Substitute Toyokawa Shoko, you can become stronger by breathing

How serious is this?

Are you overwhelmed by this little pressure and thinking of ending it all?

Absolutely ridiculous.

There was no mercy in Kujo Renji's eyes. He completely ignored the girl's purple eyes that were filled with astonishment and confusion, and walked straight forward.

Her movements were smooth and quick. With two fingers, she casually lifted the white cloth that was supposed to end the girl's life from her chin. Then, just as Sanjiao Chuhua was shaking from the sudden change and had not yet recovered, he used the "rope" that had just carried the determination of death to tie her wrists behind her back.

"Eh? Xiaoxiang...eh?"

Sanjiao Chuhua finally regained some language ability from her brain shutdown. She was completely unable to understand what was happening before her eyes.

Why was Xiaoxiang here? Why did she break in so violently? And why did she tie herself up?

Things were moving faster than her mind, dulled by grief and despair, could process.

Like a frightened little animal, she could only utter meaningless syllables filled with confusion.

"Shut up."

Kujo Renji's knotting technique was quite professional, with just the right tightness, completely restricting her movements without being too tight to injure her delicate wrists. This was a skill he possessed, like treating an object.

After doing all this, he didn't pause at all. He bent down, put one hand around her knees, supported her back with the other hand, and carried her entire body on his shoulders like a sack.

My vision suddenly spun, and the soft carpet and gorgeous ceiling turned upside down before my eyes.

The girl's stomach felt a little uncomfortable from being hit by his shoulder, and her short golden hair fell down weakly, swaying slightly with his steps.

This extremely shameful and undignified posture made Sanjiao Chuhua's cheeks instantly flush with hot blood, which was much more vivid than the paleness when he was dying just now.

"Eh, eh, eh? Xiaoxiang, can you put me down first... This position is a little, a little awkward..."

Her voice was as thin as a mosquito's, full of hesitant pleas.

Being treated in this way by the person she admired and cherished the most, the shame almost set her whole body on fire.

"I said, shut up."

The answer she received was still those two words, but the tone was a little colder than before, with a hint of impatience.

It was as if her protest was just some inappropriate noise.

"Oh..."

The girl shut her mouth in grievance. She could feel "Xiao Xiang" carrying her out, completely ignoring the servants and guards from the Fengchuan family's side branches who had rushed over after hearing the noise and were standing on both sides of the corridor in amazement.

Those people's faces were filled with shock and confusion, but no one dared to step forward to stop them.

Because the aura emanating from "Toyokawa Shoko" at this moment was too terrifying.

That was not the willfulness or arrogance of a young lady, but an absolute pressure from a higher class and a more powerful person.

It was as if she was not taking a person away from her own mansion, but taking away something that already belonged to her.

......

Sanjiao Chuhua was still in a trance, half asleep and half awake, until she was thrown into the back seat of a black car and the soft leather seat supported her weak body.

Kujo Renji sat next to her and closed the car door, blocking out all sight and sound from the outside world.

The space inside the car is quiet and depressing.

The driver started the car without saying a word and drove smoothly out of this magnificent cage.

The street scene outside the window was rapidly receding. On a winter night in Tokyo, the neon lights were cut into colorful fragments by the car windows, reflecting on the expressionless profile of Kujo Renji, flickering.

Sanjiao Chuhua curled up in the corner of the chair, the cloth strips on his wrists still tied, like a humiliating brand.

She secretly glanced at the people around her out of the corner of her eye.

It’s still that familiar, beautiful face.

Long eyelashes, a high nose bridge, a delicate jawline. But, it was different. Everything was different.

In my memory, Xiaoxiang always had an indelible trace of the fragility and stubbornness of an aristocratic lady between her brows, even in the saddest and most difficult times.

And now, the person sitting next to her exuded a kind of tempered calmness.

It is a kind of confidence that comes from having experienced many storms and waves, as if everything is under control.

Silence fermented in the carriage.

Finally, it was Sanjiao Chuhua who could no longer bear the suffocating silence. She asked in a nearly inaudible voice:

"Xiao Xiang... why...?"

Why do you want to come?

Why did you save me?

She had a lot of questions to ask, but when thousands of words came to her lips, only these three words remained.

Kujo Renji finally withdrew his gaze from the window and turned to her.

"I've already told you the answer."

His voice was so calm that it seemed as if he was stating an objective fact:

"Because you are the property of Ave Mujica. No one has the right to dispose of you without my permission, including yourself."

A utilitarian answer without any emotion.

Logically, hearing such words, she should feel chilled, sad, and feel that her personality has been completely denied. She should feel pain at being treated as an "object."

However, strangely enough, the expected sting did not come.

Instead, a more subtle and indescribable emotion quietly rose in her heart.

Sanjiao Chuhua became even more certain that the subtle feeling in his heart that "Xiaoxiang" had become strange was not an illusion.

If that was true, if Xiaoxiang really only regarded her as a pure "property" that could be replaced at any time, then when she proposed to "leave" Ave Mujica in the practice room because of guilt, Xiaoxiang would not have had that attitude.

