“Have you met your sister’s boyfriend yet?”
Kawasaki Hana set down her fountain pen and leaned back slightly into her large leather chair, her gaze fixed entirely on her well-behaved younger daughter.
A subtle, unreadable light flickered in those gray eyes, which were identical to those of her two daughters.
“I have.”
Chinatsu Ayase nodded, a perfect smile on her face.
“Brother-in-law… he is incredibly beautiful. More beautiful than any man I’ve ever seen.”
She intentionally emphasized the words “incredibly beautiful,” her voice filled with a pure, unadulterated admiration, as if she were merely stating an objective fact.
But deep within those gray eyes, something flashed by, too fast to catch.
Kawasaki Hana nodded slightly.
She had also seen a photograph of her eldest daughter’s boyfriend; the man named Kaoru Hoshitani truly possessed a face that was hard to forget.
Exquisite and pure, like an elf that had fallen into the mortal world, he was indeed a rare beauty.
Earlier, when she learned that Rika Kawasaki was finally no longer messing around with those shady street punks and had found a man she “liked,” Kawasaki Hana had actually felt a sense of relief.
She thought her eldest daughter had finally started to get on the right track and learned how to manage a normal relationship.
However, when Rika Kawasaki’s recent bank records were placed before her, that brief moment of relief was immediately replaced by renewed concern.
During this period, Rika Kawasaki had spent nearly 200 million yen.
Although half of that was used to purchase that bright blue Lamborghini supercar, the remaining half—nearly 100 million yen—was mostly spent on luxury goods: high-end men’s clothing, designer watches, limited edition accessories, and expensive skincare products…
It was obvious who these gifts were for.
Kawasaki Hana frowned.
She occasionally bought gifts for the lovers who accompanied her, but she had never been as extravagant or uncontrolled as her eldest daughter.
This was no longer simple “romance spending,” but a type of squandering that was bordering on a loss of control.
In fact, if Rika Kawasaki truly intended to marry this man and was taking the relationship seriously, spending this much money on him wouldn’t be a problem.
Given the Kawasaki family’s wealth, 100 million yen wasn’t enough to shake their foundations.
The biggest problem, however, was that Rika Kawasaki was currently earning basically nothing.
She was nominally an intern at the company, but she worked sporadically, spending three days fishing and two days drying the nets, and had no real personal income.
All the money she spent was the allowance Kawasaki Hana gave her every month.
In other words, she lacked the ability to support this level of consumption on her own; every cent she squandered came from her mother.
Furthermore, a glaring contrast stood out:
In the past, while Rika Kawasaki spent money, she had never been so reckless or lackadaisical.
She had only become this way after getting together with that man named Kaoru Hoshitani.
Looking at it this way, the excessively beautiful Kaoru Hoshitani took on the air of a “male seductress.”
Although Kawasaki Hana had never met Kaoru Hoshitani in person and knew nothing about him, she understood the true nature of men all too well.
In her eyes, such a young, beautiful man being manically pursued by her strong-willed and wealthy daughter would eventually exploit that affection.
He would demand more and more until he bled Rika Kawasaki dry, and then he would abandon her without mercy.
After all, she had seen this play out too many times in the business world and in her personal life.
The problem was that she knew Rika Kawasaki wouldn’t listen to anything she said.
Her eldest daughter had been rebellious since childhood; the more she opposed something, the more Rika insisted on doing it.
If she intervened directly, it would only worsen their mother-daughter relationship and might even push her daughter completely toward that man.
That was why she had summoned Chinatsu Ayase.
This clever, well-behaved younger daughter who knew how to read people might be able to offer a different perspective.
Chinatsu Ayase listened quietly to her mother’s concerns without answering immediately.
She lowered her head, her long eyelashes casting shallow shadows over her eyelids as if she were thinking deeply.
The afternoon sun slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows, outlining a soft glow on her exquisite profile.
After a moment, she looked up, her gray eyes sparkling with a calm light that surpassed her age.
She spoke, her voice soft but articulate:
“Sister… she is likely a bit obsessed right now.”
She chose her words carefully.
“It’s easy to be like this in the early stages of love. I think it would be best to temporarily freeze Sister’s bank cards so she can’t continue spending so recklessly. And then…”
She paused.
“Transfer Sister to a branch office. Let her and Brother-in-law separate for a while so they can both cool down.”
After speaking, she looked at her mother with a questioning gaze.
Kawasaki Hana’s brow relaxed slightly as she nodded.
What Chinatsu had just said was exactly what she had been thinking—cut off the financial source and then implement a physical isolation to cool down that overly fervent relationship.
Seeing her mother nod, Chinatsu Ayase understood. She had guessed her mother’s thoughts correctly.
Kawasaki Hana frowned again; this was her true concern.
“You know your sister’s temper. What if she’s unwilling? If I force the transfer, she will certainly cause a scene.”
