets, so what are your secrets? And all these years in America, which women have you been fooling around with...?"
Eri Kisaki had only mentioned it casually, but as she spoke, her anger flared up, and she grew angrier and angrier until she finally stood up with a cold expression.
"Since Xiaolan isn't here tonight, you can sleep in her room!"