mijobooks Chapter 97 The Villain's Bill
Chapter 97 The Villain's Bill
Chapter 97 The Villain's Bill
Although the contract was signed, Kitahara Shin felt that something was not right.
When we last met, Mitsuko Miyazawa's anxious attitude—constantly asking when the final payment for her film's fee would arrive, and even hinting at the possibility of an advance payment—was like that of a gambler who had lost everything and was eager to win back his losses. She didn't seem like a shrewd agent who had been in the industry for many years.
This unusual anxiety made Kitahara Shin more cautious.
He dialed Sasaki's number and also contacted his long-lost "old friend"—Team Leader Takayama. Although he was now a legitimate actor, this kind of dirty work of investigating people's backgrounds was still most efficient done by these people who operated in the gray area.
Two days later, a detailed investigation report was placed on Kitahara Shin's desk.
He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the contents.
There really is something fishy going on.
However, this "ghost" is not loan sharking or gambling, but a reason that is even more ridiculous—a male prostitute.
Mitsuko Miyazawa, who treats her daughter like a vampire, is actually a regular at a host club in Kabukicho, and a crazy patron who spends a fortune to compete for the "top spot".
The atmosphere inside the van was so oppressive it was suffocating.
Kitahara Shin handed the report to Miyazawa Rie, who was standing next to him.
"Has your mother been coming home very late lately? Or is she always making up excuses, even fabricating lies, to ask you for money?"
Rie took the document. Unlike most girls who would frantically flip through it, she took a deep breath before turning to the first page.
Looking at the shocking numbers and the unfamiliar store name, her fingers were indeed trembling, but it was from anger.
"really."
She said in a low voice, her tone revealing a precocious coldness, "I knew it, it was either gambling or a man."
"You knew?" Kitahara Shin asked, somewhat surprised.
"It started about three months ago."
Rie stared at the photo on the document, her eyes devoid of tears, only filled with a weariness and irony born from seeing through the absurdity of reality. "She used to be strict with me, forcing me to work, but only to save money. But in the last few months, she's changed. She started wearing heavy, cheap perfume, frequently changing her hairstyle, and even giggling like a teenage girl in front of the mirror in the middle of the night. That kind of expression—I've only ever seen on the faces of lovestruck high school girls."
It turned out to be the case.
All the hysteria, all the coercion, was just to fill that bottomless pit.
"Her savings are now completely depleted."
Kitahara Shin calmly stated the harsh truth, "She found a gigolo who's not much older than you. Now, she's giving every penny you earn to that man, all for the sake of saving face as his so-called 'top gigolo'."
Rie slowly closed the report.
She looked up. Her eyes, which were always moist like those of a frightened fawn, were now terribly dry. The usual panic and unease in her eyes seemed to have been burned away by this sudden truth, leaving only a deathly silence.
"I want to see that person."
She said there was no pleading in her tone, only a fierce determination to dig out the festering sore, "I want to see what kind of scum is worth all the money I've earned over the years."
"it is good."
Kitahara Shin nodded. "I'll take you tonight."
In the back alleys of Kabukicho, neon lights reflect a kaleidoscope of colors onto the puddle-filled pavement.
A group of men wearing floral shirts, with buzz cuts, and looking menacing, were squatting by the roadside smoking.
Seeing Kitahara Shin approach, they were as if struck by lightning, simultaneously throwing away their cigarette butts, standing ramrod straight, and bowing in unison: "Hello, Big Brother!!"
The sound was deafening, startling the drunkards who were passing by awake.
Rie Miyazawa didn't cower in fear as she used to. She merely glanced at the spectacle with some surprise, then looked up at Shin Kitahara, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"These are your friends?"
"I suppose so," Kitahara Shin smiled, offering no further explanation.
With a few henchmen clearing the way, they entered the "Starlight" store without any hindrance and went straight to the innermost VIP room.
Not long after, the door opened.
A man wearing a sequined suit, with his hair styled in an afro and his face covered in thick foundation walked in.
This is the "top star" who made Photon infatuated with him—Shota.
Rie sat on the sofa, coldly watching the man.
She originally thought he would be a handsome man like Takuya Kimura, or a stylish man with good looks like Shin Kitahara, or at least a conman who looked like an elite.
result----
The man in front of her, who was even a bit effeminate, walked with a swaying gait, and spoke with a greasy accent, didn't even have a tenth of Kitahara Shin's looks. The cheap perfume he was wearing made her nose itch.
