"Ah—"
Waking up from a light sleep, Mrs. Hiroshi pulled back the thin blanket and got out of bed. She looked around the empty room, confirming that her husband was absent, and sighed inwardly.
He hadn't returned home again last night. Although Mrs. Hiroshi felt a trace of sorrow, she knew she couldn't blame Kijin. Ultimately, it was all because of that unpleasant man, Kamezo Gozo.
Tap-tap-tap—
Walking out of the room in slippers, Mrs. Hiroshi was unclothed, wearing only her intimate undergarments: a bra and a thin scrap of fabric below. The black lingerie accentuated the beautiful wife's sensual aura, leaving large expanses of pale, delicate skin exposed.
Her slender legs were alluring, and the faint, rosy points of her nipples were visible through the fabric. However, in the empty house, this beautiful sight was unseen.
Of course, if anyone had been present, Mrs. Hiroshi wouldn't have been so unguarded.
After tidying up the room, doing the laundry, washing up, and eating breakfast, it was nearly mid-morning. She managed to call her husband and learned that Kijin was still with the company president. The empty nest wife's expression grew gloomier.
Changing her clothes and grabbing her bag, she stepped outside, just as she heard bursts of laughter from the house next door. The girls living there were chatting and cleaning in the yard, a scene that filled Mrs. Hiroshi with envy.
"Good morning, Hiroshi-san, heading out?"
Chi greeted her. Although Mrs. Hiroshi was married, she wasn't very old. Calling her 'Auntie' would be insulting, so the girls still called her 'Miss,' except for Natsumi Obata, who referred to her as Mrs. Hiroshi.
After all, they were neighbors.
"Yes, I'm going shopping. Are all of you on holiday?"
"We are. It's the weekend," Makoto noticed the neighbor's slightly poor complexion. "Hiroshi-san, didn't you sleep well last night? You look exhausted."
"Perhaps..."
It wasn't that she hadn't slept well, but that she had things on her mind. Mrs. Hiroshi forced a smile, touched her face, and brushed off the question. After she left, Chi and the others exchanged glances.
"She seems preoccupied. It's written all over her face."
"I bet it has something to do with that disgusting man from last time..." Ai Kitakami was direct. The gyaru frowned. "That fat pig has been peeking at us several times. He has a guilty conscience."
Though she had fiercely stared him down every time, Ai knew that the more you backed away from men like him, the more they would press their advantage.
"Just like those perverts we used to run into. It looks like Mrs. Hiroshi has been targeted. Poor thing. Should we mention it to Alex and ask him to help her?" Yukiha suggested.
"It's her private business, maybe we shouldn't interfere?"
"We'll bring it up with Alex and see what he thinks."
Mrs. Hiroshi had no idea that the neighbors had largely figured out her troubles. Distracted and listless, she bought some vegetables and fruit. Returning home to the empty living room and rooms, the sadness and despair in her heart became uncontrollable.
She had no appetite for lunch and was debating whether to call her husband again when the doorbell rang.
"Kijin?"
Mrs. Hiroshi's face lit up with joy. She hurried to the front door, but just as she was about to open it, her expression changed. The joy vanished, her eyebrows furrowed, and she cautiously peeked through the peephole.
When she saw that it wasn't her husband, but a fat, corpulent man, her breath nearly hitched.
Ding-dong—
Ding-dong—
The doorbell kept ringing incessantly. Mrs. Hiroshi covered her mouth, daring not to breathe, clearly hearing her own heart pounding—a fierce thump-thump that felt like it would leap out of her throat.
With her husband away, she didn't dare open the door. She had largely figured out what kind of person the man outside, Kijin's company president, was. If she hadn't recognized him at first, it might have been forgivable.
But with his frequent visits and his increasingly unconcealed gaze and attitude, how could Mrs. Hiroshi not see it? This dreadful man was after her.
The frustrating thing was that when she told Kijin, her husband dismissed it, thinking she was overreacting. He believed the company president was only trying to help and would never do such a thing, leaving Mrs. Hiroshi helpless.
Ding-dong—
Ding-dong—
"Mrs. Hiroshi, Kijin asked me to come talk to you about something. Please open the door."
Kamezo Gozo's voice penetrated the door. Mrs. Hiroshi's heart skipped a beat, then she quickly suppressed the urge to open it. If he wanted to talk, a phone call would suffice, so why come in person?
Besides, every time he had visited lately, he had seemed to have ill intentions. How could she dare open the door when she was alone?
"Could she really be out?"
The footsteps retreated. Only then did Mrs. Hiroshi slowly slide down the wall. As her tense body relaxed, her eyes welled up uncontrollably. Grievance and fear, various emotions surged up at once.
The man was her husband's superior, the company president who held Kijin's fate in his hands, and he had set his sights on the young wife. This placed an immense pressure on her.
Even though the man outside had left, she still didn't dare open the door. The psychological shadow kept Mrs. Hiroshi sitting on the floor. She suddenly recalled the first time Kamezo Gozo had visited their home.
It was shortly after they moved in and she had just met the neighbors. Those pretty girls seemed to have also caught Kamezo Gozo's attention, and that was when Kamezo first revealed his true nature.
But that time, he had been sharply rebuked by the young man.
"That Alex... he seemed to have seen through Kamezo Gozo's nature from the start," Mrs. Hiroshi thought of her husband being completely fooled and sighed deeply. "Alex... he seems like no ordinary person."
The girls next door were also unusual; at least they weren't afraid of Kamezo Gozo. Several times when he tried to flirt, the girls cursed him away.
"If only I could ask Alex for help..."
Alex was unaware that his beautiful neighbor was considering seeking his help. He was still at the Tsubakihara house with Mrs. Mira. Mrs. Mira was radiant, the long-dry widow now thoroughly nourished, every move and glance filled with sexual vibrancy.
Her enchanting and seductive demeanor stunned both Yuna and Nina. She truly was a stunning beauty.
"Alex, why don't you stay the night today?"
"I was planning to stay the night," Alex said while eating lunch, not forgetting to put some rice and water down for the kitten nearby. He then winked at the rosy-cheeked Mrs. Mira. "But, Mira, you sound quite eager for me to stay. It seems I haven't satisfied you yet."
Clang—
Mrs. Mira flushed crimson at his words and gave him a playful glare. Just as she was about to retort, she was interrupted by a sudden clatter. She turned to see her daughter drop her spoon, looking unhappy.
"We're eating now! Can you two stop talking about strange things?" The complaint came from Yuna, but her expression held a hint of her sister Nina's demeanor.
Clearly, she had been eavesdropping outside the bathroom earlier, and now seeing the man she liked flirting and joking with her mother made her deeply unhappy.
"Yuna, are you jealous?"
Alex blinked.
The girl's face instantly turned bright red.