75 75. Behind Her Iron Face


    Pa walked out of the room, seeing a janitor who was on the phone in the elevator. The janitor smiled kindly at Pa as he put his cell phone in his pocket. He also held the elevator door open to allow Pa to use the same elevator.


    Pa quickly got into the elevator because she was in a hurry. “Thank you!” said Pa, returning the man’s smile with the same friendliness. She then quickly pressed the number fifteen button. However, it turns out that the elevator was heading downwards.


    “Oh my gosh!” Paughed at her clumsiness. She looked at the janitor andughed together.


    “It is going down,” the man said, pointing down with his left finger. He was afraid that Pa wouldn’t understand Japanese.


    Pa graciously nodded with a smile, indicating that she understood the man’snguage.


    “Do you want to go to the fifteenth floor?” the man asked again. “Strange. People rarely go there.”


    People don’t usually ask about other people’s business. However, Pa tried to understand because the man was probably just an old man who wanted to know about other people’s business.


    “I have something to do with ...,” Pa replied, pausing because she didn’t know what to say. “I made an appointment with a friend.” She forced a light smile on her lips.


    After reaching the first floor, Pa exited the elevator for a while to allow the janitor to freely move the cleaning equipment. She kindly held the open button for him. She then quickly reentered the elevator and pressed the fifteenth button, the highest floor in the building.


    .....


    As the elevator went up, Pa’s heart skipped a beat, imagining what she was going to do in the next few minutes. Her heart clenched, as she recalled the memories of the past few days she spent with Miyuki.


    The elevator stopped on the fifteenth floor. Pa waited for the elevator door to fully open before stepping out of the elevator. On the side of the ss window, she saw a shoulder-length ck-haired young woman waiting for her.


    “Am Ite?” Pa asked, making the girl turn around. Pa’s voice was normal, not as lowered as usual. Of course, this time she didn’t need to lower her voice because everything was exposed. There was nothing she had to hide from anyone.


    “No. How could you bete?” Miyuki smiled widely, admiring Pa’s graceful moves. “I was the one who got here too early. Fifteen minutes ahead of our appointment.”


    Pa returned Miyuki’s smile and sighed softly. She looked at Miyuki with an unreadable expression. She observed Miyuki with her signature simple-and-unfashionable appearance.


    “You look very happy. Something good happened?” Shemented on Miyuki’s more enthusiastic attitude than usual.


    “Of course, I’m happy because this weekend we can go strawberry picking without any burdens on our shoulders.” Miyuki smiled widely, baring her crooked teeth, making her look even cuter.


    In the past, Pa liked Miyuki’s smile. A very rare smile because Miyuki often wore an expressionless iron face.


    “Are you tired? Or sick?” asked Miyuki who saw Pa’s unenthusiasm. Pa’s face was too stiff for someone toe out as a victor. “On the third floor of this building, near the dentist’s office, there is a doctor’s clinic. Do you want me to apany you?”


    Pa shook her head slowly, leaning her back against the ss window. She smiled bitterly at Miyuki. “I’m just disappointed,” she replied as she stared at Miyuki intently.


    “To whom?” Miyuki asked curiously, her smile was fading away, revealing the usual Miyuki. She noticed Pa’s strange behavior. “Anything else?”


    “I’m disappointed in you,” Pa replied tly, looking deeply into Miyuki’s jet-ck eyes with her dark-blue eyes.


    Miyuki’s face suddenly turned pale. She just stared at Pa for a few moments and didn’t say anything. Pa only received one signal from Miyuki’s response. The woman she trusted was indeed guilty.


    “What did I do wrong? Didn’t I do all the tasks properly? I’ve even shown you proof that Kato was behind all of this,” Miyuki demanded an answer from Pa. Her trembling hands held the galvalume frame on the ss window by the stairs.


    “You were trying to me Ken for all this, weren’t you?” Pa asked in a very cynical tone. “You were the one who said that Ken and Akane were dating and even arranged for their meeting to have dinner at the same ce as Samuel and I were that night.”


    Miyuki was furious and trembling at the same time. She was still trying to defend herself. “Wasn’t Kato the one who did it? It was Kato who framed Ken.”


