The evening sky looked strangely quiet.

Not beautiful.

Not peaceful.

Just… empty.

Cars passed slowly through the streets while people returned home carrying groceries, talking on phones, living ordinary lives.

But Ren walked through those same streets like a ghost.

His steps dragged unevenly against the pavement.

One side of his face was bruised purple beneath his eye. His lip had a small cut. Even his hands were scraped badly, skin peeled near the knuckles.

Bullies.

Again.

Some older boys had cornered him after school.

Normally, Ren would storm home dramatically and complain to his mother for an entire hour.

“Mama, they jumped me like movie villains!”

She would laugh.

Scold him.

Put ice on his face.

Tell him to stop fighting.

That was supposed to happen today too.

But fate had already chosen something crueler.

Ren pushed the front door open lazily.

“Mama… I’m home…”

No answer.

Strange.

Usually she answered immediately.

Then—

his eyes lowered toward the floor.

And his entire body froze.

Blood.

Dark red blood.

Everywhere.

The smell hit him a second later.

Metallic.

Heavy.

Horrifying.

And there—

lying near the kitchen—

was his mother.

Motionless.

The school bag slipped from his shoulder and crashed onto the floor.

Ren didn’t even notice.

His ears began ringing violently.

“M… mama…?”

His voice came out tiny.

Broken.

Uncertain.

He stumbled toward her weakly before collapsing beside her body so hard his knees burned against the floor.

“Mama…”

His trembling hands grabbed her shoulders desperately.

“Wake up…”

Nothing.

He shook her harder.

“Mama!”

Still nothing.

Then his eyes landed on the blood soaking through her clothes.

Too much blood.

Far too much.

His breathing immediately turned uneven.

“No no no no…”

Tears flooded his eyes instantly.

The pain from school disappeared completely.

His bruises.

His cuts.

Forgotten.

Nothing mattered anymore.

“Mama please…”

His voice cracked violently.

“Please wake up…”

He kept shaking her weakly like a terrified child trying to undo reality itself.

Then his eyes landed on the telephone nearby.

Hope.

Tiny.

Desperate.

He crawled toward it clumsily, slipping slightly because of his shaking hands before grabbing the receiver and dialing the emergency number.

The operator answered calmly.

But Ren could barely breathe.

“M-My mama…”

A sob tore from his throat.

“…she’s dying…”

His voice trembled uncontrollably.

“There’s blood everywhere—please come quickly—please—”

The operator kept asking questions.

Address.

Condition.

Details.

But Ren’s mind had already stopped functioning properly.

Everything around him felt too loud.

Too fast.

Too unreal.

Outside, neighbors slowly began gathering after hearing the screaming.

Doors opened one by one.

“What happened?”

“Was that a gunshot earlier?”

“Oh God…”

People crowded near the porch carefully, whispering fearfully among themselves.

And then—

Wakasa arrived home.

He had been walking absentmindedly the entire way back, thinking about work.

About Fred.

About Silvano.

About the strange atmosphere surrounding that company.

But the second he saw the crowd outside his house—

his heartbeat stopped instantly.

His steps quickened immediately.

“What happened?”

Nobody answered properly.

Only frightened expressions met him.

Women covering their mouths.

Men staring silently toward the house.

Something twisted violently inside his chest.

Without waiting, he pushed through the crowd and entered the house.

Then saw it.

For one horrifying second—

he genuinely forgot how to breathe.

His mother.

Covered in blood.

Ren completely broken beside her.

The ambulance sirens echoing somewhere nearby.

And the floor…

red.

So much red.

Unlike Ren—

Wakasa didn’t scream.

Didn’t cry.

Shock swallowed everything first.

His legs suddenly became unbearably heavy as he slowly collapsed onto his knees beside them.

Not because he wanted to.

Because his body simply stopped working.

“…No…”

The word barely escaped his lips.

His eyes stayed locked on her motionless body.

Someone murdered her.

Not illness.

Not fate.

Not an accident.

Someone killed her.

Ren suddenly grabbed Wakasa’s sleeve desperately.

“W-Wakasa…”

His voice shattered into sobs.

“She won’t wake up…”

That sentence nearly destroyed him.

The ambulance finally arrived.

Paramedics rushed inside quickly, speaking urgently while checking her pulse.

But one glance between them already revealed the truth.

Too late.

Far too late.

Then suddenly—

another sound tore through the chaos.

Tires screeching sharply outside.

A sleek black car drifted near the house.

The door opened violently.

Unikawa stepped out.

One glance.

That was all it took.

He saw the stretcher.

Saw the blood.

Saw his wife lying there motionless.

And something inside him snapped completely.

“No…”

His voice trembled instantly.

