The Framed Accountant and the Cold Vice President's Doting Love
One mistake was all it took to bring Ren Mise's quiet life crashing down. Six years of honest work at Katsuragi Corporation's Accounting Department mean nothing when a forged approval log bearing his ID surfaces—thirty million yen, funneled through a system he never had the authority to touch. With no way to prove his innocence and whispers spreading through the office like wildfire, Ren finds himself on the verge of resigning. But just as he's ready to give up, the executive elevator doors slid
The Framed Accountant and the Cold Vice President's Doting Love - A Torn-Apart Night—Confinement, and Unreachable Feelings
The accounting floor at midnight. The green glow of the emergency lights faintly illuminated the island-style desks that should have been deserted. Outside the windows, the Minato office district slept, and only Tokyo Bay gleamed black in the distance.
Mise Ren sat at his own desk, staring at nothing but the computer screen.
KFN — Katsuragi Finance Network. The core system for expense processing. Approval authority was granted only to department heads and above. And yet, approvals had been recorded under Ren's ID. Impossible records, sitting right there.
Ren quietly tightened his grip on the mouse. His fingertips were slightly red. A habit of flipping through his notebook had always made his fingertips red, ever since he was young.
(Today I'll find it.)
The viewing permissions Himuro Rei had granted him. Without a direct order from the vice president himself, a rank-and-file employee like Ren could never have been digging through logs at this hour of the night.
Ren steadied his breathing and began tracing the data, one entry at a time.
Approval timestamps and processing timestamps. Terminal identification numbers. Applicants and approvers. Ren silently cross-referenced the vast columns of numbers. Only while facing numbers could he forget everything — the office gossip, the barely-audible insults, all of it.
One hour. Two hours.
It was around the time the clock's hands passed eleven p.m.
Ren's finger stopped.
At the very bottom of the screen. Expense data processed last Friday. In the approver field, Kurahashi Atsushi's ID was recorded.
(Kurahashi...?)
Ren furrowed his brow. Kurahashi was a senior employee in the accounting department — thirty-four years old, three years ahead of Ren. He shouldn't have had any approval authority.
Ren opened the data.
The approval timestamp was three p.m. Friday. The processing timestamp was two hours later, at five p.m. But the terminal identification number was wrong. It wasn't the desktop terminal Kurahashi normally used. The approval had been made from a different terminal.
And on top of that, the log's date had been overwritten.
Ren couldn't believe his eyes.
(The date's been tampered with.)
Approval logs were preserved for three years. But there was a vulnerability that allowed overwriting. Someone had exploited it for embezzlement. Ren scrolled through the screen and reopened the same data.
It was still wrong.
The gap between the approval timestamp and the processing timestamp was too short. Normally, at least several hours should pass between application and approval. Under accounting department rules, nothing could be sent to processing until Department Head Saeki Yasuo gave final approval.
(This data was built from the start with processing already in mind.)
Ren felt something hot welling up deep in his chest.
(This is it. This is the evidence that'll clear my name.)
With trembling fingers, Ren took screenshots. The entire screen. A zoomed-in view of the approver field. The terminal ID log. The date discrepancy. All of it, one careful shot at a time.
(I need to show Himuro this.)
Ren gripped his smartphone. His finger hovered over the send button. Just before pressing it, he stopped.
(No, not yet.)
Ren took a deep breath.
(I need to solidify more solid evidence first. I don't want to cause trouble for Himuro.)
Ren saved the screenshots to a folder and powered down the computer.
In the silent floor, only the sound of his own heartbeat echoed.
Ren stood and picked up his jacket.
That was when it happened.
Behind him, a faint sound.
Ren turned around.
In the shadow of the break room. Beside the copier. Someone was standing there.
"Working late. Good effort."
It was Kurahashi Atsushi.
Kurahashi's silhouette emerged from the dim floor. Thirty-four years old. At first glance gentle, with a smile kind to everyone. The senior who had carefully taught Ren his job when he first joined the company. That same Kurahashi was not smiling now.
