The sun shone into the room.
Ai groggily opened her eyes and carefully shifted the arm resting against her.
As she moved, Shouichi suddenly stirred.
Ai immediately froze, letting his hand rest on her head for a long time before she dared to continue moving.
Once she slipped free, Ai let out a soft sigh of relief.
Then, carrying her shoes, she tiptoed out of Shouichi’s bedroom without making a single sound.
*That was way too close.*
Yesterday, Shouichi had nearly gotten to the bottom of everything.
It was all that careless detective’s fault for exposing such a massive flaw so easily.
Ai could only pray that Shouichi wouldn’t let his imagination wander toward something as unbelievable as ‘de-aging.’
Because ‘de-aging’ was so bizarre, with Shouichi’s unique thought process, he might actually guess it.
Ai sighed helplessly.
She had to speed up her plans to avenge her sister.
After closing the door to Shouichi’s bedroom, Ai’s expression stiffened.
She realized that Yuuko was looking at her with a teasing smile, holding a video camera and recording her.
“No!
It’s not what you think!” Ai said, waving her hands frantically.
“Of course it’s not what I think,” Yuuko said gently, patting Ai’s head.
“It’s definitely not that little Ai secretly snuck into Shouichi’s bedroom at night to ask for cuddles.
And then, feeling embarrassed in the morning and afraid of being caught, she secretly snuck back out.”
“I…”
Ai wanted to explain, but Yuuko only believed what she wanted to believe.
“Alright, alright, I didn’t see anything, okay?
Let’s go eat breakfast first.
Don’t disturb Shouichi,” Yuuko comforted her softly.
She had to leave the child some dignity; otherwise, Ai might run away.
After helping Ai put on her shoes, she led the squirming little girl toward the dining room.
Ai’s face was a picture of grief and indignation.
Why was it that every time Shouichi dragged her into his bed, Yuuko always caught her?
She quickly finished her breakfast, greeted Yuuko, and rushed out of the house, not even letting Yuuko see her off.
She simply couldn’t bear the embarrassment of staying in the house any longer.
Shouichi slept until the sun was high in the sky before finally waking up.
“Mr.
Shouichi, lunch is ready,” Yuuko called out.
“Bring it to my room!” Shouichi shouted from his bed.
After eating lunch and getting dressed, Shouichi fumbled around on his bed for a while.
He grabbed the gift he had prepared for Miyano Akemi and headed to the company.
At the company, Miyano Akemi was working like a dog on a secretary’s salary.
Shouichi had dumped all of his own workload onto her.
Akemi’s shoulders bore the heavy weight of Shouichi’s deep trust.
“A gift for you.”
Shouichi tossed a box over to her.
Akemi caught the box and examined it, looking at him suspiciously.
Why was this guy giving her a gift?
“Didn’t you want to see your sister?” Shouichi reminded her.
It felt as if a massive hand had tightly gripped Akemi’s heart.
Her breathing became rapid and erratic.
She carefully opened the box.
When she saw the transparent plastic bag inside, her heart skipped a beat, terrified that the box contained pieces of her sister’s body.
Shouichi looked at her weirdly.
*Is the workload too intense?
Why is she struggling so much just to open a box?*
“H-Hair?” Akemi pulled the bag out in astonishment.
Inside the bag were only a few strands of brownish-red hair.
The color and texture were exactly like her sister’s.
“Yeah.
Look at that hair, you can tell at a glance that your sister is very healthy,” Shouichi said.
Akemi’s mouth twitched.
She had assumed the worst.
Shouichi still wanted her to work for him, so it was unlikely he would hurt Shiho.
Glancing at Shouichi, who was casually sipping tea, Akemi gritted her teeth.
Even though Shouichi hadn’t hurt Shiho this time, this was definitely a warning.
If she harbored any disloyal thoughts, her sister would meet a terrible end.
“I understand,” Akemi said through gritted teeth.
“Glad to hear it,” Shouichi nodded.
*Now that Miyano Akemi knows I haven’t mistreated her sister, she’ll definitely work hard for me, right?*
What Shouichi believed in most was exchanging sincerity for sincerity.
“By the way, Yotsui’s debt has been repaid,” Akemi said.
“Really?
He just lost his daughter, yet he still remembered to pay his debts.
Yotsui is quite a respectable man,” Shouichi remarked.
Akemi remained silent, stifling her retorts.
*You should know exactly why he paid.*
“Several other companies have also called me to discuss debt repayment.
They begged you to stay calm and insisted they aren’t deadbeats like Yotsui,” Akemi added.
“That’s great.
Everyone seems so reasonable,” Shouichi said.
As a newcomer to the business world, Shouichi felt he had many shortcomings and might not be able to handle these people.
But everyone he met was so nice.
Although Yotsui had been a bit of a deadbeat at first, he didn’t forget to pay his debts even after his daughter died.
He could be considered a good person.
The other debtors were also very eager to pay up.
He really didn’t understand why Takeda hadn’t been able to collect these debts back then, especially when everyone was so reasonable.
Akemi tilted her head, her eyes twitching.
It had only been one night, yet the rumors about Shouichi had spread everywhere.
While the stories were definitely exaggerated, Shouichi was absolutely not a good person.
To achieve his goals, he clearly didn’t mind using underhanded or even illegal methods.
Yotsui was complaining everywhere that Shouichi was a lawless monster who murdered his daughter just to collect a debt.
And even after committing murder, he walked away completely unscathed.
The police were too afraid to offend the Sumitomo conglomerate, so they played dumb and didn’t dare investigate Shouichi.
Even the previous incident—where a man was shot eight times but ruled to have died from poisoning—was brought up again.
Mouri Kogorou had also become known as Shouichi’s number one henchman.
First, he would wildly accuse Shouichi and mock the police, then he would spout some bullshit deduction to clear Shouichi’s name and pin the blame on a scapegoat.
People were saying that Mouri Kogorou only became such a famous detective because the Sumitomo family was pushing him from behind.
“What kind of bullshit is this?!”
Mouri Kogorou slammed the newspaper onto his desk, his face flushed with anger.
Those trash media outlets actually called him the corporate lackey of that conglomerate heir.
It was infuriating!
But Kogorou couldn’t exactly explain himself.
Because some incredibly resourceful reporter had actually snapped a photo of Shouichi handing him a check, and Kogorou was happily accepting it with a huge grin.
The background was literally the Metropolitan Police Department.
With that photo out there, no matter how he tried to explain it, it would just sound like a flimsy excuse!
“Damn it!
They even said my rise as a great detective was entirely orchestrated by the Sumitomo financial group.
I clearly rely on my own skills, okay?!” Kogorou shouted furiously.
Beside him, Conan’s mouth twitched.
*’You became a great detective by relying on me.’*