"Sharon!"
Ran exclaimed the moment she heard the name. She hadn't expected the silver-haired gunman she had encountered back then to be the famous celebrity who had hosted them.
She also hadn't expected that the star's daughter, Chris Vineyard, was actually the same person.
What shocked her even more was that the elegant actress was actually a cadre of the organization.
At this moment, Ran finally began to understand why that famous actress had once said that there were no angels in this world.
Especially when she considered that Sharon had become a test subject for that drug. Even if she had miraculously survived, the cost of that survival must have been immense.
With so many emotions swirling inside her, Ran's expression was filled with questions.
"Ren, why do you say you need my help to make Sharon betray the organization? My relationship with her isn't as close as the one between Sharon and Aunt Yukiko."
In her opinion, the best candidate to persuade Sharon to betray the organization should be Yukiko.
However, Ren simply shook his head with a smile.
"Miss Sharon's bond with Miss Kudo is indeed deep, but in her heart, the one who truly shocked her was you, Ran."
"You just said it yourself. Perhaps you were in a daze back then, but you still tried to save the gunman. Sharon knows that very well."
"But it was precisely that instinctive action, that reflexive response, which revealed your truest self."
This made Ran a little embarrassed.
That incident had happened two years ago, and the shock she experienced then had been intense.
To be honest, even she couldn't clearly remember what she had been thinking at the time.
But hearing Ren explain her true self like this made her feel a bit shy.
"Miss Sharon's existence is fortunate, and yet deeply unfortunate. As a living experimental subject, she is undoubtedly pitiful. As the only one to have survived, she has to endure countless tests. Her fate is like that of a guinea pig in a laboratory."
"But unlike a guinea pig, her value is immeasurable. Even so, she longs for the appearance of an angel, someone who can bring her a feeling she has never experienced."
"Just like those mysterious stories where a demoness yearns for love, yet is ultimately destroyed by love."
Ren's calm tone carried a strange weight as it fell into Ran's heart.
"She's immersed in darkness and constantly entangled with it. She never trusts anyone, and certainly never believes that someone would try to save a criminal pointing a gun at them."
"But then came a kind-hearted girl, who instinctively acted to save another."
"Just like what happened in the Broadway theater, when you saved a murderer, and that person went on to kill again in a later act."
There really was such an incident.
Now that Ren mentioned it, Ran remembered that murder case from two years ago, the one involving the blonde actress who later killed her fellow actor.
She also remembered what that actress, Rose, had said to her at the time—
Thank you, lovely angel. Thanks to you, I was able to fulfill my wish.
Even now, those words still pricked her heart like a thorn.
She lowered her head slightly, then suddenly looked up and stared at Ren, hoping he could give her an answer.
"Ren, when I saved that actress back then, it ended up leading to a tragedy."
"Do you think, maybe I shouldn't have saved her?"
"No."
Ren denied it almost immediately, without any hesitation.
"Saving her was your choice. Her decision to kill was her own. There's no cause-and-effect relationship here. Her crime has nothing to do with you."
"If it were me, I wouldn't care about such things."
"Just like now, even if I know something will happen, I usually choose not to interfere. Their fate, their future, are all their own decisions. As an outsider, I don't want to make decisions for others."
"Because sometimes, my choices don't represent what others want. Maybe they think their choices are right?"
"The only one who can make a decision for yourself, is you. You don't need to consider others when deciding what you want to do."
"Let me share something I once read online."
"My killing you, what does it have to do with you? My saving you, that's also none of your business."
Is that so?
Ran hadn't expected Ren to think like that, nor did she expect him to have read something like that online.
Whether I kill you or save you, it's not about the person being killed or saved, but about me. It's just my choice.
So, in the end, neither action has anything to do with the one on the receiving end. Everything comes down to the one who made the choice.
"It all comes down to one sentence."
"Do what you want to do. There's no need to care what anyone else thinks."
Don't worry about what others think. Just follow your own will.
Because worrying about others' thoughts is tiring and draining, especially in most situations.
Although it's difficult to actually do that, for people in today's world, it's the best way to avoid inner turmoil and mental exhaustion.
This was Ren's answer to Ran.
There's no need to worry about others. Just figure out what you want to do. That's enough.
This answer was different from what Shinichi would've said, but Ran felt that it better explained her instinctive action at the time.
Even she hadn't realized it in the moment. Only later did she reflect on how improper it might have seemed. But back then, she just did it.
She didn't know why. It was simply a reflex.
But now Ran understood that she wasn't the angel Shinichi saw her as. She was more like what Ren described.
Not an angel, just an ordinary girl who acted on instinct.
"So, I'm the best person to talk to Sharon?"
She finally understood why Ren had said she was the one most suited to speak with Sharon about betrayal.
"That's right. Sharon Vineyard's true goal is to bring down the entire organization, but she knows she can't do it alone."
"That's why we can give her the chance, and the strength, to make it possible."
Ren looked over at Ran as he said this.
"What do you think?"
"Hmm. If I get the chance, I'll go talk to Sharon."
Whether it was for Sharon's sake or Ren's, Ran had made up her mind. She would be the one to speak with Sharon.
(To be continued.)