Chapter 118: On the way to confront the lion in his den
RAINA’S POV
The city slipped by in silence as Anna steered the car through the morning traffic. Ethan’s sedan remained a few lengths behind us, never too close, never far enough to disappear from the rearview mirror. I caught sight of it more often than I meant to, and every time I did, Susan was there beside him.
The sight twisted something unpleasant inside my chest.
Anna noticed long before I spoke. She always did.
"You’ve barely looked away from that mirror," she said, her eyes fixed on the road. "Thinking?"
"I’m trying to."
A faint smile touched her lips. "No. You’re brooding."
I rested my head against the window and watched the buildings gradually give way to quieter roads lined with trees. Maybe she was right. Ever since Susan had stepped out of Ethan’s car that morning, my thoughts had refused to settle.
After a while, Anna spoke again.
"Is this about Susan?"
I didn’t answer, but I didn’t have to.
"I don’t like seeing them together either," she admitted. "Not because of Susan. I just don’t like anything that makes you look the way you do right now."
I smiled.
To change the subject, I said, "I still can’t believe Zach disappeared the moment we actually needed him."
Anna laughed softly. "A three-day technology detox."
"Exactly. Zach voluntarily staying away from a computer sounds ridiculous the more I hear it ."
"I haven’t spoken to him much lately," she said. "Not since he asked me to help with Galactic Entertainment."
I turned to her.
"You?"
She glanced at me briefly before returning her attention to the road.
"I thought you knew."
"He only told me a friend helped move Susan off Ethan’s project. He never mentioned it was you."
"I asked him not to."
"Why?"
"Because I know you." Her smile was small but knowing. "If you’d found out while I was filming overseas, you would’ve spent a week apologizing for asking for help."
"I probably would have."
"You definitely would have."
I laughed under my breath, unable to deny it.
"I knew one of the directors," she continued. "A few phone calls were enough. It wasn’t a big deal."
"It was to me."
She reached across the center console and squeezed my hand for a brief moment before letting go.
"I’ve always got your back."
There wasn’t an ounce of pride in the way she said it. To Anna, it wasn’t something worth praising. It was simply a fact.
Warmth settled quietly in my chest.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke. The engine hummed steadily beneath us while the city slowly disappeared behind rolling walls and sprawling estates.
Then, almost absently, Anna said,
"We could always get rid of Susan."
I let out a small laugh.
"You already got her transferred once."
"It wasn’t difficult."
"I don’t think that trick will work again."
"No." She considered it for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Probably not."
Another stretch of silence passed before she spoke again in the same calm, conversational tone.
"Then maybe we get rid of her permanently."
The smile faded from my face.
I turned slowly toward her, expecting to find the joke before she’d said it.
Instead, she was simply driving.
"...Anna."
"What?"
"You can’t say something like that."
She finally glanced at me, one hand resting loosely on the steering wheel.
"I was thinking out loud."
"You’re joking."
The corner of her mouth lifted ever so slightly.
"Probably."
That single word lingered between us far longer than it should have.
I searched her face, waiting for the laugh that never came. Eventually I looked away, telling myself I was reading too much into it.
That was the strange thing about Anna.
Most of the time she was the easiest person in the world to understand.
Then, every so often, she’d say something that left me wondering whether I’d missed the joke or whether there had never been one to begin with.
Another thought surfaced, refusing to leave.
"Anna?"
"Hm?"
"Have you and Ethan ever met before?"
For the first time that morning, genuine surprise crossed her face.
"What makes you ask?"
"Yesterday." I hesitated. "You told him, ’I warned you what would happen if you ever laid a hand on her.’"
She was quiet for a moment.
"I started wondering if you’d met before yesterday."
Her eyes stayed on the road.
"We haven’t."
She answered so evenly that it was impossible to tell whether she had expected the question.
"I promise."
I studied her profile for another second before nodding.
There wasn’t much else I could do.
I chose to believe her.
Neither of us spoke again.
Anna slowed the car as the massive gates began to slide open. The guards hadn’t asked for identification or even signaled for us to stop. They had recognized my car long before we reached the entrance.
