Chapter 34: Truth Part 1

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Translator: Soafp

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[Kenji PoV]

After the door opened, I exchanged a brief greeting with Nao.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, let’s do this.”

She nodded her head solemnly.

I stepped inside the house, my eyes scanning the familiar surroundings. Nothing had changed since the last time I was here. Memories of playing with Ryota as kids flooded back, the nostalgia tugging at my heart. The laughter, the games, the sense of innocence—they all seemed so distant now.

But the warm memories quickly dissipated, replaced by a cold realization. The house where we had shared so many happy moments was also home to a scumbag, a man who had torn apart the very fabric of my life. This man, my biological and Ryota’s father, had ruined not just my life but the lives of everyone around me.

He had an affair with my mother, that resulted in my birth, a secret that shattered my sense of identity and family. My father, who had raised and loved me, was not my biological parent. Instead, my true father was this deceitful man, hiding behind a facade of respectability while he destroyed two families.

His actions had put his own son, Ryota, in critical condition. Ryota’s fall wasn’t just an accident—it was the culmination of a series of cruel and manipulative actions. This man had driven his son to the brink, creating a situation so dire that it nearly cost Ryota his life. The image of Ryota lying unconscious in the hospital haunted me.

And it didn’t stop there. This man had framed Nao’s biological father, weaving a web of lies and deceit to get rid of him. The lengths he went to save himself were monstrous, showing no regard for the lives he ruined along the way.

This house, once a symbol of friendship and warmth, now felt like a prison of secrets and pain.

As I walked through the hallway, each step felt like a betrayal of those innocent memories. The cheerful wallpaper and the family photos lining the walls—snapshots of happy times now felt stained by the truth I had uncovered. Every detail, once a symbol of warmth and friendship, was now tinged with a sense of betrayal and deceit.

Determined to push forward and forget the tainted nostalgia, I kept walking, my pace steady and deliberate. Nao followed closely behind, her footsteps soft against the hardwood floor.

Finally, we reached the living room. There he was, my biological father, sitting on the couch.

My heart pounded, a mix of anger and disbelief surging through my veins. Next to him sat his wife—Nao’s mother. I had heard from Nao that after Yuto got arrested, she had been lifeless, but she seemed to be doing well now.

But unfortunately, she needed to hear the truth about her husband, even if it meant risking her return to that lifeless state again.

“Ooh Kenji-kun, what brings you here?”

He said it nonchalantly. I want to punch him. But I have to endure it.

“Well, Nao-san and I have something say.”

“Aah, Nao did mention you might come by. So, what do you two want to tell us?”

Nao’s mother’s curiosity was evident as she looked from me to Nao, her expression a mixture of concern and confusion.

We walked closer and stopped directly in front of them, almost like we were about to give a presentation. I could feel Nao’s tension as she prepared to speak, the weight of our revelation pressing down on both of us.

“Well then. Mom, I have a question for you. Have you noticed any suspicious behavior about Dad lately?”

Nao began, her voice steady but tinged with an edge of apprehension.

Her mother frowned, confusion deepening.

“Hmm… No, why?”

Nao’s father shifted uncomfortably in his seat, glancing between us.

“Nao, why would you ask that?”

He interjected, his voice tight with nervousness.

Nao turned her focus solely on her mother, her expression intense.

“Oh, if she had, it would have made my job easier to explain.”

Her father’s eyes widened slightly, the color draining from his face. He could sense something was off, but he remained silent, waiting for Nao to continue.

Nao took a deep breath, bracing herself.

“Mom, there’s something I need to tell you about Dad.”

Her mother’s eyes flickered with worry, and she leaned forward slightly, her hands clasped together.

“What is it, Nao?”

She asked softly, her voice trembling.

Nao hesitated for a brief moment, gathering her strength.

“Mom, Dad has been hiding something from you no from us.”

The room seemed to grow colder as the weight of Nao’s words settled over us. Her mother looked at her husband, confusion and fear etched across her face.

“What do you mean?”

She whispered, her voice barely audible.

Nao swallowed hard, her gaze unwavering.

“Mom, do you know why Nii-san framed Onii-chan?”

Her mother, still reeling from the shock of the earlier revelation, shook her head slowly, her eyes wide with confusion and fear. She seemed too stunned to form any words, her gaze darting between Nao and her husband as if searching for some fragment of clarity in the chaos.

“It’s because of dad….no, this man…”

Nao said, her voice cracking with a mixture of anger and sorrow. She pointed a trembling finger towards her father, her face contorted with the pain of betrayal.

Her father shifted uncomfortably, his discomfort growing palpable under the weight of her accusation. He opened his mouth to protest, but the words seemed to die on his lips as Nao continued.

“This man is the culprit Dad was referring to when he was in jail. He’s the one who framed Dad and had him locked behind bars, all to keep him silent.”

Her father shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for a way to escape the weight of her accusation. The tension in the air was palpable, thick with the anguish of betrayal and the bitter sting of truth.

Nao’s eyes were blazing, her anger barely contained.

