***
Yuki began to clear the table after everyone had finished dinner. While the atmosphere had been harmonious and filled with laughter and cheer, there were a few undertones, making it feel like there was an elephant in the room.
Yet no one wanted to be the first person to address this, since they knew the whole dynamic would change afterwards.
There was nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy themselves before the illusion was shattered.
Now that dinner had ended, there was no excuse for what came next.
"So, Ken filled me in on some details on the phone the other night." Mark said, his tone turning serious.
Since his native language was English, everyone chose to speak as such.
"There's been some updates since then." Chris stated.
He began to explain the connection between Tetsuhiro and Daichi's mother, explaining their current theory to his father. He made sure to remind him that nothing was confirmed, not wanting to skew his opinions.
"Hmm…"
Mark was silent for a while, processing the information he just heard.
No one interrupted him, choosing to wait for him to get up to speed.
"I'd say your theory would be pretty close, based on the information that you have. It wouldn't make sense for that woman to be able to spread rumors through the sponsors without some help." He stated matter-of-factly.
"But, we can't be certain just yet." Mark added shortly after.
"If we assume that Tetsuhiro is indeed Daichi's uncle, then his goal should be to remove him from our family."
Both Ken and Chris's eyes widened, but they remained silent.
"Chances are, he will reach out to you after enough time has passed." He said, looking towards Chris and continuing, "Once you've tried and failed to find work for long enough, he'll swoop in and make his intentions known."
"So he plans to make Dad desperate and force him to give up Daichi?" Ken added, his blood turning cold.
"Mmm."
The dining room was silent for a while as everyone pondered Mark's words.
Ken frowned, "But even if Daichi leaves the family, there's no way that he'll accept Tetsuhiro… Not if he knows what he did to Dad."
But after he said the words, Ken knew that it wouldn't play out like that.
"He'll just blackmail Chris into not telling Daichi." Mark stated.
His words caused the atmosphere to get heavy as everyone sat in silence.
Ken felt his heart ache at the prospect of his brother being driven out of the family without knowing why. Daichi's fake smiling expression from his past life appeared in his mind at that moment.
He grit his teeth and clenched his fists, feeling a sense of helplessness overcome him. Ken couldn't ask his father to make such a sacrifice, not when he had sacrificed so much for them already.
'Once again I'm useless…' Ken said in his heart.
SLAM
"Over my dead body!" Chris stated, his face turned up in anger.
Ken jumped in fright, looking at his father with shock.
Mark looked at his son with a grin on his face, feeling a wave of pride. If his son had chosen to give up on his family, he would have been quite upset.
"Good, very good. It seems like I raised you right after all." Mark said, sending a wink to Ken who was still in shock.
"So, the next step is to find a way to survive until Daichi turns 18. If I remember correctly, it's only about 5 months away right?"
"Mmm. Once he turns 18 he'll be an adult and all of this should stop." Chris affirmed, before sitting back in his chair.
As for how he would survive on no income for 5 months, even he didn't know how he would be able to make it work.
Although Ken was feeling happy that his father was willing to sacrifice himself for Daichi, this point threw cold water over that feeling.
"Well, lucky old Grandpa is here." Mark said with a grin. He was like a child as his leg began to bounce under the table.
"I've got a few investment properties back home that I can sell to liquefy some cash. It should be able to last you around 3 years as long as you don't go on any spending sprees."
CLANK
Yuki who was trying to make herself scarce by cleaning in the kitchen, suddenly dropped a pot in the sink after hearing her father in-law's words. She turned around to face him, tears already forming in her eyes.
"Dad no, I can't accept such a thing." Chris said. While he sounded thankful, there was a stubborn pride behind his words that wouldn't allow him to receive such a hand out.
Mark seemed to expect such a thing since he was still grinning widely.
"That's alright, I'm not giving it to you." He stated, sending Ken another wink.
"What do you mean?" This time Yuki approached him from the Kitchen, not understanding his words. If perhaps he made it seem like a loan instead, her husband might be able to swallow his pride and take it.
"Well, I'll be sending it to Ken of course." Mark continued to smile, feeling very proud of himself.
"EH!?"
Everyone in the dining room suddenly exclaimed at the same time, not expecting such a response from the old man. All of a sudden, his parent's eyes were on Ken who was just as shocked as them.
"Grandpa… I don't even have a bank account." He admitted.
Since he'd never had to work in this life, Ken hadn't needed to open an account just yet. He would just receive cash from his parents if he needed to purchase anything.
This only elicited a laugh from the old man as he found this very amusing.
Chris only frowned, not able retort to his father's words. He couldn't forbid Ken from receiving the money, if he did it would go against his values.
After everyone finally settled down, Mark sat back in his chair and let out a small sigh.
"Tell Daichi to come back home this weekend. We can't hide something like this from him." Mark said.