Chapter 89: The Widow’s Fury and the Gunpoint Funeral

“I will absolutely never accept this!”

In a closed reception room, Otake Shinobu, wearing a black armband, stared coldly at the two older women sitting opposite her.

Of these two older women, one was the mother of Otake Shinobu’s husband, Hattori Seiji, and the other was the mother of a female screenwriter named Kikuchi-ji.

Kikuchi-ji was, naturally, the mistress with whom Hattori Seiji had been having his affair.

Regarding the matter of Otake Shinobu’s husband cheating, Akashiya Sanma and Kitano Takeshi actually hadn’t reacted with severe judgment.

Kitano Takeshi was already a lecherous man with overflowing lovers, so that went without saying.

Akashiya Sanma’s private morality was slightly better than Kitano Takeshi’s, but only to a limited extent.

However, since Otake Shinobu was their friend, from their standpoint, it was inappropriate for them to appear too relaxed about it.

Yet, Otake Shinobu felt a very real and raw anger toward her husband’s behavior.

She could never have imagined that while she was constantly worrying about Hattori Seiji’s health and doing everything possible to earn money for his liver transplant surgery, Hattori Seiji was taking advantage of her time working away from home to secretly meet with a mistress!

In fact, strictly speaking, Hattori Seiji’s death had some connection to Seiko.

In Seiko’s previous life, Hattori Seiji had lived until 1987.

But in this timeline, because Otake Shinobu was invited by Seiko to film the additional drama Mother, she spent more time filming away from home and naturally had less time to look after her husband.

Hattori Seiji, who lacked self-control, had more freedom of time and space to abuse alcohol and seek out lovers; his already overburdened liver suffered even more severe devastation, and thus—accidentally—he died suddenly.

Of course, neither Otake Shinobu nor Seiko knew about this subtle butterfly effect.

Otake Shinobu was not some pushover Japanese housewife; she had hired a lawyer and intended to sue on the grounds of “irresponsible conduct” to reclaim all assets her husband had given to the mistress, especially an apartment Hattori Seiji had quietly funded for Kikuchi-ji.

How could Kikuchi-ji possibly afford to pay back that much money?

She found it inconvenient to appear personally, so she had no choice but to send her mother to beg Otake Shinobu for mercy.

For the sake of her son’s reputation after death, Mrs. Hattori also wanted to persuade Otake Shinobu to drop the lawsuit.

When Hattori Seiji was alive, the couple had always been praised by outsiders as a “talented man and beautiful woman” and an “ideal couple.”

If a mistress scandal were exposed after his death, Hattori Seiji’s reputation would be completely ruined.

However, Otake Shinobu’s attitude was unyielding; the two families had been wearing her down for several hours, yet Otake Shinobu showed no sign of wavering.

It wasn’t until noon that Seiko finally saw Otake Shinobu.

But Otake Shinobu’s face, usually so determined and bright, had turned pale and was written all over with exhaustion.

“Master!”

Aiko skipped over to Otake Shinobu, shouting with a smile.

“Aiko…”

Seeing Aiko, Otake Shinobu pursed her lips, wanting to show a smile, but she failed.

She had to squat down, pull Aiko into her arms, and hug her tightly.

Within that embrace, Aiko seemed to sense Otake Shinobu’s mood.

She put away her smile, patted Otake Shinobu’s back with her small hand, and offered comfort in a childish, clumsy manner.

“Master, don’t be sad. Big Sister and I both came to see you.”

Having been entangled in various terrible matters for the past two days, Otake Shinobu was almost completely exhausted.

Her heart full of sorrow, anger, and grievance was comforted by Aiko, and like a balloon being pricked, her emotions nearly burst out.

Otake Shinobu held Aiko with her head down for a long while before she stabilized her mood, patted Aiko’s back, and stood up.

“Ms. Otake.”

Seiko noticed that Otake Shinobu’s eyes were terribly red and her mental state was extremely fatigued.

“If there is anything you need help with, please don’t hesitate to tell us. We will definitely do our best to assist.”

As Aiko’s master, Otake Shinobu had not taken a single yen of tuition from the Yamagami family, yet she had taught Aiko acting without reservation.

Not only that, but she also proactively used her own connections in the industry to pave the way for Aiko’s debut.

Without Otake Shinobu’s help, Aiko would absolutely not have her current level of fame.

Reciprocating kindness for kindness, if Otake Shinobu needed it, Seiko truly didn’t mind helping her out.

“It’s nothing,” Otake Shinobu shook her head and said. “I’m just a little tired. The persuasion from the family members is still having some effect.”

Considering Hattori Seiji’s reputation, Otake Shinobu subconsciously didn’t want to discuss her husband’s scandal in front of an outsider like Seiko.

Since Otake Shinobu was unwilling to speak about it herself, Seiko naturally couldn’t force the issue.

On the other side, Mrs. Hattori, unable to persuade Otake Shinobu, found Otake Shinobu’s parents, hoping they would intervene to persuade their daughter.

“It is indeed true that Seiji was in the wrong in this matter. Whatever amount of money Little Shinobu wants, we can compensate her, as long as she withdraws the lawsuit,” Mrs. Hattori said.

“Little Shinobu has already said, this isn’t a matter of money…” Otake Shinobu’s father repeated his daughter’s stance.

“I know, and I can understand,” Mrs. Hattori bowed her head. “But if this kind of thing becomes known by the media, it won’t be good for Little Shinobu’s own career either, right? Besides, we also need to consider Nichika’s feelings…”

Nichika was the son of Hattori Seiji and Otake Shinobu, who had just turned three this year.

Considering the future career and life of their daughter and grandson, Otake Shinobu’s father was indeed somewhat swayed.

Just as Mrs. Hattori wanted to continue her persuasion, a commotion suddenly arose at the entrance of the Hattori home.

While everyone was still wondering what had happened, a group of Yakuza members—bearing obvious tattoos and scars, looking clearly like people not to be trifled with—surged into the mourning hall.

Seiko recognized immediately that the man in the lead was her old acquaintance, Takada Toru.

Takada Toru scanned the mourning hall and quickly locked onto the most conspicuous small figure, Aiko, and following Aiko, he saw Seiko standing aside.

Then, Takada Toru led his group of men walking toward Seiko.

Seeing this, Otake Shinobu immediately realized something was wrong and wanted to step forward to mediate, but Seiko grabbed her wrist to stop her.

The three sisters—Sakura, Aoi, and Tsubaki—immediately blocked the path in front of Seiko.

Takada Toru tried to squeeze past them, but in the next moment, a gun was firmly pressed against his forehead by Seiko.

Takada Toru revealed a moment of astonishment, but the subordinates around him reacted quickly; after a split second of shock, they all pulled out their handguns.

Subsequently, the Yamagami subordinates also reacted, and three or four of them pulled out their guns as well.

In an instant, within this small mourning hall, a standoff involving over a dozen handguns appeared.

“Mr. Takada, what business do you have here?”

From the center of the field of gun muzzles, Seiko spoke up and asked.

“I should be the one asking that, shouldn’t I?” Takada Toru sneered. “What business does the Young Miss of the Yamagami-gumi have in Kawagoe City?”

“I am, of course, here to attend a funeral,” Seiko said.

“Attending a funeral carrying this many guns?” Takada Toru asked rhetorically.

“Is it a lot?” Seiko chuckled lightly. “Just the same as you, that’s all.”