Her father’s face turned ashen, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to form a response, but no words came. He looked trapped, cornered by the truth that he could no longer deny. She looked at her father.

“You wanted to keep my father silent. You framed him and destroyed his life to protect your business. Nii-san discovered the truth and used the same tactic on Onii-chan to inflict plain onto you.”

“….”

“Worst of all, you didn’t try to protect your son. You sided with Nii-san, and do you know why?!”

He knew the reason, but he lacked the courage to say it.

“If you won’t answer, I will do it for you. It’s because you were scared Nii-san would reveal your secret. Your involvement with—“

“STOP IT! Please stop…I beg you…please.”

He collapsed to his knees, defeated, his face a mask of anguish and desperation but Nao had a smile on her face.

“—Drug traffickers.”

“…”

“You tormented your own son by siding with Nii-san just to protect your secret. How could you be so callous? But this is just the beginning; there’s more to this story.”

Her mother was shocked that there was more to come.

“You not only cheated on your old wife but also on my mother.”

Her mother’s eyes widened in shock at the revelation, her hands trembling as the weight of the truth sank in.

“When you were still dating to your first wife, you had an affair with someone else. It led to sleeping together, and this continued even after you both got married. It only stopped after she got pregnant.”

“….”

“This is where I stop talking and let Kenji-kun continue because this is his story to share.”

I nodded my head to Nao and start talking.

“That woman who he slept with is…..my mother.”

The room fell silent, the weight of my words hanging heavy in the air. I watched as their faces contorted with shock, disbelief, and perhaps even a hint of shame.

As the truth sank in, I could see the color drain from my father’s face. He sat there, stunned and speechless, his world crumbling around him. It was a moment of reckoning, a reckoning that had been a long time coming.

“After my father discovered the affair, my family was destroyed, and they filed for divorce. My father became a shell of himself, and I found myself shouldering the burden of responsibility. But not too long ago, my father decided he wanted to change. He found a job and was doing well until… he got hit by a car.”

I wanted to cry just thinking about it, but I held back my tears.

“He was rushed to the hospital, and amidst the chaos of the emergency room, the nurse urgently requested that I donate blood. Their supply of his blood type had run critically low, and my donation was desperately needed. But before I could help, I had to undergo a compatibility test to determine if my blood was a match.”

I continued.

“The results came back, and to my shock, we were not compatible for a blood transfusion. But that wasn’t the only revelation. I was also informed that I wasn’t his biological son. So, two days later, when I met with my mother, I demanded to know who my real father was.”

As I uttered those words, my biological father began to visibly sweat, his discomfort evident. Beads of perspiration formed on his forehead, betraying the turmoil within him.

“Hello dad, it is me, the unfortunate product of your affair. How do you feel that my entire life has been a lie, all because of you? To me I am truly grateful.”

My father could say anything back. He was speechless.

His face contorted with a mixture of shock and guilt as my words sunk in. The weight of the truth hung heavily in the air, suffocating the room with its implications.

I could feel the anger boiling inside me, fueled by years of deception and betrayal. But beneath the rage, there was also a profound sense of loss, a realization that the foundation upon which I had built my identity had crumbled beneath me.

For a moment, there was silence, broken only by the sound of my own labored breathing. Then, without a word, my biological father sank to his knees, his head bowed in shame. He had no defense, no excuses to offer in the face of my accusation.

As the weight of my revelation settled over us like a suffocating blanket, I felt a tumult of emotions churning within me. Anger, bitterness, and sorrow intertwined, each vying for dominance in the chaotic landscape of my mind.

I stared down at the man before me, once a figure of a proud man, now reduced to a trembling, broken shell of his former self. The sight should have brought me satisfaction, a sense of vindication for the years of suffering he had inflicted upon me, my family and his family. But instead, all I felt was a hollow emptiness, a gaping void where once there had been love and trust.

“SAY SOMETHING!!!”

I demanded, but laced with an unmistakable edge of desperation.

But he remained silent, his gaze fixed on the ground, unwilling or unable to meet my eyes. It was as if he had retreated into himself, consumed by the magnitude of his own guilt and shame.

I wanted to scream at him, to shake him out of his stupor and force him to confront the devastation he had wrought upon our lives. But what good would it do? The damage had already been done, irreparable and irreversible.

With a heavy heart, I turned away, unable to bear the weight of his silence any longer.

“I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

I muttered bitterly, my words echoing hollowly in the silence of the room.

But there was no response, only the deafening silence of my biological father’s shame. As I walked away, a heavy weight settled in the pit of my stomach, accompanied by a torrent of conflicting emotions.

What if he had never existed? It was a haunting thought, one that had plagued my mind since the moment I learned the truth about my parentage. Would my life have been different? Better, perhaps, or worse? It was impossible to say.

But then again, if he had never existed, I wouldn’t be here either. My existence, for better or for worse, was intrinsically linked to his. It was a sobering realization, one that brought with it a sense of resignation.

If this was the price of his existence, if this was the legacy he had left behind, then perhaps it would have been better if neither of us had ever existed at all.