"this one?"
Rie even let out a short, cold laugh, her eyes filled with undisguised contempt. "So her taste has fallen this low."
Selling your own daughter for this kind of scum?
It was absurd. So absurd that the mother who used to terrify her now seemed utterly ridiculous.
When Shota pushed open the door, he still had a nonchalant look on his face. The manager had just mysteriously asked him to come to the VIP room without saying who it was, and he assumed it was some troublesome rich woman who wanted to "add a minute".
But when his gaze swept across the private room and landed on the face of the person in the main seat on the sofa, he was as if he had been struck by a spell, and his steps froze on the spot.
That face—it was so familiar.
It appears every day on prime-time TV and on huge posters on the street.
Kitahara Shin?!
Shota's pupils dilated instantly, and his heart skipped a beat.
His professional instincts allowed him to quickly suppress his shock. In just a second, the look of astonishment on his face seamlessly transformed into a cloyingly sweet delight, even tinged with a perfectly appropriate blush.
"Oh my! This—I really didn't expect Kitahara-san to grace us with his presence!"
He exaggeratedly covered his mouth, as if he had met a fanboy who had just met his idol. Then he immediately put on a professional, fawning smile, swayed over, and even took the initiative to pick up the wine bottle on the table to pour some wine.
"Although I specialize in serving ladies, if it's a charming guest like Kitahara-san—"
"Shut up."
Kitahara Shin raised his hand, stopping his nauseating performance with a look of disgust. "Too noisy. I didn't come here to play with you today. Someone wants to ask you some questions."
Rie took the investigation report out of her bag and threw it directly onto the coffee table.
Do you know Mitsuko Miyazawa?
She leaned back on the sofa, arms crossed, showing no sign of timidity, but rather an arrogance and scrutiny characteristic of a wealthy patron's daughter.
Shota paused for a moment, then spread his hands innocently: "Miss, most of the women who come to me are older, wealthy middle-aged women. How would I know which one you're talking about?"
Rie stared at him coldly: "That crazy woman who has spent the most money on you in the last three months, and who even sold her family property to compete for the top spot."
"Oh, you mean Mitsuko-nee!"
Shota suddenly realized, "I know her, I know her. What's wrong? Did she send you to deliver money?"
"I am her daughter."
Rie's voice was devoid of emotion. "I want to know, what methods did you use to get my mother, who values money more than life itself, to willingly empty her savings?"
Shota took a step back warily, straightening his tie: "This is a trade secret, how can I just tell a little girl like you—"
Before he could finish speaking...
The two henchmen from the mountain group standing at the door suddenly stepped forward, cracking their knuckles, and blocked the doorway with their menacing faces.
Kitahara Shin sat on the sofa and slightly raised his head.
【Blood of the Extreme Path (Actively Activated)】
In that instant, the temperature in the air seemed to plummet to freezing point.
Those eyes became unfathomable, revealing a ferocity that seemed ready to chop someone up and feed them to dogs at any moment.
The oppressive aura honed from years of working on film sets and dealing with real gangsters instantly enveloped the entire private room.
Shota's legs buckled, and he knelt on the ground, his previous professional composure completely gone, and even his crotch was a little wet.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Don't hit me!"
He was so frightened that tears and snot streamed down his face, and he spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube: "Actually—I didn't really pressure her. She was just lonely, so I said a few nice things, like I wanted to marry her, that I wanted to open a shop and live with her in the future—and she believed everything. She even insisted on giving me the money herself—"
Listening to these ridiculous and absurd lies, Rie sat there, feeling a chill run through her body, but also experiencing an unprecedented clarity.
It turned out to be the case.
So this is the truth.
That mother who pushed her own daughter into a fire pit for a few sweet words, that woman who thought she was shrewd all her life, actually lost to such a low-level liar who couldn't even make up a coherent lie.
So-called strict discipline and the so-called desire for daughters to succeed, if you peel back the layers, you'll find nothing but rotten desires and stupidity.
The last vestige of fear she had of her mother shattered completely.
She stood up, walked up to Shota, and looked down at the man who was curled up in a ball.
"It's really... so pathetic."
She spoke softly, her tone devoid of anger, only conveying a deep sense of disgust.
Then, she turned to look at Kitahara Shin, the weakness of a young girl completely gone from her eyes, replaced by a resolute look.