“No… no no…”

Then suddenly—

“NOOO!”

The scream echoed through the entire street.

People outside flinched in fear.

“THIS ISN’T HAPPENING!”

His legs nearly gave out beneath him as he staggered toward the stretcher.

“YOU CAN’T JUST DIE!”

His breathing became ragged.

Broken.

“H-HEY!”

His trembling hands reached toward her face carefully.

Too carefully.

As if touching her too hard would make this nightmare real.

“This is a lie…”

His voice cracked horribly.

“…wake up…”

Then suddenly he screamed again—

“WAKE UP!”

Wakasa quickly grabbed him before he collapsed entirely.

“Papa!”

But Unikawa barely heard him anymore.

Because his entire world had just been destroyed by a single bullet.

Then—

The same car door opened.

Liz stepped out. 

No alone,Silvano and kiritatsu with their men were their as well. 

The second her eyes landed on the scene—

she froze completely.

The color drained from her face instantly.

“…Mama…?”

Her voice sounded hollow.

Empty.

Then reality hit her fully.

And her entire body began trembling violently.

“No…”

Tears flooded down immediately.

“No no no…”

Her knees nearly buckled beneath her.

Wakasa forced himself to move despite his own shock.

“Ren.”

His voice sounded rough.

“Take Liz inside.”

But Ren wasn’t listening anymore.

Couldn’t.

He sat curled near the doorway, sobbing uncontrollably like a terrified child trapped inside a nightmare.

His whole body shook violently with every breath.

And Unikawa—

he completely lost control.

“KABANE!”

His scream startled even the paramedics.

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

His fists clenched violently.

“I’LL RIP YOU APART WITH MY OWN HANDS!”

Tears burned in his eyes.

Not silent tears.

Not graceful grief.

This was rage.

Pure destruction.

“She was all I had…”

His voice cracked violently.

“…she stayed beside me when I had nothing…”

He groaned painfully, gripping his own head.

“…you took her away from me…”

Nearby—

Silvano stood completely silent.

Watching everything.

The screaming.

The collapse.

The heartbreak.

And for the first time—

the consequences felt horrifyingly real.

Not business.

Not negotiation.

Not strategy.

A mother was dead.

Children shattered.

A husband destroyed.

Because of a war he failed to stop.

His heartbeat quickened painfully.

Not excitement.

Not fear.

Guilt.

Heavy.

Suffocating guilt.

The paramedics carefully lifted her body onto the stretcher.

One of them spoke carefully.

“We’ll need to remove the bullet and perform official procedures. The police will also need to—”

“Handled.”

Kiritatsu’s voice cut sharply through the sentence.

The senior paramedic immediately fell silent after noticing the armed men nearby.

Money.

Power.

Influence.

Families like theirs didn’t wait for permission.

But nothing—

absolutely nothing—

could undo what happened inside this house.

Wakasa stood there silently, trying desperately to understand everything at once.

Why were Silvano and Kiritatsu here?

Why did Liz arrive with them?

What “problem” was Unikawa talking about?

Who killed their mother?

Why did it feel like everyone knew something except him?

His chest tightened painfully.

It was too much.

Far too much.

Unikawa suddenly turned toward the ambulance.

“I’m going with her.”

No hesitation.

No discussion.

Kiritatsu glanced toward Caliz.

“Go with him.”

Caliz nodded once before following.

Silvano stepped forward carefully.

“…Mr. Unikawa. I’ll come too.”

The reaction was immediate.

Unikawa grabbed Silvano violently by the collar.

Wakasa’s eyes widened.

“Papa!”

He rushed forward instantly, trying to stop him.

“What are you doing?!”

But Unikawa’s grief had already transformed into fury.

“THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID PROBLEM!”

His voice shook violently.

“I WON’T FORGIVE YOU!”

Silvano didn’t resist.

Didn’t defend himself.

Because deep down—

he knew Unikawa wasn’t entirely wrong.

Unikawa’s grip tightened further.

“Bring Kabane to me.”

His breathing trembled sharply.

“…bring him to me alive.”

Silvano stared directly into his shattered eyes.

Then nodded once.

“…I will.”

They had already captured Kabane’s men from the negotiation site.

But suddenly—

that no longer felt enough.

Not after this.

Silvano glanced once more toward the house.

Toward Ren breaking apart near the doorway.

Toward Liz trembling uncontrollably.

Toward Wakasa standing silently while his entire reality collapsed around him.

Then he turned toward Elira quietly.

“Stay here.”

She looked at him silently.

“Don’t leave them alone.”

Elira nodded once.

And through all of it—

Wakasa never asked Silvano a single question.

Because right now—

he was too broken to even know where to begin.

End of Chapter 18 — Where Hope Dies 🖤