“Mr. Hoshitani, do you… want to?”
Chinatsu Ayase’s voice was very soft, yet it was exceptionally clear within the silent car.
She did not press him; she simply waited.
Her gray eyes gazed at him quietly in the dim light, as if they could penetrate his skin and look directly into the depths of his soul — into the chaos he had not yet clarified even for himself.
Kaoru Hoshitani opened his mouth, but found his throat too dry to make a sound.
He understood in his heart that it had been less than one month, and he was… already starting to waver.
This realization was like a cold thorn pricking his already battered conscience, causing a dull ache.
But he could not control it.
This was a woman who was wealthier and physically more dominant than his current girlfriend, and she was claiming him in an almost frenzied manner.
That feeling of being completely enveloped by a powerful force, the pressure of having no path for retreat, mixed with the strange pleasure forcibly awakened deep in his body, was slowly eroding his originally firm defenses.
Chinatsu Ayase watched him quietly, her mind sharp.
She knew that if she did not intervene, then in one more month at most, Kaoru Hoshitani would truly fall completely.
By then, he would be like a tamed bird, obediently nesting in her sister’s arms, never again struggling, never again wanting to escape.
But at the same time, if she stepped in now, she could “pick the peach” as long as she followed her plan.
After all, infidelity only happened zero times or countless times.
Betraying one person and betraying two people… there was essentially no great difference.
That already shattered “loyalty” would not become more broken just because there was an extra person involved.
And when Kaoru Hoshitani heard Chinatsu Ayase say she had a way to let him escape the control of that yellow-haired woman, he, who should not have hesitated for a single second, somehow failed to speak those affirmative words in time.
Even though it was Rika Kawasaki who had forced herself upon him, and even though it was Rika Kawasaki who had turned his original life into a mess.
Even he could not deny that this yellow-haired woman had indeed brought him feelings completely different from Aina; it was a lifestyle entirely different from anything he had known before.
Rika Kawasaki’s lifestyle was filled with a purple mist of desire.
Within it, all his desires seemed capable of being satisfied, but he did not know what the ending would be once he walked into that thick fog.
He did not truly understand Rika Kawasaki.
What if she kicked him away once she grew tired of him?
Moreover, he would have to give up Aina, whom he still loved, for this.
So, for a clear-headed Kaoru Hoshitani, even when rationally weighing the pros and cons, he would still choose Aina.
Kaoru Hoshitani finally found his voice.
He did not directly say “I want to,” nor did he say “I don’t.”
He simply said he wanted to hear the method.
But that sentence was an answer in itself.
The corners of Chinatsu Ayase’s lips curled into an extremely slight arc.
That smile flashed by and was quickly replaced by a serious expression.
“Alright,” she said.
—
[NTR Countdown: 60 days]
Inside the office of the President of Izumimori Corporation, the atmosphere was tense.
“WHAT?! Send me to Osaka for one month?! I’m not going!”
Rika Kawasaki’s voice almost brought the roof down.
She stood before the wide office desk, both hands braced on the surface as she leaned forward like an infuriated lioness.
Burning flames of anger danced in those gray eyes as she glared straight at her mother sitting behind the desk.
Kawasaki Hana looked at her expressionlessly, though her heart was full of helplessness.
She had asked Chinatsu before — hadn’t that child said there was a way to make Rika agree? Why was her eldest daughter still reacting so violently?
But the words had already been spoken, and she could not retreat now. She kept a stiff face, her voice as cold as iron.
“Fine. If you don’t go, I will freeze all your bank cards starting today.”
She paused, enunciating every word.
“I will also take back the villa and the car. If you’re so capable, then earn your own money to support your man!”
Rika Kawasaki’s face instantly turned ashen.
She stared deathly at her mother, her chest heaving violently as if she were about to explode at any second.
But in the end, her stubborn personality took over.
“FINE! I DON’T NEED THEM!”
She threw those words out harshly, turned around, and marched toward the door, pulling it open with force —
Bang!
The door was slammed shut heavily, the loud sound echoing throughout the office.
Kawasaki Hana sat in her place, looking at the still-trembling door and letting out a deep sigh.
With her heart filled with pent-up rage, Rika Kawasaki only wanted to see that little man right now.
Only by holding him, smelling his scent, and feeling his trembling in her arms could her unvented anger be slightly calmed.
