I Was Abandoned by My Fiancé and Betrayed by My Best Friend—A Story from Rock Bottom - Chapter 8

I, Hiroyasu Sanekoji, was in a state of intense turmoil.

That day, I had summoned my fiancée, Miharu Udo, to a restaurant, declared our engagement null and void, and sent her away.

After that, I enjoyed an extravagant dinner with Kaya Rindo, believing I had successfully eliminated the root cause of my misfortune as planned.

I never doubted that this would turn things around.

—But from the next day onward, the world transformed completely.

When I arrived at work, several professional blunders I thought I had buried were exposed all at once.

At first, I suspected Miharu was behind it, but she had never shown the slightest interest in my work.

Besides, after that day, she never appeared before us again.

Whether she was the type to scheme behind the scenes. I knew better than anyone.

That day, I was thoroughly reprimanded by my boss and denounced by the president and the board in an emergency meeting.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Leaks to the media turned it into news, and the company’s stock price plummeted.

The office was in chaos.

I was beside myself with anxiety.

As I scrambled to contain the fallout and explain myself, I had no time left for Kaya.

Even so, she believed in me and stood by me.

—And that only made the burden feel heavier.

Past mistakes were dredged up one after another. My colleagues and superiors in the department worked frantically to manage the situation, while I faced daily interrogations.

Why?

Why was all this happening at once?

No answers came, only the relentless pressure closing in.

Then, a health checkup revealed a malignant tumor, and surgery was scheduled.

The doctor said, “It’s good we caught it early,” but that was the last thing I needed to hear.

Around that time, the women I’d been seeing started breaking up with me one after another.

They must have seen the news.

I cut them all off to avoid the hassle, but my spirit was wearing thin.

And then, the incident I had most wanted to conceal came to light.

It was brought up in a board meeting. A formal apology, a hefty compensation, and a demotion were decided.

The company avoided making it public, but my future was ruined.

…Damn it.

—Just what did I do to deserve this!?

My days were spent drowning in alcohol and cigarettes, barely holding onto my sanity.

—Even so, Kaya was the only one who still believed in me.

But by then, I had lost all capacity for sound judgment.

I began to blame everything on Kaya, who had drawn me into the plan in the first place.

And then—a few days ago, after spending the night with Kaya, I broke up with her unilaterally.

She resisted tearfully, but I forced my way through.

After that, she packed her things and left without a word.

…But surely, this would turn things around.

No, it had to.

—I’m not finished yet… I can’t be finished!

◇　◇　◇

That day, I left the office with a colleague to visit a client.

Walking through the bustling streets of the business district in the early afternoon, my mind was filled with excuses and damage control plans.

“Hiroyasu, be careful today. We’re sick of cleaning up your mess.”

My colleague joked lightly beside me.

“Sorry, I know.”

I gave a slight bow in response and adjusted my tie.

—Just around the corner, our destination building would come into view.

The moment I thought that, a chill ran down my spine.

A black shadow darted into the edge of my vision.

A single figure.

Dressed entirely in black, with a mask covering even their eyes.

A random attacker!?

I sensed it intuitively.

“Wh—!?”

Before I could scream, a blade flashed.

My colleague reacted first.

But…

“Whoa!”

The attacker’s blade left a straight cut on my colleague’s arm.

He screamed, clutching his arm as he collapsed.

Red spread across his white shirt.

“Wha…!”

No time to process the situation. The shadow charged at me.

I instinctively leaped backward.

A sharp pain shot through my left arm, blood seeping through my sleeve.

The trajectory had shifted. If I hadn’t learned self-defense, it would have been bad.

—I had been a hair’s breadth from death.

“Damn it!”

Even so, I reached out instinctively.

As we passed each other, I grabbed the mask and tore it off with all my strength.

The black cloth fluttered in the air.

Seeing the face revealed, my breath caught.

—It was Kaya!

“…You…”

The blood drained from my face.

Our eyes met.

Kaya’s eyes were as cold as ice, holding not love or sorrow but murderous intent.

“Hiroyasu… You’re going to die.”

Her low, restrained voice pierced my ears.

“!”

My heart skipped a beat at those words.

My spine froze; for the first time, I was face-to-face with the fear of death.

“Run!”

I yelled at my bleeding colleague, threw my bag aside, and started running.

Footsteps closed in from behind.

Glancing back, Kaya, clad in black, was chasing only me with the eyes of a beast hunting its prey.

“Hah…!”

My heart pounded as if my chest would burst.

I desperately raced between buildings bearing the company’s name, but the distance between us only shrank.

“Stop!”

Two police officers came running with angry shouts.

This should be safe now. I relaxed slightly, thinking it was over.

But immediately after, an unbelievable scene unfolded before my eyes.

In the next moment, Kaya stepped forward, grabbed the nearest officer, and effortlessly threw him over her shoulder, slamming him down.

A dull sound echoed; the officer lost consciousness.

“Don’t move!”

The remaining officer aimed his gun and fired.

With a dry crack, the bullet grazed Kaya’s arm, splattering fresh blood.

But she didn’t flinch.

—Stepping in,

“Haaah!”

With a sharp cry, she leaped into the air.

A moon-sault that seemed to slice through the sky, the tip of her spinning kick struck the officer’s chin with precision.

The officer’s head snapped back, and his well-built body crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.

I fell to my knees, sitting dumbfounded in the alley as I watched the scene.

—Kaya… had come to kill me.

“Fear” obliterated all reason.

Just then, several more police officers arrived.

One of them raised his gun and fired a warning shot into the air.

The dry report echoed through the streets.

Her movements stopped.

In that instant, the murderous aura that had enveloped her seemed to vanish.

The officers restrained her, handcuffed her wrists, and shoved her into the back of a patrol car.

Inside the car, Kaya remained silent, her dark eyes fixed on me.

Unable to stand, supported by an officer’s shoulder, I was led away from the scene.

Though the world was still bright with afternoon light, the scenery seemed drained of color.

—So, this is what it feels like to be the target of murderous intent.

Staring at my trembling fingertips, I felt true terror for the first time from the depths of my heart.

—That day, my spirit was completely broken.