The Family Gathering (4 PM)
The Kevi mansion’s dining hall looked more like a throne room than a place for meals.
A long marble table.
Crystal chandeliers.
Silence sharp enough to cut skin.
Lady Shizuka sat at the head—elegant, unreadable.
At her right was the man from the airport—a tall, sharp-faced figure with cold eyes.
Mr. Kaito.
Her new husband , meikasa stepdad.
And the operational head of Kevi Corporation.
Yumiko sat further down the table, smiling nervously when she spotted Meikasa.
The doors opened.
Everyone turned
expecting Mekisa in the designer dress laid out for her.
Instead, she wore a crisp black blazer, white shirt, fitted pants. Clean. Sharp. Her style. Not Shizuka’s.
A deliberate act of rebellion.
Mekisa bowed slightly.
“Let’s begin.”
The first strike was hers.
They sat.
Kaito studied her like a specimen.
Yumiko watched her like a newly found sister.
Shizuka smiled like a queen entertaining a challenger.
Midway through the meal, Shizuka elegantly tapped her glass.
“Mekisa, about the Sunshine Orphanage.”
“The board has approved its deconstruction. It is unsafe.
And you need to detach from your past to grow.”
The test.
The trap.
The room went silent.
Mekisa calmly opened her portfolio, pulled out a single document, and slid it across the table.
“Then this must interest you.”
Kaito raised a brow.
Shizuka’s eyes narrowed.
He picked up the paper.
His expression shifted subtly.
It was a preliminary injunction filing, drafted flawlessly.
Claiming that dismantling Sunshine Orphanage—now a subsidiary asset—
without full board review
violated shareholder rights and corporate fiduciary duty.
As a 5% shareholder, she had grounds to halt the entire project.
Mekisa spoke without fear.
“The orphanage is a public relations asset."
“Destroying it harms company image.
Therefore, I formally request that the matter be tabled until the next board meeting.”
Her tone was polite.
Sharp.
Deadly.
Shizuka’s smile cracked for a split second.
Kaito… chuckled.
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
Yumiko whispered under her breath:
“She’s… incredible.”
The first rule of war:
Never let the enemy choose the battlefield.
Mekisa chose hers.
Live press report residual next day by mekisa
After Dinner
The moment the dinner ended, Shizuka grabbed Yukiro’s arm in the hallway.
“Control her.”
“Distract her. Stop her legal games. And report everything she does.”
Her tone was velvet over poison.
Yukiro bowed stiffly.
Later, he found Mekisa in her room, standing by the window.
He opened his mouth—
“Mekisa… she’s planning—”
She didn’t turn.
“Schedule me a meeting tomorrow with the head of the Kevi Foundation’s charity wing.”
He froze.
“…What?”
“I’m insulating the orphanage’s funding legally.
It will no longer be controlled by the corporate board.”
Yukiro stepped closer, confused, tense.
“That’s not what Lady Shizuka wants.”
Mekisa finally turned, eyes razor-sharp.
“Yukiro.”
“Are you my assistant… or her spy?”
The air between them burned.
Yukiro felt something inside him twist in pain.
Finally—
“…I’ll arrange the meeting.”
Midnight
Her laptop pinged.
Unknown ID:
“Good first move.”
Another message:
“But Kaito is not your ally.”
Mekisa’s fingers stopped.
“Why help me?” she typed.
No answer.
Instead, a photo loaded:
A younger Mr. Kaito…
shaking hands with her father.
Her breath caught.
The connection cut off abruptly.
Mekisa stared at the photo, pulse trembling.
Her father.
Kaito.
Shizuka.
The conspiracy around his death…
The reason Mekisa was hidden…
The power struggle…
It wasn’t a simple mother-daughter fight.
It was a war.
A three-sided war or multiple - sided war .
Chapter 12 end ~
Thanks for reading
Next chapter on Wednesday.
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