thefictionvixens Chapter 4 A Terrible Idea
Chapter 4 A Terrible Idea
"Um... Eri, listen to us..." Kogoro Mouri scratched the back of his head, chuckled dryly, and took a step back.
"It's our fault," Ruri Doigaki readily admitted, "but we had no choice. Ran's situation is too strange. We've investigated everything we could, but we can't find the cause."
"Shuiyi is doing so well abroad, he must know a lot of experts. We thought... maybe he could be of help."
"So you impersonated me and wrote him letters?" Eri Kisaki's voice was as cold as ice.
"If we don't say that, will he come back?" Kogoro Mori muttered softly. "He hasn't contacted us for seventeen years..."
Eri glared at him fiercely, and Kogoro immediately shut up and shrank back.
"Mom, don't be angry..." Xiaolan tugged at Eri's clothes and whispered to her.
"Angry? How can I not be angry?" Eri pointed at her two friends, her hands trembling with rage. "You two actually wrote letters to this bastard behind my back! Who told you to meddle in other people's business!"
"We have no choice!" Ruri Doigaki stood up with a bitter face. "Eri, look at Ran's condition. The doctors can't find the cause. We really have no other options."
"Shuichi is Ran's father. He has the right to know about this and will definitely help Ran."
Lin Xiuyi looked around. This should be the third floor of the small building, which is the home of Kogoro Mouri and Ruri.
Although many years have passed, I can still vaguely remember the layout of the room, but the furnishings and decorations have changed drastically.
There are many photos hanging on the wall: wedding photos, travel photos, and photos of Xiaolan at different ages.
The most eye-catching thing is the large wedding photo hanging in the center of the living room.
In the photo, Kogoro Mouri is wearing a black tuxedo and is smiling so broadly that his eyes are almost closed.
Beside her, Ruri Doi-gaki, dressed in a white gown, looked gentle and charming, with a small mole at the corner of her mouth that added to her tenderness with her smile.
"Kogoro, Ruri, you guys..."
Lin Xiuyi stared at the photo in disbelief.
"Are you married?"
"yes,"
Kogoro Mouri chuckled twice, put his arm around his wife's shoulder, and spoke with a hint of pride.
"Liuli and I have been married for seventeen years; we're practically an old married couple!"
"Married for seventeen years..."
Lin Xiuyi frowned and turned his gaze to Fei Yingli.
"Wasn't that marriage application you showed me back then yours and Kogoro's? It even had both of your signatures on it?"
"what?"
Kogoro Mouri's eyes widened, his jaw nearly dropping.
"Shuichi, what are you saying? Me and Eri... How could that be?"
Seeing his good brother's shocked and distorted expression, which didn't seem to be an act at all, Lin Xiuyi immediately sensed something was wrong and abruptly turned to look at Fei Yingli.
"What exactly happened?"
He approached step by step, his voice hoarse with urgency.
"The marriage application you showed me back then... the one you said you'd signed, the one you were ready to marry Kogoro..."
Eri Kisaki kept a straight face, pursed her lips, and looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.
An awkward silence fell over the living room, broken only by the ticking of the wall clock.
Finally, it was Doigaki Ruri who broke the silence with a soft laugh.
"I'm sorry, Shuichi... back then... that idea... was actually mine..."
She twisted her fingers awkwardly, avoiding Lin Xiuyi's eyes.
"Back then, I saw you two arguing so fiercely, and I tried several times to persuade you to make up, but it was no use. I was at my wit's end... so I came up with a terrible idea, hoping to use reverse psychology to make you realize that you can't lose Eri..."
Liuli's voice grew softer and softer.
"I took out Kogoro's marriage application form, which already has his signature on it. I had Eri sign her name on it, and then I showed it to you..."
"We thought you'd be angry, jealous, and come back to Eri to get to the bottom of things after you saw it... but..."
"After you read it, you didn't say anything, and just left the country the next day... without even saying goodbye..."
Lin Xiu stood frozen in place, the scene from seventeen years ago resurfacing in her mind.
With red eyes, Eri Kisaki threw the application in front of him and said that she was going to marry Kogoro Mouri.
Out of anger and disappointment, he didn't even bother to verify the truth before concluding that she had chosen someone else...
"So... that marriage application was fake?" His voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.
Eri Kisaki finally turned her head, looking at him coldly, her eyes involuntarily reddening: "You only realize this now?"
The living room was silent, except for the ticking of the wall clock.
Looking at Eri Kisaki's reddened eyes and then at Ruri Doigaki's guilty face, Lin Xiuyi's anger gradually dissipated, leaving only endless regret.
It turns out that the missed opportunity back then was due to such an absurd misunderstanding.
"Eri," Lin Xiuyi walked up to Eri, his voice trembling slightly, "I'm sorry. I was too impulsive back then, and I left without asking clearly. All these years, you and Ran have suffered."
Eri Kisaki's shoulders trembled slightly, and tears finally streamed down her face.
Seventeen years of grievances, longing, and resentment turned into tears at this moment, falling silently.
"Shuichi..."
Kogoro Mouri grinned, opened his arms, and gave her a warm hug, glancing at Eri Kisaki, who stood to the side with a cold expression.
Urged on by her friend's encouragement, Lin Xiuyi took a deep breath, took a half step forward, and stretched out her arms, wanting to gently embrace the other person.
"Eri, I..."
Before she could finish speaking, and her hand had just touched his shoulder, Eri Kisaki jolted as if she had been burned, and pushed him away with almost all her might.
Her movements were quick and decisive, and Lin Xiuyi was pushed back half a step, his arm awkwardly hanging in mid-air.
Seeing Eri Kisaki's aloof and unapproachable demeanor, Lin Xiuyi chuckled awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.
"Kogoro, um... by the way, why is Ran living at your house? I thought she would live with Eri."
Seeing that Eri Kisaki was angry, Kogoro Mouri quickly dropped his playful grin.
"Eri is now known as the undefeated queen of Tokyo's legal world; the number of cases she has won could fill a room."
"But because of this, she is usually too busy with work, and sometimes she can't even go home for several days. Naturally, she can't take good care of Xiaolan."
He glanced at Eri Kisaki, whose expression had softened slightly, and continued to explain.
"I've been married to Liuli for so many years, but because Liuli is also very busy with her work and often has to travel around with the film crew, we haven't had children."
"Ruri is also Ran's godmother. She has always doted on her since she was little. In addition, my detective agency is located in 5-chome, which is close to Teitan School."
"Therefore, after considering everything, having Ran stay with us is the most suitable arrangement. Eri can come and see her daughter anytime she has free time."