Ran knew her mother hated the topic of reconciliation most. In the past, she didn't quite understand, but now that she had more experience in relationships, she began to see why.
Kogoro Mouri's performance today was truly disappointing, and Ran regretted her words as soon as she said them.
But words spoken are like spilled water—they cannot be taken back—so she could only admit her mistake and beg for mercy.
Before Eri Kisaki could speak, Kogoro Mouri sarcastically remarked, "Being childhood sweethearts isn't necessarily a good thing. Getting married feels the same as not being married; don't go confusing friendship with love."
The rebuttal was on the tip of Eri's tongue, but seeing Kogoro's self-satisfied face and remembering him hitting on other women, she suddenly lost all desire to speak.
There is no greater grief than the death of the heart.
True parting is not a loud argument, but a calm and silent withdrawal.
Seeing Eri remain unmoved instead of arguing with him as usual, Kogoro Mouri actually felt uncomfortable.
He glanced at Eri strangely, and seeing her expressionless face, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, feeling as if something important was leaving him forever.
The kind that could never be reclaimed.
Driven by instinct, Kogoro opened his mouth to take back his words, but a strange sense of pride inexplicably kept him silent.
Yuu Hoshimiya, seeing this, quietly withdrew his hand.
He had just been thinking that if Kogoro tried to backtrack, he would find a way to interrupt, but the man didn't say a word.
Kogoro Mouri never failed to disappoint when it came to letting Eri Kisaki down.
"Childhood friends lose to the newcomer"—the truth of this saying was only becoming more evident.
Japan is small with low population mobility, so the probability of childhood sweethearts and lifelong friends is very high.
But most of the time, it isn't because the two truly love each other; they simply haven't met anyone they really like, and once they reach the right age, they just end up together.
Very few can truly make it to the end.
Look, isn't there another pair falling apart right now?
The opportunity vanished in an instant; while Kogoro maintained his strange pride, Eri Kisaki had made up her mind to divorce.
As the undefeated queen of the legal world, even if Kogoro refused, Eri had full confidence in finalizing it.
If nothing else, the fact that they had lived apart for over a decade was enough to complete a unilateral divorce petition.
She had actually thought about divorce more than once, but due to their history and Ran's existence, she could never make the decision.
Now Ran was grown, and had even found a boyfriend who, though a bit of a womanizer, was handsome, capable, responsible, and had a bright future.
She should be able to accept and understand her mother's choice.
As for the feelings of growing up together...
If Kogoro Mouri himself didn't value them, why should she persist?
A matter she had struggled with for years, which she thought would be hard to decide, turned out to be unexpectedly simple and easy when the time came.
Ran looked at Eri, worried she would be angry at Kogoro's words, but what she saw was her mother calmly sipping her drink.
Eri's unusual reaction stunned Ran for a moment, but in the instant their eyes met, mother-daughter intuition told her exactly what Eri had decided.
At the same time, Ran saw a firmness in her mother's eyes, and a silent message telling her not to try to persuade her otherwise.
Ran looked at Kogoro Mouri, who was bragging to Masahiko Matsuzaki and the others while scanning the beauties on the beach.
She hesitated for a while, then sighed inwardly and chose to stay silent.
Meanwhile, the sense of loss in Kogoro's heart grew heavier, almost outweighing his so-called male pride.
At that moment, Yuu Hoshimiya decisively reached out and patted Haru Matsuzaki's little bottom, signaling with his eyes that it was time to start the plan.
Having her sensitive spot attacked, even though no one noticed, made the girl's face turn crimson.
After shooting Yuu a glare, Haru Matsuzaki discreetly exchanged a signal with Kiwako Toda in the distance.
Upon receiving Kiwako's response, she immediately spoke up: "Look, Kiwako seems to be waving at us. Does she want us to play with her?"
Yuu turned around, saw Kiwako splashing in the water, and said decisively: "No, she has a leg cramp and is drowning. Hurry, save her!"
