Chapter 209: A Two-Way Lie (Part 2)

“Click.”

The key turned, and the anti-theft door was pushed open.

“Sister Aina, you’re back!”

Kaoru Hoshitani, wearing an apron, greeted her as he always did.

However, if you looked closely, you would notice that his eyes, which used to be so clear and transparent, were now bloodshot.

“Kazune…”

Aina Saiten looked at the slender figure standing in the foyer, and her eyes suddenly stung. Tears almost spilled over.

No!

I absolutely cannot cry!

I absolutely cannot let him find out that I was fired from the company and blacklisted by the entire industry!

With Kazune’s personality of taking all the blame onto himself, if he knew that I ended up like this because of him, he would definitely break down!

He might even sneak behind my back and sell himself to Rika Kawasaki just to get my job back!

Thinking of this, Aina Saiten took a deep breath and swallowed all her tears and humiliation back down her throat.

By the time she lifted her head, a flawless smile was already plastered across her face.

“Kazune, I’m home.”

She casually stuffed the paper box filled with miscellaneous items into the dark corner of the shoe cabinet, and while changing her shoes, she spoke in that relaxed tone:

“Hey, so… today, I submitted my resignation to the company.”

“Huh…?” Kaoru Hoshitani froze.

“Working overtime every single day and dealing with all those complicated relationships—it was just way too exhausting.”

Aina Saiten stepped forward, opened her arms, and hugged Kaoru Hoshitani’s trembling body tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck and taking a greedy deep breath.

“So I fired the boss! I’m a total unemployed bum now. You won’t ditch me for that, will you, Kazune?”

From Aina Saiten’s perspective, the words she had just spoken were absolutely flawless.

Using the excuse of “quitting because work was too tiring,” she had perfectly concealed the brutal truth of being framed.

She thought this would lift the weight off Kazune’s shoulders.

However—

In the blind spot that Aina Saiten couldn’t see, Kaoru Hoshitani, whom she was hugging tightly, had a face that was already pale to begin with—but the moment he heard the word “resignation,” the last trace of color drained from it entirely!

R-resignation…?!

Kaoru Hoshitani’s brain buzzed, as if struck by a heavy hammer!

The words Chika had said to him in the living room during the day, with tears in her eyes, echoed madly in his ears like a curse:

[Sister found out you lied to her… She went crazy!]

[She’s using the power of the Quansheng Legal Department to forge false account books… and preparing to send Senpai to prison on charges of “position embezzlement”!]

[I secretly destroyed some of the internal network records… but that won’t buy us much time.]

So that’s how it is…

Kaoru Hoshitani closed his eyes in pain, tears silently streaming down his cheeks.

Sister Aina… She must have suffered relentless persecution from Rika at the company, or even investigation by the police, and was forced to resign because she had nowhere left to turn!

But even though she endured so much injustice, even though she nearly faced ten years in prison…

She still comes home and pretends everything is fine, smiling and telling me “it’s just because I’m tired.”

Sister Aina…

Why are you so foolish?

Why would you swallow all the pain yourself for the sake of someone as filthy as me?

Overwhelming guilt and heartbreak engulfed Kaoru Hoshitani like a tsunami.

He knew Miss Chika was right.

The destroyed internal network records wouldn’t buy them much time, and Rika would never let things go!

The Metropolitan Police Department’s arrest warrant could arrive at this apartment at any second!

We have to leave!

We have to get Sister Aina out of this hell ruled by a demon right now!

Kaoru Hoshitani’s eyes snapped open, and he hugged Aina Saiten back.

His hands, knuckles whitening from the sheer force of his grip, clenched desperately at the hem of Aina Saiten’s clothes.

He took a deep breath and, with an unprecedented determination that seemed to burn with his very life, spoke word by word:

“Sister Aina.”

“Since you’ve quit… then there’s nothing left for us to miss in Tokyo, right?”

“Kazune?” Aina Saiten looked up in surprise at the boy whose eyes burned with resolute fire.

Kaoru Hoshitani didn’t hesitate. With trembling hands, he pulled out of his pocket those two “lifelines” that seemed coated in poison—

—the two first-class cabin tickets on the express Shinkansen to Hokkaido, departing at 9 PM, that Chika had left for him.

“Let’s go on a trip.”

The boy looked at Aina Saiten, forcing a smile that was uglier than crying onto his lips, yet his voice was so gentle it broke one’s heart.

“To Hokkaido. Somewhere no one can ever find us. The tickets… I already bought them. Let’s go right now, okay?”

“!”

The instant she saw those two tickets, Aina Saiten’s pupils violently contracted!

Kazune… he actually bought tickets to Hokkaido on his own?!

Just how much courage did he have to muster to make the decision to escape Rika’s clutches?!

From Aina Saiten’s perspective, Kazune had taken the initiative to buy escape tickets in order to break free from that perverted woman’s control and to be with her!

My Kazune…

He’s finally willing to live bravely for me!

Aina Saiten’s tears burst forth in a torrent.