She clearly remembered the shock and helplessness on Xiaoxiang's face at that moment.

It was a feeling close to panic, a genuine wavering feeling from the heart. She could sense that at that moment, Xiaoxiang was truly afraid of losing her.

Xiaoxiang’s helplessness at that time was real.

And now, the utilitarianism of this "Xiao Xiang" is also real.

These two completely different, even contradictory attitudes, appearing in the same person, seem so disjointed.

It's like... it's like there are two people.

Or rather...two souls.

This thought flashed through the girl's mind without warning.

A shadow slowly began to emerge in the depths of her consciousness. This shadow was different from the "Xiao Xiang" she remembered, the one who had smiled gently at her under the starry summer night sky and had been at a loss for what to do in the practice room because of her words.

It was the shadow of another person, blurry and unclear in appearance, but exuding the same aura as the person beside him at the moment.

And now, the image of the "Xiaoxiang" in front of her was subconsciously included in the strange, newly appeared shadow.

There is no doubt that the extremely utilitarian words just now should have been extremely heartbreaking.

but...

But why...

Why do I feel an unprecedented sense of security from these words?

Yes, a sense of security.

When this word came out, even Sanjiao Chuhua himself was shocked.

How strange! How can you feel safe when you're treated like "property"?

But that feeling is so real.

She lived her whole life in the shadow of being "unwanted".

As an illegitimate daughter, she was not needed by the Toyokawa family. She came to Tokyo and used her sister's name to live under a false identity. Deep down, she always felt that she was not worthy of all this and was a fake who would be abandoned at any time.

She is like a rootless duckweed that can be blown away by a gust of wind.

She was afraid of becoming a burden to anyone, especially Xiaoxiang.

So she chose to die, to end her life in order to cut off all the troubles she might cause.

However, Kujo Renji's words "You are my property" forcibly left a mark on her life in the most brutal and unreasonable way.

"Property" means "ownership".

"Possession" means that she "belongs" to someone.

These cold words categorically denied her self-perception that she could be discarded at will.

Because property needs to be managed and maintained, and it is something that the owner will hold on to tightly before giving it up.

He kicked the door open, not out of pity.

He tied her up, not out of anger.

He took her away simply because he was exercising his "ownership".

This logic is cruel, but also extremely simple.

Under this logic, her existence was given clear and unquestionable "value" for the first time.

She is no longer the dispensable Hatsune Miku who could cause trouble to others at any time.

She is Doloris of Ave Mujica, the property of "Shoko Toyokawa." As long as this identity remains, she will be "needed."

This defined and forced meaning of existence actually gave her heart, which was drifting due to guilt and self-loathing, a solid anchor where she could temporarily rest.

The subtle feeling arises again.

Sanjiao Chuhua shook his head vigorously, as if trying to get rid of all these extremely absurd thoughts from his mind.

She must have been locked up for too long, her mind has become abnormal.

.......

Kujo Renji did not put too much energy into comforting, or in other words, paying attention to the tangled and sensitive emotional fluctuations unique to Sanjiao Chuhua's girlish heart.

After placing her in a safe place, his attention was refocused on his real prey - Toyokawa Takaaki.

Toyokawa Takaaki sat in the empty study.

The insulated box that had once held the ear had long been cleaned by his confidant, but the air still seemed to be filled with a faint, cold, fishy smell mixed with disinfectant and blood, which, like a thorn in the flesh, penetrated into his nasal cavity and irritated his tense nerves.

After the initial rage and fear, an extreme calmness covered his boiling emotions.

He reviewed the entire incident, every detail, every threat. He realized that the other party's goal might not be money or even commercial gain. It was a purer, cat-and-mouse-like malice.

The other party was enjoying this process, enjoying watching him struggle between fear and anger. His emotions were exactly what the other party wanted to feed on.

He couldn't let the other party succeed.

The only way to break the game is to overturn the board, or in other words, to turn yourself into an unresponsive, cold stone.

An idea that was so determined that it was almost cruel took shape in his mind.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, the last trace of tenderness and hesitation in his eyes had been completely wiped out.

He stripped Toyokawa Kageyama from his emotional world. From that moment on, Toyokawa Kageyama was no longer a family member, no longer a hostage who needed to be rescued.

She is a "death unit", a "sunk cost" that has to be cut off in order to maintain the overall interests of the family.

He pressed the intercom, his voice steady and without a trace of emotion, as if he was announcing an ordinary business decision.

"Have Director Tanaka and Director Watanabe come to my office."

A few minutes later, two of his most trusted confidants stood in front of him with serious expressions.

"About Ms. Kageyama..."

Toyokawa Takaaki looked at them and ordered in an unquestionable, cold tone:

"The investigation ends here. From now on, no one within the company or the family is allowed to mention this matter again. Focus all your energy on dealing with Toyokawa Sadaharu and stabilizing the group's core business. Do you understand?"

The two confidants were shocked and looked at him in disbelief.

"..Yes, sir."

Toyokawa Takaaki leaned back in his chair, believing that this was the only right thing to do.