The two most prominent women around him turned out to be Fujikawa Kengo's daughters. Because of this connection, Naga wanted to meet him.
He never coveted the Fujikawa family's property. After all, if he were truly greedy, Akane would have been a more suitable choice for him since he didn't yet know Miku's true identity.
However, this does not mean that he would not feel overjoyed when such a huge opportunity was almost within his grasp.
Miku is Ami's older sister and the first in line to inherit the Fujikawa family's estate. This truth made Naga feel like his blood was about to boil.
As things became clearer, some trivial matters related to Miku that he had once wondered about also came to light, such as her understanding and dislike of Ami, the misleading information she initially gave Naga about the situation in the personnel department, and later... Kae's abrupt transfer to Ami's side.
But since it's all in the past, he doesn't want to dwell on it anymore. Looking to the future is what's most important.
Asami had always known the truth, but had kept it a secret. No one knew what she was planning, but it certainly wasn't anything good. Only then did Naga recall Asami's words before he raped her: "If it's you, you'll definitely regret it in the future," and her meaningful words afterward: "If you can keep me satisfied, making you the son-in-law of the Fujikawa family isn't something I can't accept."
Looking back now, she never actually agreed to marry him, and the so-called son-in-law of the Fujikawa family was actually referring to Miku.
"That cunning woman." Feeling a chill run down her spine, Naga saw Akiko off and immediately returned to the personnel department office, preparing to have a serious talk with Ami and ask her what she was planning.
The half-sisters involved in inheritance disputes would certainly not be the kind of relationship that Asami deliberately created, where she was rejected after expressing affection.
Unexpectedly, Asami wasn't there, and Kae returned all the work he had assigned her, along with Asami's leave notice. He picked up the phone and dialed, but it was switched off again.
A sense of foreboding rose in his heart, and he dialed Miku's number again, only to be met with the message that the phone was switched off.
Thinking back to what Akiko said about Akiko specifically reminding her father Miku last night, she felt that something was happening.
No, I have to go to the apartment. Naga felt increasingly uneasy. She put aside all her work, quickly gave some instructions, put on her coat, and rushed out of the office.
His first stop was their new home, a high-rise apartment building. When he arrived, he found only the renovation team busily working on the project, while the female homeowner, who was supposed to be there supervising, had reportedly left that morning, looking preoccupied.
Where could she go? After buying basic furniture for the new house, she canceled her old apartment lease. However, Naga still went to check on it with a glimmer of hope. The new resident, a repeat student, was very unhappy about his disturbance and slammed the door shut after replying that no one had come.
He drove to the Fujikawa family mansion. The servants remembered him, but none of the masters were there. Only a glamorous woman, presumably Fujikawa Kengo's current mistress, greeted him politely, but upon hearing Miku's name, she showed obvious disgust.
He hurriedly went to the hotel's private club on the upper floors. Thanks to Asami, he was now a VIP member and had unrestricted access. But Asami wasn't there, and of course, Miku couldn't be either.
He stood by the car door, bewildered and desperate, looking at the crowded streets around him. He suddenly realized how vast the city was and how difficult it was to find someone.
He sat in the driver's seat, leaning back dejectedly, trying to think of places Miku might go, or rather, places Ami might take her to.
Before he could figure it out, the phone in his pocket rang.
He picked it up excitedly, only to be disappointed to find that the number flashing on the screen did not belong to Asami or Miku, but to his younger brother, Hoshina.
Not in the mood to answer Hoshina's call, Naga initially wanted to hang up, but considering that Hoshina rarely contacted her first, she picked up the phone and answered anyway.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Hey bro, do you have time for lunch today? My girlfriend, whom I mentioned last time, I'm planning to bring her home for lunch. Thanks to you, she doesn't have to go through all that trouble hiding from her debt collectors anymore. By the way, Jia Wumeng is the name she used to avoid them. I'll introduce her to you properly again today. She keeps saying she wants to thank you in person. So, bro, you should..."
Hoshina's tone was extremely excited, a level of excitement he hadn't felt since the end of his adolescence. Normally, Naga might have pretended to be happy for him, but now, he was simply not in the mood.
Interrupting his younger brother, he declined, saying, "Ah... I'm sorry, Hoshina, I have very important business to attend to. Let's meet again another time. I'll hang up now."
After hanging up the phone, for some reason, Naga felt a strange sensation welling up inside her. It was like a premonition, yet not quite real.
It was as if he had unknowingly missed something extremely important...