Only yours

Influence of Family

Four days. I had been sitting on the other side of the world for four days, still waiting for those damn DNA results. My father said he would reschedule my appointments, ha! He simply moved most of them to video conferences, leaving me buried in work. I had 20 minutes until the next meeting, enough time to check in with the police again. Yesterday, I had been at the police station again, applying more pressure; I urgently needed results. I dialed the extension of the responsible commissioner.

"Gomes." "Hello, Mr. Gomes. Diamond Prince here. I just wanted to check if there's any news." I could hear him exhaling in annoyance. "Mr. Prince, I was just about to call you. I have good news. The body is not your brother."

Even though I had expected this, I didn't know if I should be relieved. Of course, it was my brother, and we had had a great time together in the past, but he remained a threat to Usagi and to our family's reputation.

"Good, thank you."

This meant that Saphir had been completely off the grid for almost a week; neither his jet nor his accounts showed any activity linked to him. I was back to square one.

Call Father. "Yes?" "It's not him." "Where is he?" "No idea." "Are you coming back to Tokyo?" "Yes, in the next few days. I need to be at the board meeting." "Good. Let me know if you learn anything new."

I filled my coffee cup for the umpteenth time. It was going to be a long night. Budget meeting for the new hotel project. Annoyed, I flipped through the figures, already suspecting we were far over the original estimates. We urgently needed to cut costs somewhere. I accepted the video call.

The meeting lasted almost four hours. It was just before midnight, and my head was spinning. Naturally, everyone wanted to push their agenda, and I had to try to distribute the money fairly. It turned out to be quite challenging, but eventually, we got through it. At least for now.

I set my alarm and fell into bed. There was one upside to being so buried in work—I could at least temporarily avoid thinking about Usagi and that guy. I should inform her tomorrow about what I had found out.

I started my morning, as I had the last few days, with another hour of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It helped me work off some energy and clear my mind. Right after, I had a conference call with Massaru. He had emailed me numerous documents that I needed to process. At least that was going smoothly. I glanced at the clock. It was early evening in Tokyo; Usagi should be off work by now. I pulled up her number and waited briefly before hitting call. Suddenly, that familiar inner tension returned.

It rang often, very often; I was already expecting to reach her voicemail. "Yes?" she whispered. "Finally! Why did it take so long?" I replied impatiently. "Hello, Diamond. Nice to hear your voice too. Thanks for asking, I'm doing well," she said playfully. "Cut that out, Usagi." I could do without such games. "I just wanted to let you know that I'll be back in Tokyo next week. Stay cautious. There's still no sign of Saphir. A body was found, but under my insistence, it was confirmed yesterday that it wasn't Saphir."

Silence fell. I could only hear her steady breathing. "Okay. When next week?" she asked as she collected herself. "I don't know yet. I'll let you know, then we can talk." I hung up.

Her voice had completely thrown me off. I urgently needed a distraction. The laptop was in front of me, so I started going through the emails from Massaru, burying my head in the documents and shutting out my surroundings. Time flew by. Late in the evening, however, I received one last email from Massaru, the subject of which made me tense up.

Subject: Usagi Tsukino, Seiya Kou

Attached was a link. I hesitated briefly before clicking on it.

*** 2 of 3 Kou brothers in relationships? Who are the beautiful blondes by their sides? ***

The headline jumped out at me. So it was true. There were numerous pictures clearly showing Usagi with the dark-haired guy, holding hands and cuddling in the cinema seats.

I stared at the images as if hypnotized, forcing myself to breathe evenly. Call Massaru. "Yes, boss?" "Are the articles online yet?" "Not yet, but I can't hold them back much longer." "Remove all pictures where Ms. Tsukino is clearly visible. I need to speak with her first." "Are you sure?" "Yes. Use family influence or come up with something else!" "I'll do my best." "If necessary, just buy the place. No articles featuring Usagi's pictures until I've spoken with her!" "I'll take care of it."

I threw my phone against the wall and watched it shatter into pieces. Great, that would be the first thing I had to deal with tomorrow. The pictures of Usagi and that Seiya were still open in full view. I shut the laptop. This couldn't go on; I needed to figure out where I stood.

Saturday night, I finally headed home, as there was nothing more I could do here, and the need to clarify things with Usagi was growing. However, my father had other plans for me. After I landed sometime Sunday afternoon, he intercepted me at the airport. Briefing.

I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and quickly jotted down a few lines, sealed it in an envelope, and handed it to Massaru. "Massaru, please deliver this message to Ms. Tsukino. I want her picked up by a driver after work tomorrow." I gave the instructions succinctly and got into the other car. Soon after, we arrived at my father's estate.

"Diamond, sit down." Father greeted me upon my arrival. Kunzite and Kaori were also seated at the well-laid table.

We started with superficial topics—what new projects were on the horizon, how well the previous investments were doing, and whether there were any interesting properties on the market. But when Father broached the subject of Saphir, I noticed Kaori watching me closely.

"I thought you two had the situation under control. How is it possible that no one knows where Saphir is?" "Father, he can't hide forever without money. As soon as we see any movement in the accounts, we'll find him." I tried to reassure him. "I don't want any scandals! Our reputation is at stake," he insisted. "Uncle, we will handle it. Diamond has already taken precautions for Usagi," Kunzite interjected. Father looked at me, and I nodded in agreement. "Haruka Tenou is providing personal protection, and she has also given her a GPS bracelet with an SOS function." However, Kaori's gaze grew increasingly curious, like an animal that had picked up a scent. "Who is Usagi? Will I get to meet her soon?" "No," I replied curtly. "Why not? Apparently, everyone here knows who she is, except for me." "That's for the best, little witch." "No one would tolerate you for long, Prince of the Underworld." "Kaori, that's enough. Ms. Tsukino is under our family's protection until we can place Saphir in an appropriate facility. Everything else is irrelevant. Diamond knows how to conduct himself and what is expected of him." My father interrupted before I could respond.

Yes, of course, I knew what he expected. If it were up to him, I would have been married years ago, of course to a woman from the upper class, and there would be an army of grandchildren around him carrying on our name. However, I had painstakingly disabused him of that notion over the years. I repeatedly told him that I would never marry and that he shouldn't expect any grandchildren from me. Even though it was hard for him to accept, he eventually respected my decision and had started to overwhelm me with work. His way of showing disapproval for my behavior, but I bore it with grace. My choice, my consequences to bear.

Kaori was still casting suspicious glances my way. Even though she was now keeping quiet, I knew she was well-connected. She had my first and last name, and that was all she needed to gather information.

"Have you chosen a facility yet, Uncle?" Kunzite asked with interest. "Not yet, but I will be visiting a few soon. I have one more question. Who among you can explain the purchase of that gossip magazine? The price was outrageous." I needed to appear calm and professional. "I bought it so we can directly control part of the online media and be at the source through the editors in case something unpleasant arises. So far, our influence has only been on Japanese press; this gives us new opportunities."

"Did you even consider the price beforehand? You could have bought three newspapers for that," my father grumbled, still irritated. "It's a globally successful online magazine. Its market value is on a steady upward trend. I'm confident it was a good investment," I explained my decision logically. Numbers were what interested him the most, closely followed by our reputation and influence. That seemed to soften him a bit.

The remaining conversations passed me by. I was a master at appearing interested while tuning out. My mind was already on tomorrow. On the conversation with Usagi.