Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

"what?"

Everyone was stunned again upon hearing Ikeba Shizuka's words.

Eri Kisaki broke the silence first, her tone tinged with uncertainty: "So, the woman who was with Mito Hayato just now, really is his stepmother?"

"Although they are not biologically related, from an ethical standpoint, they are indeed mother and son?"

Aspiring to become a lawyer, she is particularly sensitive to the definition of kinship, and the thought of the intimate scene between the two just now makes her feel a sense of absurdity.

"From a legal and ethical perspective, that is indeed the case."

Ikeba Shizuka nodded, her fingertips lightly tapping the armrest of the chair.

“When Shinzo Mito remarried last month, he specially invited many business luminaries from Osaka. My father, as a member of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce, also took me with him.”

“Back then, Mito Jun was still the son and went on stage to present flowers to the newlyweds. I never expected that it would turn out like this in just one month.”

"The father and son both like the same woman and have developed this kind of relationship..."

Yukiko covered her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief, her tone filled with astonishment.

"This plot is so outrageous! It's like a movie storyline that was made up!"

Ruri frowned, her face full of confusion: "Can Mr. Mito Shinzo accept that his son is going on a date with his newlywed wife?"

"accept?"

Kogoro Mouri chuckled, breaking the slightly somber atmosphere.

He leaned back in his chair, spread his hands, and commented with a mixture of disdain and a strange "admiration" on his face.

"Those two must be secretly dating, hiding it from Mito Shinzo!"

"Didn't you see how flustered Mito Hayato was when she saw Ms. Ikenami? She was clearly afraid of being seen by someone she knew. Tsk tsk, the rich really know how to have fun..."

He was about to continue speaking when Liuli pinched his waist hard, making him immediately shut up.

“If Mito Shinzo finds out about their affair, it will definitely cause a huge uproar.” Hattori Heizo crossed his arms and said seriously, “Few men can accept their wives’ betrayal, let alone when the betrayer is their own son.”

Suddenly, Shizuka Ikenami remembered something: "Actually, at Shinzo Mito's wedding, I heard some rumors about the bride that weren't very good."

"At the time, I thought it was just a rumor and didn't pay much attention to it. Now it seems that those rumors may not be entirely unfounded."

"What rumor?" Kawada Yuko immediately came over. She was a well-known "gossip expert" in the mystery club and was most interested in such secrets of wealthy families.

Ikenami Shizuka hesitated for a moment, looked around at the people, and lowered her voice to say, "It is said that Ms. Minamino is a woman who specializes in the 'second wife business'. When I heard this, I found it hard to believe. After all, Mito Shinzo is so shrewd, how could he be so easily deceived?"

"The business of being a second wife? What's that?" Reiko blinked and asked, pulling her brother's hand.

She was young and had never heard of the term before; it just sounded strange. "I feel like I've heard that term somewhere before!" Yoshida Aoi clapped her hands. "I think I saw something similar mentioned in the news, something about marriage fraud?"

Konoe Daishi adjusted his glasses and began to explain to everyone: "'The 'second wife business' refers to those who specifically seek out elderly, wealthy people to marry, and then inherit their vast fortunes after their death."

"Although some men engage in these activities, the vast majority are women. They usually pretend to be gentle and considerate to gain the trust of the elderly, and then try to get the inheritance after marriage."

Upon hearing this, Maeda Yoto frowned even more deeply; he habitually used logic to analyze the problem.
"So, the real reason this Miss Minamino married Shinzo Mito is because of the Mito family's vast wealth?"

He paused, then raised a key logical contradiction.
"But if that's the case, shouldn't her relationship with Mito Hayato, Mito Shinzo's only legitimate heir, be extremely tense, or even antagonistic?"

"After all, in terms of the order of inheritance, after Mito Shinzo's death, the majority of the Mito family's main assets should rightfully be inherited by Mito Hayato, his only son."

"As a second wife, Ms. Minamino's share is relatively limited. She should see Mito Jun as her biggest competitor for the inheritance."

"How could she have developed such a close relationship with him in just one month?"

“At the wedding, Ms. Minamino and Mito Jun did not interact much, and they rarely even made eye contact. They seemed to have a cold relationship.”

Ikeba Shizuka recalled the lavish yet subtly eerie wedding that had taken place a month ago.
“When Mito Jun presented them with flowers, he didn’t look too happy. I thought he was unhappy about his father’s remarriage. I didn’t expect that the two of them would become so close just a month later.”

"To be able to navigate between both father and son simultaneously, this Miss Minamino is definitely not simple," Hattori Heizo said sharply. "Her approach to Mito Hayato might not be based on affection at all, but rather on ulterior motives. Perhaps she wants to use Mito Hayato to gain control of the Mito family's businesses more quickly, or perhaps she wants to join forces with Mito Hayato to seize control ahead of time..."

"Hey, Hattori, why do you have to think about things so negatively?"

Kawada Haeko interrupted Hattori Heizo's speculation with some displeasure.
"Couldn't it be that after she married Mito Shinzo, she discovered that Mito Hayato was the one she truly loved, and that's why she was with him regardless of everything?"

"Love knows no age or status, how can you assume such bad things about people right from the start?"

Maeda Yoto scoffed, his tone laced with sarcasm: "True love? Kawada, have you been reading too many romance novels?"

"How could a woman who makes a living solely through 'second wife business' have such a pure love mind, with only money and profit in her eyes?"

"If she truly pursued true love, she wouldn't have married Mito Shinzo, who was more than 30 years older than her."

"How could she..."

Kawada Haeko was enraged by the sarcasm in Maeda Yoto's tone and instinctively wanted to retort. However, she suddenly realized the implied mockery in his words halfway through her sentence, and her eyebrows shot up, her face full of anger.
"Maeda! Who are you calling a love-obsessed person?!"

"I just think you shouldn't accuse people so easily. What makes you so sure they're only after money? Maybe they really have their reasons!"

The two started arguing back and forth. Yoshida Aoi was about to speak up to mediate when she noticed that Ono Kayoko, who had been silent all along, was pale and staring blankly at the stage, as if she was daydreaming.

"...Kaiseko?"

Yoshida Aoi stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Ono Kayoko's eyes.
"What's wrong? You've seemed restless ever since I saw you this morning. Is something on your mind?" (End of Chapter)