"...Kurahashi, sir."
Ren took a step back.
Kurahashi approached slowly. The sound of his leather shoes echoed unnaturally loud in the quiet floor.
"What were you looking at, Mise?"
"Nothing, really... just overtime."
"Don't lie to me."
Kurahashi's voice suddenly dropped low.
Something cold crawled from Ren's neck down to his lower back.
"The KFN logs, right? You're still investigating?"
Ren couldn't say anything.
Kurahashi walked over to Ren's desk and glanced at the computer screen. The power was off. But Kurahashi seemed to see right through everything.
"Stop digging. Otherwise, your family will suffer for it too."
Ren's breath stopped.
(My family. Suffer.)
His father's face floated into Ren's mind. His mother's too. The two of them had desperately protected that small metalworking factory in the old downtown. That little factory, again.
"Your family home still has debts, don't they? If you do anything unnecessary, who knows what'll happen to one or two of your business partners."
Ren clenched his fists. His nails dug into his palms. It hurt. But compared to the pain in his heart—
(I'm scared. Terrified.)
Ren bit his lip. His legs were shaking. He couldn't even seem to find his voice.
But.
Ren raised his head.
"I will uncover the truth."
Kurahashi's expression wavered for an instant.
Just an instant. His brow twitched, and his eyes widened slightly.
Ren didn't miss that change.
(This man is being driven into a corner too.)
Ren continued, his voice trembling.
"Kurahashi. I don't know what you're hiding. But I can't resign from this company for a crime I didn't commit. I'll uncover the truth and restore my honor. That's the only thing I can do."
Kurahashi was silent.
A long silence.
The floor's emergency lights illuminated Kurahashi's face from below. That face that should have been gentle now looked cold and hard, like a different person entirely.
"...You'll regret this."
Kurahashi left those words and turned his back.
The sound of leather shoes receded into the distance.
Ren stood frozen in place.
(You'll regret this.)
Kurahashi's words repeated over and over in his head.
Ren gripped his smartphone with trembling hands.
(Should I contact Himuro?)
He hesitated.
(No, it's too late. I'll report properly tomorrow.)
Ren put the smartphone in his pocket.
(It's fine. It's fine.)
Ren told himself.
He looked at the floor clock. 11:40 p.m.
Ren left Katsuragi Tower.
Outside, it was bitterly cold. Wind swept through the Minato office district. The moon peeked through the gaps between buildings.
Ren turned up his coat collar.
(Hurry home.)
Ren started walking toward the station.
Behind him, someone's footsteps.
Ren turned around.
No one there.
(Just my imagination.)
Ren quickened his pace.
The footsteps followed.
Ren turned around again.
Still no one.
(...Just my imagination.)
Ren broke into a jog.
The route to the station. The convenience store lights. The glow of vending machines. The usual way home. And yet today, everything looked eerie.
Ren jumped onto the train.
The car was empty. Ren sat in the farthest seat and opened his smartphone.
No messages from Himuro Rei.
(Himuro...)
Ren remembered Himuro's words.
"I will protect you."
That day, in the vice president's office. The heavy leather sofa. The night view of Tokyo Bay. Himuro's ice-cold blue-gray eyes.
(Himuro will protect me.)
Ren held those words in his heart and closed his eyes.
The train lurched.
It was past midnight when he reached the station nearest his apartment.
Ren walked quickly down the sparsely populated street.
His apartment building came into view. A small two-story building, twenty years old. Ren's unit was the corner room on the second floor.
His kei car was parked in the lot.
Ren pulled the key from his pocket.
That was when it happened.
Behind him, a presence.
Before Ren could turn, someone's arm clamped over his mouth.
"—!?"
His scream was swallowed by a thick palm and vanished.
Ren struggled desperately.
But there were two of them. One covered his mouth, and the other twisted both his arms behind his back.