She thought Kazune was saving himself, that this was a miracle from heaven giving them a fresh start!

“Okay! Let’s go!”

Aina Saiten nodded without a moment’s hesitation, tears and smiles weaving together into a heartbreakingly beautiful picture on her face.

“We don’t need to bring anything! Let’s go to the station right now! Let’s get the hell out of this place!”

In the dim foyer of the apartment, the two held each other tightly.

Outside the window, in what had been a stifling, dead-silent midsummer night sky, a bitter draft of wind began to blow through from somewhere.

A few prematurely yellowed leaves were swept into the air, spinning and racing in the gale before falling helplessly into the unknown darkness.

In the distance, the crisscrossing elevated railway tracks and towering concrete structures stretched out pitch-black branches like the arms of steel giants under the thick veil of night.

They silently interlaced and spread beyond the window frame above the two of them.

A vast and suffocating shadow, like a black net that blotted out the sky, covered the entire noisy city and swallowed the two tightly embracing figures whole.

…

8:45 PM.

Tokyo Station, Shinkansen platform.

With a tremendous roar, the streamlined express train, like a blade slicing through the darkness, came to a steady stop beside the platform.

They hadn’t brought any extra luggage, not even a change of clothes.

Aina Saiten and Kazune, like two fugitives hunted by the world, held hands tightly and slipped into the first-class private room amid a piercing warning chime as the doors closed.

“Clack… clack…”

As the train slowly pulled away, the platform lights outside the window began to recede at increasing speed.

Inside the private room, Kaoru Hoshitani collapsed limply into the wide leather seat.

He turned his head, gazing out the window at Tokyo’s dazzling neon city, watching Tokyo Tower, which seemed to pierce the heavens, grow smaller and blurrier in the night.

Finally… we escaped.

Miss Chika, thank you… Rika, I will never, ever let you hurt Sister Aina again.

Kazune closed his eyes, and a line of tears slid down the corner of his eye.

Beside him, Aina Saiten held his hand tightly and rested her head on his shoulder.

Don’t be afraid, Kazune.

Even if we lose everything, even if we end up washing dishes in Hokkaido… I will use my life to protect you for all your days.

On this train bound for an unknown northern land, two battered souls clung to each other tightly in the darkness.

They felt each other’s warmth, as if it were the only light left in this world.

…

At the same time.

Minato Ward, Tokyo Metropolis. A luxurious high-rise penthouse owned by the Quansheng Group.

Through the massive panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire glittering nightscape of Tokyo lay sprawled out in full view, like a sea of twinkling stars paved with gold and diamonds.

“Ding~”

Two crystal-clear ice cubes clinked gently in an expensive crystal goblet, producing a crisp and pleasant sound.

Chinatsu Ayase, wearing a sexy burgundy silk nightgown, barefoot with flawless fair feet, lounged lazily against the floor-to-ceiling window.

Her long black hair, usually tied up in a demure style, now cascaded like a waterfall down her pale back, exuding a mesmerizing fragrance.

Her left hand gently swirled the glass of wine as red as blood.

Her right hand held a state-of-the-art smartphone.

On the phone screen, a high-definition electronic map covering all of Japan was clearly displayed.

In the center of the map, a conspicuous red dot blinked.

It was a miniature military-grade GPS tracker she had hidden in the lining of Kaoru Hoshitani’s ID card holder in advance.

At that moment, the red dot was moving rapidly northward along the Shinkansen tracks.

“Hehe… hehehehe…”

Watching the red dot growing farther and farther from Tokyo, a low, almost neurotically trembling laugh spilled from the depths of Chinatsu Ayase’s throat.

“How touching…”

Chika raised her glass, toasting the reflection of herself in the window, as well as the city outside that she held completely in the palm of her hand.

“Sister, sister, can you see this?”

Her gray eyes, usually so pitiful and delicate, now churned wildly with darkness and ecstasy like a bottomless abyss.

The sweet smile at the corner of her mouth, so saccharine it was nauseating, looked utterly horrifying, utterly deranged under the cold moonlight!

“You used all your power, all your violence, even went so far as to scare him into PTSD… And what did you get? Not only did your toy fail to fall in love with you, he even ran away in the middle of the night?”

“But me?”

Chika tilted her head back and downed the crimson liquid in one gulp.

A single drop of scarlet wine trickled down the corner of her pale lips, like a splash of bewitching blood.

“I just shed a few tears.”

“I just said to him: ‘We’re friends.'”

“And just like a pitiful homeless puppy, he kowtowed to me in gratitude. Then, willingly, he took his stupid, hopeless girlfriend and walked straight into the Hokkaido cage I tailored just for them—a cage with no exit!”

“Smack!”

Chika slammed the empty glass onto the expensive carpet, spread her arms wide, and let out a hysterical laugh at the entire Tokyo night sky outside the window—a laugh like a demon staking its claim!

“The hunt is over, sister!”

“From today onward, your toy belongs entirely to me, Chinatsu Ayase—aaaahhh——!!!”

The laughter echoed endlessly through the penthouse.