Only I, Her Future Husband, Know How to Make Her Act All Lovey-Dovey - Chapter 3.1

“Future” – Encounter with Yuki Arisugawa I

Some day in 2020.

“Please! I beg you, grant us the loan!”

In a private room of a high-class restaurant in Akasaka, a middle-aged man was bowing his shiny, bald head before me in desperate supplication.

His name was Shigeyuki Arisugawa, the president of Alice Core, a major corporation employing over two thousand people.

“As much as I’d like to help, we don’t exactly have resources to spare.” 

“I promise to repay you within three years—with interest! Please, I beg you!”

I sighed, annoyed by the troublesome situation.

Alice Core, Arisugawa’s company, manufactured control system components for automobiles, supplying them in large quantities to well-known Japanese car manufacturers. 

However, the company faced a severe issue—a critical shortage of semiconductors.

The COVID-19 pandemic had dramatically increased the demand for personal computers due to the rise of remote work, leading to skyrocketing semiconductor prices and widespread shortages. 

Naturally, control system components for vehicles also relied on semiconductors, dealing a heavy blow to Alice Core.

Under normal circumstances, this level of adversity wouldn’t have been fatal to the company. 

Unfortunately, the timing was terrible.

Three years earlier, Alice Core had constructed numerous factories to ramp up production.

Sensing early signs of recovery in the automotive industry, they had invested massive capital. 

The industry indeed rebounded as predicted.

What they hadn’t foreseen was the severe semiconductor shortage coinciding with this timing.

No matter how high the demand, a lack of supply rendered it meaningless. 

Burdened with enormous debt, Alice Core had been scrambling for funding—so much so that they’d come to me, a rival company, for a loan.

“No matter how many times you ask, it’s simply impossible.” 

This was going nowhere. Just as I prepared to leave—

“Wait! Please, hear me out. I’m not asking you to do this for free.”

“?!”

Arisugawa stood and called toward the adjoining room.

“Come in.”

The sliding fusuma door opened, and a woman stepped into the room.

She was a stunning beauty with silver hair, dressed in a business suit.

Her features suggested a Western—perhaps Nordic—origin, with alabaster lashes and sapphire-like eyes. 

Her face was strikingly refined, and she appeared to be in her early twenties.

“This is my daughter, Yuki Arisugawa.”

His daughter?!

She bore no resemblance to him. 

Judging by her foreign features, she was likely of mixed heritage, with a Japanese father and a foreign mother.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Yuki Arisugawa…”

She knelt on the tatami and bowed deeply. 

Her silver hair shimmered faintly, and the jewel-like gleam of her eyes peeked through her bangs. 

Yet, those sapphire eyes seemed clouded, tinged with a hint of darkness.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” 

“Ah, yes… She is very beautiful.” 

I responded, though confused by the abrupt introduction.

“Exactly! Even you think so, don’t you?”

Arisugawa’s breathing grew heavy. 

What’s going on here?

“So, why are you introducing her now? Has she been waiting in the other room without eating?”

“Ah, well, that’s because…”

Arisugawa rubbed his hands together obsequiously.

“If you agree to provide the loan, you can do whatever you want with her body.”

“…What?”

My mind blanked at his outrageous proposal.

“I don’t think you’ll find a woman of such beauty anywhere, no matter how much money you offer.” 

Arisugawa declared, pushing Yuki forward.

Yuki averted her gaze, clearly embarrassed.

Unsatisfied with my lack of reaction, Arisugawa turned to her.

“Yuki, isn’t it warm with all those layers? Take them off.”

“……”

“Take them off!”

Yuki bit her lip, then slowly removed her coat.

“Your suit too. This room’s heated—you’ll be fine with just your shirt.”

“Yes…”

Sweat had soaked her shirt beneath the coat, clinging tightly to her skin, revealing the outline of her pale body.

Her black undergarments, seemingly chosen to impress, stood out starkly.

“She’s untouched—a pure maiden.” 

Arisugawa added smugly.

Yuki flushed red with humiliation.

Seeing a father subject his daughter to such indignity ignited a fury within me.

I picked up my suit jacket and tossed it to her.

“You call yourself a parent?”

“Of course, this pains me as her father. But she’s agreed to this for the company’s sake. It’s breaking my heart…”

Lies.

I clenched my fists tightly.

I had seen enough people to know. 

Arisugawa didn’t see his daughter as anything but a tool.

I wanted to punch that smirking face of his, but that would play right into his hands.

Calm down.

Breathe.

I just need to refuse.

But then, a thought struck me.

If I refuse, what will happen to her?

Arisugawa will simply take her elsewhere, presenting her to other companies. 

Someone would inevitably agree to his terms.

She sat curled like an abandoned kitten, her expression hidden beneath her bangs.

But I thought I heard her silently plead:

“Help me.”

“…May I have some time to think?”

I needed to clear my head.

As I walked past Arisugawa toward the restroom, I saw the twisted grin on his face. 

It took all my willpower not to lash out.