Before anyone else could react, he took the lead and charged toward Kiwako.
Yuu's speed was incredible, leaving everyone far behind like a cheetah; even the athletic, burly Yoh Itoh couldn't keep up.
Masahiko Matsuzaki couldn't swim; after his expression shifted, seeing everyone else go and Yuu almost reaching her, he finally started moving, following at the back pretending to be anxious.
Haru Matsuzaki didn't forget the task Yuu had given her and kept her eye on Masahiko.
His performance shocked her, and she felt her illusions shattering.
It turned out Masahiko Matsuzaki wasn't willing to take any risk to save Kiwako Toda; while it might be because he couldn't swim, this was completely different from the person he pretended to be!
Haru's heart went cold; looking at Masahiko following behind with a face full of fake worry, she now felt only disgust.
She had felt some guilt about breaking him and Kiwako up, but now it was completely gone.
Not only was she not guilty, she now felt she was saving Kiwako Toda.
If Kiwako really married such a deceptive actor like Masahiko, she would never be happy.
"Brother Masahiko, don't go in."
Haru easily caught up to Masahiko, who wasn't really trying to save anyone, and said: "You can't swim either. If the waves sweep you away, it will only make it harder for Hoshimiya-san and the others to save her."
Hearing this, Masahiko Matsuzaki stopped immediately.
Haru's words were like a godsend, allowing him to stop pretending; even if asked later why he didn't save her, he could use this as an excuse.
Seeing this, Haru felt even more contempt for Masahiko and withdrew the hand she had intended to use to pull him back.
With Haru's task successfully completed, Yuu also reached Kiwako Toda.
After plunging into the water, his speed dropped slightly, but having pulled so far ahead, the burly Yoh Itoh still couldn't catch up.
Without any surprise, Yuu was the first to reach Kiwako Toda.
He swam behind her, hooked his arm around her neck to keep her head up, and pulled her toward the shore.
Though amazed by Yuu's speed, the others struggled to get there, including Haru Matsuzaki who had finished her task; only Masahiko stayed on the shore.
At that moment, Yuu heard Kiwako's barely audible whisper: "Did Masahiko-kun follow?"
Haru Matsuzaki, who had just arrived, immediately answered: "No. I'll tell you the details in a moment."
Kiwako Toda's face dimmed; she felt sad, yet also a sense of relief.
In fact, if Kiwako Toda had reached the point of doubting if Masahiko loved her, she essentially already knew he didn't.
Love is a feeling; if the feeling is gone, testing is just verifying the answer.
Just then, Eri Kisaki suddenly felt something animalistic swimming between her legs underwater; she instinctively clamped her legs in fear, feeling a sharp sting on her inner thigh.
Eri immediately kicked her long legs to swim toward the shore, looking back at the water.
A dark shadow of a snake flashed by and disappeared instantly.
Eri realized immediately she had been bitten by a sea snake; while swimming toward the shore, she said to Ran: "Ran, I think I was bitten by a sea snake. I don't know if it's..."
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit her, and she smiled bitterly: "It seems it was venomous."
"Mom!" Ran cried out in alarm, immediately diving into the sea to support the drifting Eri Kisaki.
With the test a failure, Kiwako Toda lost all desire to continue acting.
She quickly signaled she was fine and could swim back to shore herself.
Yuu Hoshimiya was about to take the chance to build more favor when Ran surfaced with Eri, shouting in a panic: "Brother Yuu, come quickly! Mom seems to have been bitten by a sea snake!"
A sea snake?
Why was there another sea snake?
Yuu instinctively looked at Haru Matsuzaki, and seeing her shake her head innocently, he didn't have time to overthink. He immediately left Kiwako to Haru and swam toward Eri.
Ran's call was heard by Kogoro Mouri and the others, but by the time they arrived, Yuu and Ran had already brought Eri Kisaki to the shore.