S C A N D A L

Chapter Twenty-Five

Shiro thought he recalled Izanagi Ishimoto mentioning before that Kei had been betrothed to his daughter since junior high. That was around 14-15 years of age. It wasn't surprising to Shiro, given that wealthy families were known to betroth their children at such a young age to either secure financial stability or partnership with another clan. But Kurou had met and become friends with Kei in junior high and they too became engaged sometime in college, where he also met Eri, the diplomat's daughter. Shiro found this unusual, which meant that Kei had known Eri first but never introduced her to Kurou until college.

"Kurou only found out about their engagement during senior year in college," Shichiro explained this to him after forwarding the result of the investigation that Takeo Matsumoto arranged about Kei many years ago when they found out that Kurou intended to marry the young man.

Shiro took the time to study the documents but he didn't ask Shichiro to leave the office. "So, Kurou had no idea that Kei knew the Ishimoto family before him?"

"That is correct."

He leaned on his executive chair frowning slightly. "You said my father-in-law had him investigated at the request of my mother-in-law, did I understand that correctly?"

"Yes..."

"So, they were suspecting him too. I'm confused. Izanagi Ishimoto became friends with Takeo Oto-san because he saved his life. I'm certain, Izanagi met Kurou before and must've known that Kurou's in love with Kei. If he had his daughter betrothed with Kei at a young age, why didn't he bring this up early on? Why did he wait for Kei to break Kurou's heart? I'm sure, father-in-law wasn't aware who Kei was until Kurou introduced him."

Masaru who arrived a little later took a seat beside Shichiro and offered an explanation after hearing the last part. "Takeo-san believed that Izanagi may not be aware of Kei and Kurou too."

Shiro nodded. "That's plausible too, but...Eri knew everything. She was obsessed with Kei. Envious of Kurou." He read the investigation again and found one vital piece of information that was somewhat incomplete. Shiro asked, "It says here that Kei was adopted by the Nakajima family at the age of five?"

Shichiro, "Yes, Shiro-san. But Takeo-san ordered to stop the investigation..."

"I'm assuming Kurou found out that his parents hired someone to investigate Kei?"

Both Masaru and Shichiro were discomfited but nodded their heads. Shiro sighed, "It's fine. I understand that at this point, Kurou must've been so in love with Kei that he was blindsided. But I also know that my husband wasn't an idiot. It wasn't that Kurou feared commitment or marriage. It was because he could feel that Kei only wanted to marry him because he wanted something from him. This was the reason why he couldn't completely devote his whole heart to the relationship."

Masaru agreed with this, "It was most likely the reason why Kei broke up with him."

"Or..." Shiro thought for a moment. "...he used it as a reason to end the relationship. As I've said before, I don't trust that man. Kei knew that Kurou was in love with him and would do everything for him. But when he felt that Kurou was slowly realizing that this wasn't the kind of love or relationship he wanted, he went back to Eri, broke his heart, and in order to not put all the blame on himself, he used the reason that Kurou wasn't completely devoted and didn't love him as much as he thought."

They both stared in amazement at how serious and intellectual Shiro was and the way he assessed the whole situation. It was like he could read everyone's mind. If they didn't know that he grew up at Ehime, they would think Shiro must've been living in the city for a long while.

"That's...how can you tell that's the case?" Masaru felt the need to ask.

Shiro shrugged. "Because that's how a manipulator behaves," he simply stated. "My father...he was a dominant man. At least, in my mom's case. He would undermine my mom's grasp of reality and master the ability to dole out guilt." He chuckled as he recalled how his father talked to his mother as if she was a marionette. "I haven't met Kei yet but in my opinion and based on what I know about him, he is an emotional black hole. He seems to know when to strategically share facts about himself and withhold other truths. Like how he knew Eri but didn't feel the need to tell Kurou about her and waited until they met in college. Let's not also forget, that Kurou was engaged to him at some point. Imagine what Eri must've felt when she learned about it, knowing that since junior high, Kei was supposed to belong to her. Isn't that strange? Supposed that Izanagi-san didn't know anything that was happening behind his back, I spoke with him and he seemed rather protective of his daughter. I would assume, it was only because of his daughter that he kept his mouth shut about Kei."