"Don't struggle. You'll get hurt."
A low, unfamiliar voice.
Ren's entire body went rigid with fear.
(What — what is this?)
A blindfold was put on. His vision went pitch black.
A gag was forced into his mouth. He couldn't make a sound.
Ren was shoved into a car.
The sound of a door closing. The engine starting. The car began to move.
(Where are they taking me?)
Ren screamed in his mind.
His smartphone. The smartphone in his pocket. He had to call for help.
Ren tried to move his hands.
But both hands were bound behind him. Tight rope. Digging into his wrists.
"Stay still. We've got your phone."
He heard his smartphone being pulled from his pocket.
(No.)
Something shattered deep in Ren's chest.
(No way to call for help.)
The car drove on and on.
Ren just trembled beneath the blindfold.
How long had they been driving?
An hour, or two? No, maybe shorter. In terror, his sense of time had melted into chaos.
The car stopped.
The door opened. Cold air. The smell of the sea.
(The ocean is close.)
Ren was dragged out.
The ground underfoot was gravel. Every step crunched.
The groan of a heavy iron door.
Ren was pushed inside.
He was thrown onto the floor.
Still bound hand and foot, on cold concrete.
"Stay put here."
The men's footsteps receded.
The iron door closed.
Clank.
The sound of a lock.
Silence.
Ren tried desperately to steady his breathing beneath the blindfold.
(Where is this?)
(What's going to happen to me?)
(Someone, help me.)
Ren screamed in his mind.
But no sound came out. The gag blocked his words.
Ren tried to move his limbs.
The rope dug in deeper. His wrists burned with pain.
(I can't move.)
Ren let the strength drain from his body, as if in surrender.
Cold concrete. A faint smell of the sea. In the distance, he thought he could hear waves.
(Tokyo Bay area...)
Ren thought.
(The district where logistics warehouses are concentrated.)
The place where Katsuragi Logistics had its base.
(Is this an abandoned warehouse?)
Ren strained his ears.
From outside, he could hear the men's voices.
"Kurahashi, what do we do? Are we just going to leave him here until morning?"
Ren's heart leaped.
(Kurahashi...)
So it was Kurahashi after all.
"Shut up. Keep your voice down. He'll hear you."
Kurahashi's voice. No mistake.
Ren killed his breathing.
"So, have you already reported to Executive Director Katsuragi?"
The blood drained from Ren's entire body.
(Executive Director Katsuragi.)
Katsuragi Ryuichi. Managing Director of Katsuragi Corporation. Fifty-six years old. From the founding Katsuragi family, a man who coveted the vice president's seat.
(Behind Kurahashi is Executive Director Katsuragi...)
Ren strained his ears further.
"The report is tomorrow morning. The cleanup is tomorrow morning too. Tonight, just keep him here."
(Cleanup.)
Ren's thoughts went blank.
(They're going to kill me.)
Ren's body began to shake.
His teeth chattered.
(Tomorrow morning, I'll be—)
Beneath the blindfold, Ren felt tears spilling over.
"Set up guards in shifts. Don't let him escape."
"Understood."
The footsteps receded.
Silence again.
Ren trembled on the cold concrete.
(Executive Director Katsuragi. Kurahashi. The mastermind behind the embezzlement was Executive Director Katsuragi.)
Ren was certain.
(He's after the vice president's seat, trying to bring down Himuro. And to do that, he tried to eliminate me with a false accusation.)
Everything connected in Ren's mind.
(I got caught up in Executive Director Katsuragi's scheme.)
Ren bit his lip.
Beneath the gag, he tasted blood.
(I'm scared. I might die. I can't even call for help.)
Ren searched for Himuro's voice in his heart.
"I will protect you."
Himuro's voice from that day.
"...Himuro."
Beneath the gag, Ren forced out a voiceless cry.
Tears soaked into the blindfold's cloth.
(H
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