In the blink of an eye, it was already October.

When I was little, October meant golden autumn.

Now it’s still blazing summer in October.

I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore (lol).

*****

After enduring humiliation for so long, Eiji Hayamizu finally got his chance.

Caught off guard by Eiji’s sudden counterattack, Uhaku didn’t react at all. Eiji seized the wrist of the hand holding her gun, and at the same time, his fist smashed straight into her face.

Eiji Hayamizu was someone who normally stuck to his “never hit women” principle. But right now, in a blind rage, he’d already thrown that out the window. Punch after punch pounded down on Uhaku like a raging storm…!

Uhaku didn’t even get the chance to squeeze the trigger. Eiji’s relentless blows just kept landing until she blacked out.

“Hah… hah… hah…” Eiji panted.

Seeing Uhaku collapse and pass out, Eiji finally stopped punching, gasping for air.

He leaned against the doorframe. His legs suddenly gave out and he slid down, landing on the floor with a heavy thump.

—I finally… turned it around.

Eiji let out a long breath, feeling like he’d just woken up from a nightmare.

“Mom… how are you…?” he asked, his voice barely more than a breath.

“I… I’m okay…” his mother replied.

Her words were broken and halting, mixed with a faint, muffled sobbing.

She still had no idea what had led to all this. Everything was chaos to her.

Eiji’s mother was a traditional housewife: gentle and considerate, frugal and diligent, but also timid and afraid of trouble.

She knew her son was a hopeless playboy, with more messy relationships outside than she could count.

But she also believed her son knew his limits, that he cut things off when he needed to, and that he’d never cross the line and take unfair advantage of a girl’s body.

Many times she’d lectured Eiji about respecting other people’s feelings. But deep down, she’d also held on to a bit of wishful thinking, telling herself that what he was doing wouldn’t lead to anything too serious. She’d even felt a trace of pride that her son was so popular.

So today, when someone suddenly showed up at their door to take revenge, pointing a gun at her head, Eiji’s mother simply couldn’t understand what on earth had happened.

Even now that things were temporarily over, she was still in a state of panic. Her whole body wouldn’t stop trembling.

What scared her wasn’t the physical pain. That actually wasn’t that bad—mostly scrapes and surface wounds, maybe some bruises and sprains at worst.

What truly terrified her was that gun—and the potential threat this intruder herself represented.

What if she had fired?

What if Eiji hadn’t managed to seize that chance and take her down?

Those terrifying unknown possibilities made it impossible for Eiji’s mother to pull herself together.

Even though this whole incident didn’t have a direct connection to Eiji’s usual womanizing, his mother still became painfully aware of how she’d failed in disciplining and educating him.

Right now, her heart was filled with nothing but regret and remorse.

On the other side, Eiji finally caught his breath and struggled to his feet.

He checked on his mother first, asking about her condition. Seeing that she was more or less fine, he hurriedly searched the house for something he could use to tie Uhaku up.

After rummaging around, Eiji eventually dug up a jump rope. He made do with that, trussing Uhaku up tight, binding her securely. Then he hid her gun away.

Before hiding it, Eiji carefully examined the gun Uhaku had brought.

He didn’t know much about firearms, just some basic knowledge.

Even with just that, he could still tell this was a real gun, loaded with live rounds.

And when Eiji had made the decision to rush her and take her down, somewhere deep in his heart, he’d still held on to a faint shred of wishful thinking—that this woman was just waving around some replica or air gun to put on a show.

—I really did just crawl back from the brink.

Eiji Hayamizu let out a long breath, then suddenly remembered he’d just given away Chongzong’s whereabouts to Uhaku. He hurriedly grabbed his phone and tried to call Chongzong.

But that call… came too late.

He couldn’t get through.