I Was Blackmailed Into Accepting Bullying Using My Childhood Friend as Leverage, But When I Found Out My Friend and Bully Were Together, I Abandoned All Compassion and Swore to Take Revenge with Everything I Had - Chapter 27: What Was Entrusted to Me by My Stepbrother

Chapter 27: What Was Entrusted to Me by My Stepbrother

• • • • A few days after Kenichi left the Komada household

Ever since Ken-nii severed ties with us and left, my mother has been pestering me every day, urging me to apologize to him at school and convince him to come back home.

“Kotone! When is Kenichi-kun coming back!?”

“Even at school… he won’t even look at me…”

“That’s because you treated him so horribly! Do something about it! Use whatever means necessary—even if you have to seduce him! Just bring him back to this house!”

“…”

In reality, even when we pass each other at school, he completely ignores me. Even when I call out to him, he doesn’t so much as glance in my direction. There’s no way I could admit to anyone at school that Fudo-senpai is actually my stepbrother now.

After a while, there was a rumor at school that Ken-nii had been hospitalized.

I desperately wanted to reach out to him, but nothing I tried worked.

I heard it was due to mild stress and exhaustion, so I decided to just hope for his recovery.

Then, one day when I returned home, I noticed a large car parked in front of our house. Curious, I approached to take a look, but before I could see much, the blinds on the door suddenly opened, and a stunning woman in a suit with sharp eyes and medium-short hair peeked out.

“Excuse me, but are you Kotone Komada-san?”

I was cautious and didn’t respond right away, but the woman seemed to understand my hesitation. She opened the car door, stepped out, and stood in front of me, bowing deeply before handing me a business card.

“My name is Soko Mifune, an attorney with Ancient Japan.”

“Ah, um… why would a lawyer be here for me?”

Mifune-san then handed me a brown envelope.

“What’s this?” I asked, not taking it right away.

“I was entrusted with this by our representative, Kenichi Fudo-sama, to deliver it to you.”

I was shocked. Ken-nii… he’s also the representative of a company? I quickly took the envelope from her and examined it. However, it only had “To Shizuku-sama” written on it.

“Huh? This… this isn’t for me?”

I had been hoping the letter was addressed to me, feeling my heart race at the thought, but seeing that it was for Shizuku-chan, I felt disappointed.

“No, Fudo-sama specifically instructed me to hand this to you, Kotone-sama.”

I couldn’t understand Ken-nii’s intentions. Why didn’t he deliver it directly?

“Um… is there any way I could speak with Ken-nii… Fudo-san directly?”

“I’m sorry, but Fudo-sama has expressed that he will not meet with anyone from the Komada or Himeno families. I apologize that I cannot fulfill your request.”

Mifune-san replied, bowing deeply once again.

“Well then, my task here is complete. Please excuse me. I apologize for the sudden visit.”

She gave a small bow again before getting back into the car. The door, which had acted as a blind, closed, and the car quietly drove off.

I stood there for a while, staring at the letter, and then glanced up at what used to be my brother’s window.

This… could be a test from Ken-nii. Is he testing if I’ll open Shizuku-chan’s letter without permission? Or if I won’t deliver it at all? Should I just drop it in the Himeno family’s mailbox? Or should I hand it to her directly?

There seem to be four possible paths laid out by Ken-nii… but which one is right? Or is none of them the correct choice?

My decision is…