The group looked at him in confusion. Mouri Kogoro was baffled. "What do you mean?"
The butler let out a relieved sigh and looked at Jiang Xia. "This little detective was completely right—I did everything to avenge Kentaro.
"A few years ago, my son Kentaro was still an unknown pianist. At a concert, he met Hotta Fumiko. They became a couple and dated for a long time.
"Kentaro loved her very much, but he never dared propose because he didn't yet have a stable enough income. All he could do was keep working, keep improving his skills, and search for opportunities... Until finally, five years ago, he stood out in a piano competition and earned recognition from the music world.
"Kentaro happily proposed to Hotta Fumiko, but what awaited him was not the happy life they would share from then on. It was President Hotta's cold refusal."
"Uh..." As someone with a daughter himself, Mouri Kogoro actually understood the unfortunate President Hotta a little. "Isn't it normal for a father-in-law to dislike his son-in-law? One refusal is no big deal. He could've just tried a few more times."
"Heh. If only that had been the case." The butler gave a bitter smile. "To move President Hotta, Kentaro knelt before him and begged. But that bastard Hotta was not only unmoved—he viciously stepped on Kentaro's fingers."
"!" Suzuki Sonoko recoiled, clutching her own delicate fingers.
The butler was also looking down at his hands. In pain, he said, "Kentaro had always regarded the piano as his life, but that demon destroyed his hands. From then on, he could never play again.
"And that woman abandoned Kentaro in his despair and heartlessly left him. In utter hopelessness, my son drove off a mountain road. The car was wrecked, and he died.
"I