"Senior, please do me a favor."
"What?" Kitahara Shin stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
"Have him arrange to meet that woman."
Rie straightened her skirt, a cold smile playing on her lips. "Since she likes acting so much and wants to drag me into it, then I'll play along for this last time."
Kitahara Shin looked at her.
The girl who used to hide in a corner and cry, who would run away out of fear, is gone. In her place is a hunter who has learned to use the rules and fight back.
This is the Rie Miyazawa who will be able to survive in the cruel arena of fame and fortune in the future.
"it is good."
Kitahara Shin stood up and waved to the underlings at the door.
"I'll set the stage for this scene."
Three days later, at a French restaurant in Akasaka.
Although it was daytime, the light in the private room was blocked by heavy velvet curtains, creating a warm and dim atmosphere.
-
Following Kitahara Shin's "instructions," Shota arranged to meet Mitsuko Miyazawa.
Guangzi had her hair done today, dressed like a girl going on a date, her face glowing with happiness, and she even wore a strong perfume, the scent of which seemed a bit pungent in the enclosed private room.
However, instead of sweet words, she was met with a breakup declaration.
"Sister Guangzi, please don't come looking for me anymore. I'm going back to my hometown to get married."
Shota stammered as he recited his lines, his eyes constantly glancing to the side—an instinctive reaction of fear of being beaten.
"What? Marriage?"
Mitsuko's smile froze, then turned to terror. Disregarding her image, she grabbed Shota's hand across the table, her voice shrill and piercing: "Don't go! Don't you have enough money? I have my daughter, she's about to get a big role, she'll have lots of money, I can support you—"
"Smack."
A door slamming shut, neither too loud nor too soft, interrupted the farce.
Rie Miyazawa came out of the private room.
She was dressed in decent casual clothes, and even wore a wide-brimmed hat that covered half her face. She wasn't angry, she wasn't crying, but rather she seemed like an outsider watching a play, and even a little amused.
"Listen to that, how touching!"
Rie walked to the table and looked down at the mother who had lost all dignity in her attempt to keep the gigolo.
"You sold me just to support this piece of trash who won't even look at you? Mom, your investment acumen is truly appalling."
Photon froze.
Her hand, which had been tugging at Shota's sleeve, recoiled as if electrocuted, hanging in mid-air, looking both comical and helpless.
In that instant, all the color drained from her face, and she looked as if she had been stripped naked and thrown into the spotlight.
She turned her head somewhat mechanically, looking at her daughter who had suddenly appeared, her eyes filled with terror and the embarrassment of being caught red-handed.
"Rie—Rie?"
She instinctively scrambled to her feet, frantically trying to tidy her disheveled hair, wipe away the tears on her face, and attempt to regain her usual stern motherly demeanor.
"No—no—let Mom explain, it's a misunderstanding—"
"Misunderstand?"
Rie smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
She pulled a thick envelope from her bag and slammed it on the table.
The photos were scattered around, all of them intimate pictures of Guangzi and that male escort in various situations, along with a thick stack of photocopies of bank transfer records.
"This evidence is sufficient to prove that you abused your guardianship and misappropriated the assets of underage artists."
Rie's voice was eerily calm, each word sharp as a knife, carrying the coldness of a business negotiation: "I will hire a lawyer to take you to court, to apply for the termination of guardianship and the division of assets. From today onwards, you can forget about touching a single penny of my earnings. As for your debts—whoever owes them, pays them."
These words completely shattered Photon's last line of defense.
When shame reaches its extreme, it turns into hysterical rage.
Mitsuko's face instantly turned from pale to a deep liver color, and the veins on her neck bulged. She took a sudden step forward and screamed at a volume louder than when she had pleaded, trying to mask her embarrassment with anger: "You—you actually followed me?!"
"I'm your mother! Your money is my money! You traitor, how dare you laugh at me?!"
She wanted to stand up and hit someone, but found that several tables of customers around her were pointing and whispering, and the waiter was rushing over.
Rie didn't flinch, nor did she cower as she used to. She simply took a step back calmly, avoiding the outstretched hand, her eyes filled with a mocking "I knew you'd do this" attitude.
"I'm a traitor."
Rie pulled down her hat brim to hide the fleeting pleasure in her eyes. "But it's still better than you profiting from human suffering."
