That kick went straight to Richie's heart

Mophead pulled out a pistol while Richie wasn't looking.

He leaned halfway out of the car. Bang, bang! Two shots struck the gas pedal of the little sedan passing the car the three of them were riding in.

With a boom, the sedan exploded into pieces.

Richie watched, dumbfounded, and exclaimed, "Wow-Mophead, you're amazing! I admire you so much." But I admire Father even more.

Mophead blew the lingering smoke off the barrel and stroked his hair, trying to look cool. "Piece of cake. Hmph~"

When Richie turned back to check on his father, Twilight, he saw that Twilight's head had taken a hard blow when the sedan had hit the truck earlier. Blood trickled from around his eye and the corner of his mouth.

Richie pretended to be frightened. "Father, what happened to you? Your eye and your mouth are bleeding! Boo-hoo! Father, you're not going to die, are you?"

Twilight kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, drawing on every skill he had to drive as fast as possible. He was already late for Miss Yor's party.

"Richie, don't be scared. The owner of that car might have been drunk and hit us by accident. I'm fine. It's just a little blood."

Richie clenched both fists and held them between his chin and neck, gazing at Twilight with his big, watery eyes. "Then why did Mophead blow up that little car with his gun? Father, they weren't trying to kill us, were they?"

Blood covered Twilight's face. In a low voice, he reassured Richie, "Richie, don't be scared. Those people were just playing a game with us.

"The game is almost over now. I have to go to the party with Miss Yor. Be good and go home with Franky in a little while, all right?"

Richie shook his head frantically. "Father, no! I want to go to the party with you! Father-"

Richie secretly pinched his thigh, and tears began to fill his eyes. "Father, if you don't take me, I'll cry! I want to go! Boo-hoo-"

Twilight let out the faint sigh of a weary father and said helplessly, "All right, you can come with me. But you have to behave, or I'll have Franky take you home."

Richie immediately beamed. "Father, I'll be good!"

As Twilight drove like a madman, Richie clung desperately to the car seat to keep his little body from being flung away.

After that hair-raising journey, Twilight finally arrived at the party venue.

After saying goodbye to Twilight, Mophead slipped into the night and disappeared.

Twilight got out, took Richie's hand, and sprinted over. He threw the door open with a bang. "I'm terribly sorry I'm late. I'm Yor's husband, Loid Forger."

Yor's eyes widened, and the entire party fell silent.

Just moments earlier, Yor had been about to get up and leave when Twilight burst through the door. He had opened it so fast that it stirred up a gust, lifting the long black hair of Yor, who stood beside it.

Yor leaned toward Twilight's ear, sounding hesitant. "Um, you didn't need to say husband. Boyfriend would have been fine."

"I misspoke." Twilight still looked shaken and was panting for breath.

Just then, Miss Camilla's husband approached to greet Twilight. "Hello, Mr. Forger! What happened to your face? Why is it bleeding?"

Twilight wiped away a streak of blood with his finger, looking slightly startled. "Ah, sorry about that. My last emergency patient was a little violent."

Yor handed Twilight a handkerchief. It was hard to say whether it was the same one she had used to wipe her nose outside.

Twilight continued explaining to Camilla's boyfriend, "This sort of thing happens quite often when you're a psychiatrist."

Then he changed the subject, wiping the blood from his face as he looked at Yor. "Are you having fun, Yor?"

Camilla stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "You're kidding! Yor, you're already married? Why did you keep it a secret?"

Jealous, Camilla stepped closer to Twilight and Yor, her tone hostile.

Yor stammered, "Well... um..."

Twilight smiled gently and came to Yor's rescue. "It's rather embarrassing, but I'm divorced and have a child. She probably had some reservations about that."

Outside the door, Richie heard Twilight say that he was divorced and had a child. His little legs scampered as he rushed inside. "Father, were you calling me?"

Richie hid behind Twilight's legs and poked out his fuzzy little head. Apart from the color of their eyes, Richie resembled Twilight so closely that anyone would have taken them for a biological father and son.

Twilight took Richie's little hand and brought him out from behind his legs. "Come on, Richie. Say hello to everyone."

Richie gave them a sweet smile, his two little canine teeth looking adorable. "Good evening, everyone. I'm Richie Forger."

Miss Camilla gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. You've got to be kidding. How could Yor have married such a handsome, quick-witted husband and gotten such a beautiful, adorable child thrown in? I'm going to humiliate her.

Miss Camilla picked up a dish of freshly baked food and trotted cheerfully toward Yor, all smiles. "Yor, here's some piping-hot gratin, fresh from the oven."

When she was close to Yor, Camilla deliberately fell forward, flinging the hot baking dish at her. "Oh dear! I tripped."

No one knew what Camilla was doing. They all stared blankly at her as Yor, before everyone's astonished eyes, raised her leg in a high kick and caught the baking dish on her foot.

Two pieces of gratin flew out of the dish and landed squarely on Camilla's nose.

The piping-hot food sizzled against Camilla's nose. She covered her face in pain, unable to utter a word.

Twilight spoke up. "It's a wonderful virtue to value food and not waste it, but catching a dish with your foot is a little impolite, Yor."

Yor hurriedly took the dish off her foot and held it in her hands. "Oh-I'm terribly sorry."

Watching his mother Yor's cool, immensely satisfying move, Richie's eyes sparkled. "Wow-Mother-elegant, elegant! So incredibly elegant!"

Yor blushed shyly at being called Mother. She bent down and held the gratin in front of Richie. "This is really tasty, Richie. Would you like to try some?"

Richie gave her a well-behaved smile. "Yes, Mother!"

Camilla still refused to give up. She silently vowed that she would humiliate Yor tonight.

So, swaying and drifting as though she were drunk, she sidled up to Twilight. "Did you know, Mr. Renji?"

Twilight corrected her. "My name is Forger."

With ill intent, Camilla leaned toward Twilight and Yor to bad-mouth Yor, plainly trying to drive a wedge between them. "I heard that before she came to work at city hall, she had some sort of shady job. What was it again?"

Camilla's voice rose at the end, her expression full of malicious delight.

Camilla's boyfriend stepped forward and grabbed her arm. "Stop talking."

"If I remember right, men would call her to hotels for some kind of massage service!"

"How indecent! Hahahahaha!"