As she walked quickly toward the elevator, she pulled out her mobile phone and sent a message to Kaoru Hoshitani:
“Wait for me at the usual place. I’ll be there soon.”
After sending the message, she pressed the elevator button.
The elevator doors opened. She stepped inside and irritably pressed the button for the B2 floor — the underground parking lot.
The elevator descended slowly.
Rika Kawasaki leaned against the elevator wall, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, trying to settle her emotions.
Ding —
The elevator doors opened.
She opened her eyes, stepped out, and walked toward the spot where her bright blue sports car was usually parked.
Then, she stopped in her tracks.
There, a large tow truck was parked nearby. Several men in work uniforms were using professional equipment to slowly lift her sports car onto the trailer platform.
Rika Kawasaki naturally knew who had given this order.
Her face grew even more ashen.
But she did not go forward to stop them. She did not rush up to scream or get physical as she had in the past.
She simply stood there, watching coldly as the sports car that had accompanied her for so long was towed onto the truck bit by bit, secured, and driven away.
She knew that stopping them was useless.
This was her mother’s order; these workers were merely the executors.
Only when the tow truck roared as it left the parking lot and disappeared up the exit ramp did Rika Kawasaki withdraw her gaze.
She turned around, walked back to the elevator, and pressed the button for the first floor.
She could only take a taxi.
However, when she stood by the roadside, hailed a taxi, and reached the district where she had agreed to meet Kaoru Hoshitani, she pulled out her wallet to pay —
Then she froze.
In her wallet, only a few banknotes remained.
It was the cash she usually stuffed into her bag for emergencies, yet now it was the only wealth she had on her person.
She counted it.
After paying for this taxi ride, the remaining money was… practically nothing.
Rika Kawasaki’s face went from ashen to a slight, burning red.
She took a deep breath, paid the fare, and stepped out of the car.
Kaoru Hoshitani was already waiting at the mouth of the alley.
He was wearing a light gray trench coat today, which made his figure appear even more slender.
Seeing her get out of a taxi, he was visibly stunned — this was the first time he hadn’t seen that bright blue sports car.
“Let’s go.”
Rika Kawasaki did not explain. She spoke briefly, grabbed his hand, and walked toward the nearby high-end hotel they had visited before.
Being pulled by her, Kaoru Hoshitani felt somewhat at a loss.
He could feel that her palm was hotter than usual, and he could sense the oppressive low pressure surrounding her, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Entering the hotel lobby, Rika Kawasaki walked straight to the front desk.
“A room with a large bed.”
Her voice remained cold and hard.
The front desk lady nodded with a smile, skillfully operating the computer.
“Certainly. Please present your identification and then provide payment. The room rate is 84,000 yen, including tax and service fees.”
Rika Kawasaki’s movements froze.
She looked down, opened her wallet, and stared at the few pitiful banknotes inside.
Then, she began to search her person — her coat pockets, her pants pockets, and even flipped through the small slot where she usually kept her credit cards.
Everything was empty.
Her credit cards and other cards had already been frozen.
The front desk lady maintained her professional smile, but in Rika Kawasaki’s eyes, that smile was becoming increasingly piercing.
She could feel Kaoru Hoshitani’s gaze on her from beside her. That gaze held confusion, bewilderment, and a hint of…
A meaning she had never seen in his eyes before, one that made her feel an excruciating sting.
Rika Kawasaki’s fingers gripped her wallet tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force. She had never been this humiliated.
Time passed second by second, and the front desk lady’s smile began to grow stiff.
Right then, a voice sounded in her ear.
“How about… I pay for it?”
The voice was very soft, carrying a hint of hesitation, a hint of testing, and a hint of an emotion that even Kaoru Hoshitani himself could not describe.
Rika Kawasaki snapped her head around to look at him.
This little man, whom she had always been able to manipulate at will, control at will, and press down beneath her at will, was currently lowering his head slightly.
He pulled a common leather wallet from his pocket, took out a bank card, and handed it toward the front desk.
This sentence, this action, was undoubtedly a profound humiliation for Rika Kawasaki.
She, Rika Kawasaki, had never let anyone — especially her man — pay a single cent for her.
It had always been her giving, her buying, her providing.
She enjoyed that absolute feeling of being in control of everything.
But now…
She stared deathly at that bank card being handed over, at that slender, fair hand holding it.
An unprecedented, complex surge of emotion erupted from her heart like a volcano — anger, shame, frustration, and a hidden, secret throb that she herself could not even identify…