She guided the vehicle through the gates and into the circular driveway beneath the front canopy, where Ethan’s sedan pulled in a few moments later. By the time we stepped out, the front doors had already opened and several men in black suits stood waiting for us. They bowed in perfect unison.
jesus , did he ship in more men ? And for what exactly? .
"Welcome home, Miss Himari."
I acknowledged them with a nod. "Where’s my grandfather?"
None of them answered. One of the guards merely stepped aside and gestured toward the entrance.
"Mr. Arashigumi is expecting you."
Of course he was.
He always seemed to know I was coming, sometimes before I’d even decided to visit.
I exchanged a brief glance with Anna before leading the way inside. She stayed close beside me while Ethan and Susan followed in silence, the heavy doors closing behind us with a muted thud that echoed through the entrance hall.
The house was exactly as I remembered it. Servants moved quietly through the corridors carrying trays, files, and polished silver, lowering their heads the instant they saw me before disappearing into adjoining rooms without a word. Back in Japan, I had mistaken that silence for discipline. Only much later did I realize it was something else entirely.
Fear.
By the time we reached the sitting room, my grandfather was already waiting.
He sat in his customary chair with one leg crossed over the other, reading through a leather-bound file as though the arrival of four unexpected guests had done nothing to interrupt his morning. Only after we entered did he look up, his gaze passing over each of us with quiet deliberation. It rested on me first, then Anna, then Susan before finally settling on Ethan.
One eyebrow rose ever so slightly.
"Ayumi," he said, closing the file with deliberate care, "it seems we’ll be needing another pot of tea."
A maid appeared almost immediately.
"Yes, Mr. Arashigumi."
She bowed and disappeared without another word.
Grandfather placed the file neatly on the table beside him and folded his hands across the armrest. He offered no greeting, no polite inquiry about why we had come. He simply waited, and somehow that silence carried more authority than any raised voice ever could.
I knew better than to rush this.
Growing up, I’d learned one lesson above all others: never force a confrontation with a man who already controlled the room.
I was still searching for the right words when Ethan stepped forward.
"Where’s Jade?"
The question landed so abruptly that I turned to him in disbelief.
"Ethan..."
"I watched him clear airport security," he continued, his voice steady despite the strain beneath it. "I watched his passport get scanned, I watched him join the boarding queue, and somewhere between that line and the aircraft he disappeared."
He never took his eyes off my grandfather.
"I believe you know what happened to him."
My heart lurched.
I reached instinctively for his sleeve and lowered my voice.
"Ethan, stop. This isn’t the way."
He gently eased his arm from my grasp. There was nothing abrupt about the gesture, only quiet resolve.
"I’m sorry for speaking so directly, sir," he said, and despite everything, respect remained in his voice. "But my friend is missing. If you know where he is, I’m asking you to tell me."
The room fell silent.
Beside me, Anna hadn’t moved. Her attention remained fixed on Ethan, studying him with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Susan stood near the doorway with her shoulders rigid, her grip tightening around the strap of her handbag as though she were preparing for the worst. Even the servants seemed to have frozen where they stood.
For several long moments, my grandfather said nothing.
Then he laughed.
It wasn’t mocking or dismissive. It was the quiet, genuine laugh of a man who had just discovered something unexpectedly interesting.
"I owe you an apology, Mr. Crux."
The words caught all of us off guard.
He leaned back in his chair, regarding Ethan with a level of attention I’d never seen him receive before.
"When we first met, I mistook you for an ordinary young man. You spoke carefully, measured every sentence, and seemed determined not to draw my attention."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Today, you’ve walked into my home, looked me in the eye, and accused me of abducting your friend."
His gaze sharpened, not with anger, but with unmistakable interest.
"That takes conviction."
He let the silence linger before inclining his head ever so slightly.
"I admire conviction."
A chill ran through me.
Most people feared my grandfather when he was angry.
I feared him far more when he was impressed.
Because very few people ever earned Mr. Arashigumi’s attention.
And those who did rarely left his world unchanged.
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