After saying that, she didn't look at the crazy woman who was screaming and trying to snatch the photos again, and turned and walked out of the restaurant.
Photon froze in place, his hand, adorned with an expensive jade ring, stretched out in mid-air, fingers spread, yet he couldn't even touch the hem of Rie's clothes.
"Rie! You come back here! How dare you!"
She screamed, her voice cracking, like a wildcat whose tail had been stepped on. But that resolute figure didn't hesitate for a moment, disappearing directly behind the restaurant's revolving doors.
The restaurant was deathly silent, followed by hushed whispers. The disdainful, mocking, and spectator-like gazes from the surrounding diners were like countless needles piercing her, leaving her so-called "high-class lady" facade riddled with holes.
Photon trembled as he looked down at the mess on the table.
That thick stack of transfer records was irrefutable evidence of her squandering her daughter's hard-earned money; that pile of scattered photos showed Shota smiling so brightly in them, while in reality, the man who had just been kneeling on the ground had already slipped away like a mouse while she was in a daze.
"Liars—they're all liars—"
She grabbed the photos on the table and tried to tear them up to destroy the evidence that had humiliated her, but her hands were shaking so badly she couldn't even hold the paper, and the photos scattered all over the floor.
Gone.
The money tree that used to obediently bring back money no matter how much she was beaten or scolded is gone, as is the lover who sweet-talked her and said he would marry her.
In that instant, immense panic overwhelmed anger.
She suddenly realized a chilling truth—without the identity of "Rie Miyazawa's mother" and without that endless stream of money, she, Mitsuko Miyazawa, was nothing at all.
"Madam, please—" The waiter came over, looking troubled, and tried to dissuade her.
"Get out of here!"
Photon screamed, trying to maintain his last shred of dignity, but the scream was full of weakness beneath his fierce exterior.
Her body went limp, and she slumped heavily back into the chair, her previous arrogant demeanor deflated like a punctured balloon.
At that moment, she was no longer a shrewd agent, but a pitiful old woman with thick foundation and a face full of wrinkles, guarding a messy table, letting out a desperate and withered sob under everyone's gaze.
The streets were bustling with traffic and noise as usual.
Rie walked quickly, her high heels clicking rapidly on the ground.
She didn't cry.
On the contrary, she felt an unprecedented ease in her breathing. It was as if she had finally cut the ropes of a sandbag she had carried for eighteen years.
Walk to the street corner.
A person was standing under the streetlight.
Kitahara Shin leaned against the utility pole, a lollipop dangling from his mouth, clearly having been waiting for a while.
Seeing Rie approaching, he took the candy out of his mouth: "Finished dealing with it?"
"Um."
Rie stopped, looked up at him, and a smug smile played on her lips. "I told you, I'd make her pay. I'm a bad kid, aren't I?"
Kitahara Shin looked at her.
At this moment, Rie was like a little fox that had just bitten through a trap; although her leg was still bleeding, her eyes were full of the light of freedom.
Not bad.
Kitahara Shin shook his head. "That's called cutting your losses."
Rie paused for a moment, then her smile deepened.
"senior."
She suddenly took a step forward, reached out her hand, and asked, "Want a hug?"
Kitahara Shin raised an eyebrow: "Celebrate?"
"No, it's charging."
Rie didn't care whether he agreed or not, she rushed up and crashed into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and burying her face in his coat.
She didn't cry, but greedily inhaled the comforting smell of tobacco emanating from him.
"Let me lean on you for a minute."
Her voice was muffled, "I was so tired from pretending just now, my legs are a little weak."
Kitahara Shin smiled helplessly.
He didn't push her away, nor did he say anything to comfort her; he simply let her cling to him like a koala.
A minute passed.
Rie released her grip on time and took a step back.
She looked up, her face now beaming with the same energetic smile as before, as if the vulnerability she had just experienced had never existed.
"It's full!"
She patted her cheeks. "Let's go, senior. Didn't you say you were going to take me to see that weird director today?"
I still need to earn money to support myself in the future.
1
Kitahara Shin looked at her.
"Alright, let's go then."
He handed her the half-eaten lollipop. "That director has a bit of a weird temper, but—I think you should be able to handle him."
"Of course."
Rie took the candy, put it in her mouth, and the sweetness melted on her tongue.
She squinted, looking at the bustling street in the distance.
"I can handle even a monster like my mom, so what's there to be afraid of?"
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