Facing this question, Chinatsu Ayase did not look troubled.
On the contrary, she smiled slightly, a smile that carried a confident certainty while remaining perfectly polite.
“Mother, don’t worry.”
Her voice was soft, but every word was clear and powerful.
“I will make Sister willing.”
Kawasaki Hana looked at her younger daughter, observing her innate, almost premature steady confidence, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
“Good.”
In the end, she responded simply, asking no more questions.
……
8:00 PM.
The city night was brilliant with lights, and neon signs flickered along the streets.
Kaoru Hoshitani and Aina Saiten had eaten dinner out tonight, so they were just stepping out of a small restaurant.
The early winter night wind carried a bone-chilling cold, making people instinctively hunch their shoulders.
“Kaoru, shall we go home?”
Aina Saiten took his arm, a satisfied smile on her face.
Kaoru Hoshitani lowered his eyes slightly and said softly, “Aina, you go back first. I want to go to the supermarket to buy some things… We’re almost out of toothpaste at home, and I’ll pick up some fruit while I’m at it.”
“I’ll go with you?” Aina Saiten said reflexively.
“No need.”
Kaoru Hoshitani shook his head, forcing a thin smile.
“It’s so cold outside. You go back and take a bath first. I’ll be back soon.”
Aina Saiten thought about it and didn’t persist.
“All right then. Be careful on the road and come back early.”
“Mhm.”
The two parted at the intersection.
Aina Saiten walked toward their apartment building, while Kaoru Hoshitani headed toward a large supermarket about 300 or 400 meters away.
He walked at a steady pace, his stride natural, looking like any ordinary young man heading out for groceries.
As he neared the supermarket entrance, his footsteps paused slightly.
Then, he looked around.
People were coming and going on the street, and no one paid him any attention.
He turned and quickly slipped into a dark side alley with no lights.
Deep in the alley, a black car was parked quietly, its body almost merging with the night.
Kaoru Hoshitani walked quickly to the car, pulled open the front passenger door, and sat inside.
The moment the door closed, it blocked out all the noise from the outside world.
The interior was quiet, save for the slight hum of the warm air from the air conditioner.
A faint, cool fragrance lingered in the air, worlds apart from the heavy tobacco and hormone-filled scent inside Rika Kawasaki’s car.
The expression on Kaoru Hoshitani’s face was strange.
He realized the way he was meeting Chinatsu Ayase was exactly the same as how he had met Rika Kawasaki earlier that day—the same secrecy, the same concealment, the same act of slipping into a car.
But the nature and purpose of the two meetings were entirely different.
“Mr. Hoshitani, you… went out with Sister again today, didn’t you?”
Chinatsu Ayase’s voice came from the driver’s seat, soft and calm, yet it acted like a stone thrown into a still lake, instantly shattering the silence in the car.
Kaoru Hoshitani’s body stiffened slightly.
He did not turn his head, afraid to look into those gray eyes.
On the surface, the makeup he had carefully applied before leaving today hid any traces on his face, and his high-neck sweater completely covered his neck.
But he knew some things couldn’t be hidden.
Chinatsu Ayase’s gaze lingered on him, specifically beneath the scent of the perfume he had intentionally sprayed.
The perfume was fresh and elegant, but beneath that layer of freshness, she could still smell a trace of his sister’s scent.
It was a scent that only deeply permeated skin and clothing after two people had prolonged, close—even intimate—contact, and it was nearly impossible to remove entirely.
Facing this girl who knew all his secrets, even the ones his girlfriend didn’t know, Kaoru Hoshitani found himself completely unable to meet her eyes for some reason.
His gaze flickered away, landing on his hands resting on his knees, specifically his fingertips, which were curled slightly from tension.
He spoke, his voice trembling with anxiety and shame, every word forced out of his throat with difficulty:
“It’s all… it’s all because she threatened me… She has the video… and there’s Aina’s job… I had no choice… I really had no choice…”
His words were hollow and weak; even he felt like he was just making excuses.
A deathly silence fell over the car.
That silence felt like a physical weight pressing down on Kaoru Hoshitani, making it hard for him to breathe.
He could hear his own heartbeat, magnified infinitely in the silent cabin, “thump, thump, thump,” like a tolling funeral bell.
One second, two seconds, three seconds… every second felt as long as a century.
Finally—
“Sigh…”
A soft sigh broke the silence.
That sigh seemed to contain many complex things—helplessness, sympathy, pity, and a deeper emotion that Kaoru Hoshitani couldn’t interpret.
“I have a way now,” Chinatsu Ayase’s voice rang out again, softer than before but even clearer. “I can help you… get away from Sister.”
She paused as if confirming the weight of those words.
Then, she turned her head, her gray eyes staring directly at Kaoru Hoshitani in the dim light of the car.
In that gaze, there was no scrutiny and no blame, only an indescribable, almost gentle seriousness.
“Mr. Hoshitani, do you… want to?”