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Chapter 47: Yuriko Takagi's Story
In Japan, there is a traditional profession known as the Geisha, somewhat akin to the high-ranking courtesans of ancient times who sold their art, not their bodies.
To the common folk, it was an elevated, highly respected profession. But to the wealthy and powerful elite? The distinction between selling art and selling bodies was entirely negligible.
As the famous line from the movie Hail the Judge goes:
If I don't pay after I'm done, it doesn't count as prostitution, does it?
Yuriko's mother had been a geisha in her youth.
Thirty years ago, on the night of her debut performance, she caught the eye of Saya's grandfather, a high-ranking military officer at the time.
He had wealth and power; she had youth and beauty. Their encounter was practically written in the stars.
Perhaps contraception wasn't widespread back then, or perhaps they simply didn't bother using it.
After that night, Yuriko's mother found herself unexpectedly pregnant—an outcome that was simultaneously entirely surprising and perfectly logical.
However, Saya's grandfather was already a married man with an established family and a legitimate heir.
Naturally, he refused to let this geisha give birth to an illegitimate child. He paid her a substantial sum of money and ordered her to disappear.
But Yuriko's mother refused. Perhaps she hoped to use the child to leverage her way into the Takagi family, or perhaps the maternal instinct simply overwhelmed her.
Whatever the reason, she chose not to abort the child. She vanished and secretly gave birth to Yuriko, raising her entirely on her own.
Eventually, the Takagi family discovered Yuriko's existence. But because the child was a girl, they didn't view her as a threat to the inheritance and didn't bother making life difficult for the mother and daughter.
They even provided them with a regular, substantial stipend.
Aside from the money, there was absolutely zero interaction between them.
This arrangement continued until Yuriko graduated from university.
Yuriko had attended a highly prestigious university in the United States, majoring in finance.
Whether she possessed an innate, monstrous talent for the field or simply an impossibly sharp intuition for investments, her rise was meteoric.
During an internship on Wall Street, she executed a brilliant maneuver during a major financial crisis, making a massive name for herself practically overnight.
Following that event, Yuriko's career exploded. She quickly became one of the most powerful, sought-after female executives on Wall Street.
And it was during this peak that she crossed paths with Soichiro Takagi—Saya's father—who was in the US on business.
Soichiro was instantly captivated by Yuriko. He respected her terrifying business acumen, and simultaneously, he decided she would make the perfect stepmother for Saya.
He immediately launched an aggressive courtship.
But Yuriko was at the absolute zenith of her career, thoroughly enjoying the thrill of dominating Wall Street.
Why would she ever accept his advances, abandon the empire she had built, and willingly subjugate herself to becoming some traditional, submissive housewife?
Let alone a stepmother?
Naturally, she rejected Soichiro without a second thought.
While disappointed, Soichiro didn't stoop to petty revenge or harassment.
It wasn't until he returned to Japan and took over the family finances that he noticed a peculiar detail: the Takagi estate had been sending a large, fixed sum of money to the exact same bank account every year.
Curious, he dug into the records, only to discover the shocking truth: the brilliant Wall Street executive he had been pursuing was actually his own half-sister.
Overjoyed by this revelation, he tracked down Yuriko's mother.
No one knows exactly what agreement Soichiro reached with the aging geisha. But somehow, he convinced her to pressure Yuriko into abandoning her career in America and returning to Japan to serve the Takagi family.
Soichiro's plan succeeded.
Even though Yuriko was deeply opposed to the idea, she felt an overwhelming sense of obligation. She couldn't refuse the mother who had sacrificed everything to raise her alone, nor could she ignore the financial support the Takagi family had provided them all those years.
Compounding the issue, her return perfectly coincided with a massive global financial crisis.
Left with no other viable options, Yuriko retired at the height of her glory and integrated into the Takagi family.
As for why she eventually became known as Saya's mother?
It had absolutely nothing to do with any sort of twisted, incestuous relationship with Soichiro.
Even if Soichiro had been shameless enough to try, Yuriko certainly wasn't.
It all stemmed from a rather touching misunderstanding.
Saya's biological mother had died due to complications during childbirth.
Soichiro, like many single parents trying to protect their child from grief, told a lie.
He told a young Saya that her mother had simply gone away to a very faraway place.
As Saya grew older, she naturally began to doubt her father's story, having never once seen this mysterious mother.
It was exactly at this point that Yuriko arrived at the estate.
The moment Saya saw Yuriko, she immediately assumed this beautiful woman was the mother who had finally returned from that faraway place, and she threw herself into Yuriko's arms.
Perhaps seeing a reflection of her own fatherless childhood in the young girl, Yuriko's heart softened.
She couldn't bring herself to correct the child, and silently accepted the title of 'Mother.'
And thus, a beautiful misunderstanding was born.
If nothing had changed, this facade likely would have continued indefinitely.
But an unexpected variable was introduced into the equation.
Suyan!
Before today, Yuriko had only ever heard of Suyan through Saya's constant, frustrated complaints.
Drawing on her experience analyzing people as a Wall Street executive, she quickly deduced that the only reason Suyan consistently ranked second to Saya in academics was likely due to his Tokyo University background—he clearly didn't care about the history curriculum.
A genius with his own unshakeable convictions.
That was the mental profile Yuriko had built for Suyan before she even met him.
Then, today happened, and she saw him with her own two eyes.
She was instantly, utterly captivated.
It's a well-known adage in the world of high finance: the best investors don't invest in projects; they invest in people.
The moment Yuriko laid eyes on Suyan, her instincts screamed at her that this boy was the single greatest investment opportunity in the entire world.
It was like a modern historian transmigrating to ancient China and stumbling across a young Qin Shi Huang.
She physically couldn't suppress the overwhelming urge to invest everything she had into him.
As for the Takagi family?
Her mother had passed away several years ago. Yuriko felt that the immense wealth and power she had secured for the Takagi family over the years more than repaid any debt she owed them.
More importantly, a horrific zombie apocalypse had suddenly erupted, completely devastating Tokonosu City.
And yet, the Takagi family—the most deeply entrenched power in the city—had received absolutely no prior warning or intelligence.
To a seasoned investor trained to read the writing on the wall, this meant one of two things:
Either the entire country of Japan was doomed, or Tokonosu City was doomed.
But regardless of which scenario played out, the conclusion was identical: the Takagi family was utterly finished.
If Suyan had shown any interest in Saya, there might have been a slim chance to salvage the family.
But unfortunately, when she tested the waters, Suyan had rejected Saya without hesitation specifically because of her family's political background.
Therefore, Yuriko was left with only one logical choice.
Bet her entire life, her entire future, on the most promising 'project' she had ever seen.
Suyan!
Having finished her story, Yuriko blinked playfully at Suyan. "So, Suyan... are you interested in accepting my investment?"
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