The Billionaire Twins Need A New Mommy!-Chapter 620: The Public Execution III

"Haha!"

Lying at the center of the stage, still tightly bound, was Haji. With the blinding lights and the deafening noise around him, he cracked one eye open. The glare forced him to shut it again immediately, tilting his head down slightly before trying once more.

Slowly, Haji opened his eyes again and could barely make out the crowd gathered before him.

"Huh?"

For a moment, his mind was blank—confusion clouding everything.

"Haha!"

"Ha!"

His brows tightened at the weak call echoing somewhere nearby. The sound was faint, yet unmistakable in the brief silence that fell over the main square.

Then...

"Hajime!"

This time, the call—though weak—was raspy, old, and painfully familiar.

"Hajime!"

Haji turned his head, spotting a large cage on the side stage. His brows lifted when he saw Chuck, then the others. Relief nearly escaped him before his heart thudded hard against his chest.

When he turned his head to the opposite side, his pupils constricted, and his breath hitched.

There—locked inside another cage, clutching the bars and staring at him with longing—stood his grandmother.

Himari.

Her usually neat bun had fallen loose, strands of white hair sticking out in every direction. A deep scratch marked her cheek, dried blood stained her upper lip, and her clothes were torn and dirty.

Yet despite it all, the gentleness, longing, and relief in her eyes stood out as she looked at him. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes, her nose flaring as she struggled to hold them back.

"Haha..." she called softly, smiling.

"Nana!" Haji shouted, straining to push himself up, only to realize he didn’t have the strength yet.

He didn’t need to question why. When they had dragged him out earlier, he’d felt a sharp prick at his neck like an injection. Perhaps another precaution, as he had managed to escape transport before.

Realizing he couldn’t free himself, Haji ground his teeth and looked at his grandmother in panic.

"Nana!!" he yelled, struggling on instinct. "Wait — I’ll come get you!"

Himari smiled faintly, pressing her lips into a thin line. Regret crept into her heart as she watched her grandson scream and thrash helplessly. Seeing Haji had compelled her to call out, but now she wished she hadn’t. Better yet, she wished she had been killed before being thrown into this cage.

"Haha," she whispered shakily.

"Nana, wait—I—"

"Haha!" she raised her voice despite her age. When Haji looked back at her, she nodded with a reassuring smile. "It’s... it’s alright, Ha. Nana... is alright."

Even though the words never reached him, Haji read her lips.

He was terrible at lip-reading, but not hers. Because Himari had the same line over the years.

[It’s alright. Nana is alright. Don’t worry. Everything will be alright. Nana is here.]

Haji’s face twisted as his teeth ground together. Those same words—words she’d said before he left Ravah the last time—now left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He should have known. The moment he was caught, Himari would be the first to suffer. He should have anticipated it and made decisions differently.

It wasn’t that he’d forgotten about her. But he had to admit that he and Lola had grown complacent, convinced they wouldn’t be caught so easily.

And that even if they were exposed... they had already prepared for it.

"God damn it!" he screamed, slamming his forehead against the stage. "Fuck!!!"

His body still refused to obey him, not completely. Desperate, he tried to force it awake, repeatedly smashing his head and shoulders against the wooden surface.

"Haha!" Himari cried out, trying to stop him.

But Haji couldn’t hear her, only his own screams and curses as he battered himself.

To everyone else, it looked like the thrashing of a desperate man.

The audience fell silent, listening to the raw sounds echoing across the square. In their eyes, Haji had snapped. The pounding rang clearly, over and over, until blood trickled from his forehead down into his eye.

Still, he didn’t stop.

"Hajime?" someone whispered from the crowd, eyes widening as they turned toward the cage. "That woman..."

A woman covered her mouth, eyes trembling. "First Lady..."

The citizens forced into mandatory attendance paled. Dread and shock spread through them as they recognized the fallen First Lady—the woman who was forced into prostitution after the previous regime was overthrown.

Many of them had never forgotten her.

How could they? When Himari had once been the person everyone turned to—with their problems, their worries, their grief. Even in the present, they all knew they could come to her for help.

They hadn’t recognized her at first, hidden beneath the cage and her battered appearance. After all, Himari had aged gracefully. Even in worn dresses, white hair, and wrinkled skin, she had always carried herself with quiet dignity.

But now...

She looked haggard, unrecognizable from the mother figure everyone in New Gehran once revered.

In the other cage, Scarlet furrowed her brows. She watched Haji unravel, just like he had in the function hall. But unlike then, she could feel the difference.

This wasn’t an act.

Every scream. Every brutal thud.

It was real.

"Nana?" she whispered, glancing toward the other cage. "That’s... his grandmother?"

Tyga and Kean grimaced while Chuck darted his gaze between Haji and the elderly woman.

For a brief moment, everyone forgot this was a public execution.

They were only reminded when Gehran’s voice boomed from every speaker in the square.

"The whore of Ha!"

Haji froze. His eyes widened, breath caught, pupils constricting as he lifted his gaze toward the spotlight.

Soon, all eyes—both onstage and in the crowd—turned to the balcony where the governor stood.

Gehran smirked, spreading his plump hands over the railing.

"Himari," he sneered. "It’s been a while. What a touching reunion for all of New Gehran to witness. All thanks to me!"

"You—" Haji ground his teeth.

The crowd clenched their fists, fury simmering beneath their skin. Yet the only one who didn’t react was Himari herself.

Even in her old age, she could still see the governor clearly from that distance.

How could she not?

He was far too large, like a swollen balloon impossible to ignore.

"How are you enjoying my precious gift?" Gehran mocked. "I find this reunion quite touching. Surely, you share a special bond."

Himari swallowed hard, maintaining her composure. "Gehran... what are you doing?"

"Many years ago," Gehran announced, scanning the crowd, "I made a promise to the benevolent Lady Himari."

Sneering, he continued, "I vowed that one day I would reunite her with her beloved husband and son. But until then, I would at least arrange a reunion between her and her prodigal grandson."

He paused dramatically.

"Tonight," he declared, "I am fulfilling that promise!"