    Pa shook her head. “When you realized that I wasn’t sure Ken was the traitor, you then leaked Kato’s actions and made him bear the sin by showing this evidence to me.” Pa showed the electronic message that Miyuki gave to Pa. “You don’t want to get your hands dirty, so from the start, you must have asked Akane to persuade Kato for betraying my father.”


    Akane shook her head. “Don’t use me carelessly, Pa!”


    Pa smiled weakly, “You still want to dodge it, huh?” She then opened her handbag and picked up the envelope, taking out a photo showing Miyuki and Akane meeting at a nightclub in the suburbs. Akane and Miyuki were at a lesbian nightclub. They were a couple.


    Miyuki’s hands were shaking violently. Her eyes popped out, staring at the photo in Pa’s hand in disbelief. “Where did you get that photo from?”


    “It doesn’t matter,” Pa said, squinting. “It’s you and Akane!”


    “I’m doing this to get information from Akane! You shouldn’t just believe false information that-”


    “This photo was taken a year ago. Long before this scandal happened. Long before Akane opened her business. What information would you like to get from her? Who asked you to do that?” Pa smiled mockingly. “A dog that bites the person who feeds it. Is that for you?”


    “Pa I don’t-”


    Pa yed the audio on her cell phone showing Miyuki’s betrayal. It was Miyuki who had been bringing thepany’s detailed designs to Akane. She stole from the design team by taking advantage of their carelessness.


    “Do you still want to deny it? These proofs were too obvious to anyone, Miyuki. You are a traitor!”


    Miyuki lowered her head, her hands clenched in hatred. She didn’t think that her n would be ruined. She was a confidant of Robert and Pa. She should have escaped suspicion.


    “Miyuki .... You even take advantage of this for personal gain. You want to buy useless products for a third of the price, don’t you? You are selling them in Dubai under your brand.”


    Miyuki’s face, which had been looking down, then looked up at Pa in disbelief. “What do you mean?”


    “Are you surprised? Who doesn’t know it’s you? I found it strange from the start that Salwa didn’t mind the product whose designs had been stolen. Without hesitation, she wanted to add her brand printed on the products. Funny, no? Why wasn’t she afraid of being sued? This means, you guys are working together,” Pa said angrily and disgustedly to Miyuki. “How dare you betray our trust!”


    Only silence was around them. Neither Miyuki nor Pa were throwing words at each other.


    “It’s all thanks to Robert!” “He’s the one who bankrupted my family, forcing my father tomit suicide,” Miyuki raged.


    “What do you mean? Wasn’t my father the one who helped you?”


    “Help? Buying ourpany at a low price, do you call that help?” Miyuki raged.


    “Miyuki. In this world, business is business. All transactions are carried out with the consent of both parties!”


    “Nonsense!”


    “Miyuki! Be aware! I don’t want to tell you this! But it was your father who asked my father for help. He offered the low price because my father was not rich back then. Your father needed the money to cover unpaid sries for his employees. In addition, my father sent money for your family’s monthly expenses and paid for the education of you and your younger siblings even though your father refused,” Pa shouted, revealing what she should have kept secret so Miyuki wouldn’t feel embarrassed.


    “You’re lying!” Miyuki shook her head. Tears rolled down her cheeks.


    Pa shook her head, she also had tears in her eyes, feeling guilty for saying that to Miyuki.


    “I don’t want you to end up in prison. However, I had no choice. Thew must be upheld,” Pa said as she put the envelope back in her bag.


    Unfortunately, Miyuki did not ept Pa’s treatment. She ran to Pa, trying to snatch the evidence away.


    “You can’t imprison me! My mother and sister must not know about this!” Miyuki pulled Pa’s handbag with full force.


    However, Miyuki pulled too hard. Pa was holding on to her bag strongly. There was a strong tug of war near the stairs. Unfortunately, due to Pa’s tug, Miyuki was about to fall because she was leaning back too much. Pa, who knew it, immediately grabbed Miyuki’s hand to keep her from falling down the stairs.


    However, Pa’s leg sprained, and she couldn’t keep her bnce. Thanks to that, she was about to fall.


    “No! My baby!”