Realizing what was going on, Ueguchi was just about to call Dōmoku Kai to apologize when his number popped up on her screen.

"Ueguchi, my arm's broken. That girl we hit earlier brought someone to do it."

Ueguchi was first shocked—then relieved.

Thank goodness she hadn't been the one who laid hands on the girl.

Otherwise, she'd be the one in Dōmoku Kai's position now.

"Damn Kansai brat, just wait."

"I'll make them pay."

Hearing the deep hatred in his voice, Ueguchi was about to stop him. But then she thought—someone had to take the fall for what happened.

Dōmoku Kai was the one who hit her. There's no way they'd forgive him.

Was it really worth sacrificing herself to protect someone like him?

If he hadn't acted, she wouldn't be in this mess at all.

Having made up her mind, she switched to a worried tone. "Oh no!"

"Dōmoku, are you okay?"

"That awful girl from out of town… Listen, I'll send you some money. Go get your arm treated. I'll report this to the police."

Hearing her concern, Dōmoku Kai's heart warmed.

True friendship in hard times!

She's even willing to lend me money—she really… I could cry!

After convincing him to go to the hospital, Ueguchi grabbed her coat and used her connections to find out which hospital Aoyama Nanami was in.

On the way, she even contacted Dōmoku Kai's wife.

Since she had decided to throw him under the bus, she would do it thoroughly—leave him no room to recover.

She had video evidence of him ordering takeout at another woman's place, and his wife had been thinking of divorcing him.

This could be decisive proof.

Of course, that alone wasn't enough.

His phone held dirt on her too. She planned to work with his wife and mistress to set him up.

…

Fifteen minutes later, Ueguchi appeared at Aoyama Nanami's hospital room.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Aoyama!"

As soon as she entered and saw Nanami lying in bed, Ueguchi didn't hesitate.

She broke into a running start and slid to her knees with both hands braced forward, slamming her head onto the floor in a full-blown "Tiger Pounce" bow.

The movement was fluid and executed with such impact that Nanami froze mid-bite into her apple.

She couldn't even finish it.

In stunned silence, she watched Ueguchi stay bowed in a perfect dogeza, tears streaming down her face.

"I know this apology is late. What happened today was entirely my fault. Miss Aoyama, I truly realize my mistake. Please, I beg you—give me another chance!"

A wise person adapts to the situation.

Ueguchi may have had many flaws, but she always knew when to yield.

This wasn't the time to care about pride. Pride was worthless right now. Her career came first.

Compared to that, dignity and principles meant nothing.

If it would get her forgiven, she was willing to strip down and crawl through Ginza like a dog.

"Miss Ueguchi, what are you saying?"

Aoyama Nanami was stunned for a moment, then quickly got out of bed and tried to help her up.

But Ueguchi remained prostrate, crying, "Miss Aoyama, please forgive me! This job is very important to me. I beg you, just give me a chance to make amends!"

Ueguchi had crossed many people in the industry.

But they were all people she could afford to cross.

She wasn't afraid of them.

But if she fell from grace, they'd all come out to stomp her.

"Miss Aoyama, my father passed away when I was little. My mother raised me all by herself. I still have to support her. Please, Miss Aoyama, have a little compassion."

Trembling, Ueguchi pulled out her wallet and showed a photo of her and her mother.

Her mother had graying hair and a kind face. Young Ueguchi in the picture wore an innocent smile.

Aoyama Nanami was moved, but still confused.

"Miss Ueguchi, I can see this is serious, but please calm down and tell me what's happened so I can actually help."

Ueguchi Megumi looked up and saw that Aoyama Nanami was genuinely confused, her wide-eyed expression as clear and naive as ever.

It was obvious she had no idea what was going on.

So Ueguchi explained everything from start to finish.

After hearing it, Aoyama Nanami immediately thought of Takashi.

Among all the people she knew, only Takashi could pull off something like this.

Even though she thought Takashi had gone a bit too far, just knowing the manager had stood up for her gave Aoyama Nanami an odd sense of warmth and sweetness in her chest.

At first, she had even been a little upset with Takashi for not staying with her when she got hurt.

So it turned out... he'd gone to get revenge for her.

"Miss Ueguchi, it's not really up to me," Nanami said.

"How about this—I'll give my manager a call and ask."

She picked up her phone, while Ueguchi Megumi remained kneeling on the ground the whole time, not daring to move a muscle.

An apology should be done properly.

Of course, she also wanted to stick around to find out exactly who this "manager" Aoyama Nanami kept mentioning was.

If it really was someone powerful, shouldn't she cling to them tightly?

"Uh, hello?"

The phone rang for a long while before it was finally picked up.

"Manager, are you free right now?"

Slurp slurp...

"You... gulp... talk."

Hearing the sound of what seemed like a puppy lapping up water on the other end, Nanami felt something was off.

And was she just imagining it?

Was that a faint moaning sound in the background?

And... was it a woman?

"Manager, what are you doing?" Nanami couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"Drinking water."

Takashi's response was brief.

Then came the sound again—slurp slurp slurp.

"Why does your drinking sound so weird? It's like a puppy lapping up water."

Takashi's tone turned slightly impatient. "Just get to the point. I'm busy right now—about to close a billion-yen deal."

Hearing he had a huge business deal coming up, Nanami didn't want to delay and immediately explained how Ueguchi had come looking for her.

"Oh~"

Takashi sounded a little surprised.

He hadn't expected the woman to react so decisively.

If it were some pretentious "goddess" type, even knowing she was in the wrong, she would've refused to apologize.

This woman wasn't stupid. Interesting.

Takashi stopped drinking, raised his head, and was just about to speak when Hitomi pushed him down hard.

"Don't talk. Eat!"

Takashi: "..."

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20 Advanced Chapters available on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics

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