The golden retriever lying beside Mr. Hoffen seemed to sense its owner's emotional fluctuations as well. It slowly stood up, but looked a bit confused, not knowing what was wrong.

It wasn't until it saw Peter crouched at the stairway that, as if by instinct, it found something interesting and wanted to go over.

But Peter merely swept its feline eyes over, and the golden retriever immediately wilted, lying back down again.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Hoffen, my grandfather has gone out, but I think he'll be back soon. My uncle has already gone to look for him."

Karen put down the tea and offered some polite words.

Who would have thought,

Right at that moment,

Mr. Hoffen suddenly reached out, grabbing Karen's wrist, his whole face instantly coming close, his breathing growing extremely rapid,

He spoke in a tone that was suppressed yet unable to hide his excitement,

And asked:

"You're not Karen... Who... are you really?"

In an instant, a sense of crisis surged into Karen's mind. This crisis came from the fact that the other party had seen through his identity at first glance, leaving Karen, who had been mentally preparing himself for half a month, at a loss.

Karen instinctively took two steps back, trying to put some distance between himself and Mr. Hoffen.

By coincidence, Mr. Hoffen, who was holding onto Karen's wrist, lost his balance and stumbled. He tried to steady himself on the table, but unfortunately missed, and his body pitched forward, his forehead slamming directly into the edge of the table.

"Bang!"

A dull thud sounded,

And then,

Mr. Hoffen fell backward, the back of his head hitting the tiles hard and without any resistance;

"Crack!"

Karen stared in utter shock at the scene before him.

This old man, who had just directly pointed out his "identity problem," was now exhaling more than he was inhaling;

Moreover,

A large pool of fresh blood began to spread out from under his head on the living room tiles.

At this moment, Mina, still busy upstairs, seemed to have heard the noise and called out from the stairway:

"Brother, what happened downstairs?"

Karen licked his lips,

Slowly straightened up,

And replied:

"Mr. Hoffen had a stroke and fell."

Chapter Five: He Wants to Kill Me?

Mr. Hoffen lay on the ground, Karen stood in front of him;

At this moment, as long as Karen wished, he could send Mr. Hoffen on his way a little early.

Because Mr. Hoffen's earlier expression and words had put him under tremendous pressure.

Having been reborn in this world, he already lacked a sense of security. So far, he was still living by relying on "this identity." If he lost this facade, who knew what unknown fate his life would slide into;

And, it wasn't just "life" in the usual sense—there were clearly other factors beyond Karen's understanding at play.

If it were just a matter of "running away from home," Karen wouldn't feel so much pressure. What he feared was that it wasn't as simple as being "kicked out of the house"—it couldn't possibly be that simple!

Karen felt the same kind of anxiety as a medieval witch.

He stepped forward,

Bent down,

Karen reached out his hand;

All it would take was to squeeze the neck a little more,

Or to pick up Mr. Hoffen's head, pretending to wake him, and then bang it against the tiles again, finishing the job.

Then,

This sudden vortex of crisis could dissipate before it swallowed him up.

So,

Should he do it or not?

Having such thoughts isn't strange. Even the most ordinary, normal, and gentle people have experienced sudden emotional outbursts and flashes of dark thoughts in life.

But in the end,

Karen still stood where he was, not moving at all.

He waited until Mina came down from the second floor and started calling for help, until Aunt Mary came up from the basement, until Paul also ran over to pick up Mr. Hoffen,

Only then did Karen snap out of it at Aunt Mary's shouts, stepping forward to help support Mr. Hoffen and get him into the Immoles family's hearse.

Paul started the car, while Karen stayed in the back, accompanying Mr. Hoffen.

This "Shell" brand modified car was originally just a lengthened version of a regular sedan. The passenger seat had long since been removed, leaving plenty of space—more than enough to fit a coffin.

Mr. Hoffen lay there, unmoving.

He was lucky; in this era, ambulances weren't common, but he could be taken to the nearest hospital right away;

Even luckier... even if he didn't make it, there was still a car to take him back, and it was a dedicated one;

In fact, considering his relationship with grandfather, they might even get a discount on the funeral. The only one who would suffer was Aunt Mary.

"Heh..."

Karen suddenly let out a laugh, reaching up to gently rub his own face.

At this moment, the golden retriever that had followed its owner into the car came over to Mr. Hoffen's side and licked his fingers.

After nuzzling its owner for a while, it slowly walked over to Karen.

Karen reached out, and the golden retriever didn't shy away, letting Karen pet its head.

It seemed to enjoy the petting, and simply lay down, leaning against Karen's leg. When Karen stopped, it nudged his hand with its nose, signaling for more.

"Sigh..."