But her words piqued Lu Jin’s interest.

The company was on the brink of collapse, yet after the wife died, it miraculously revived?

That didn’t sound like a coincidence at all.

His instincts told him there had to be some connection.

But why is this woman telling me all this?

Though he did want to get some information from her, her willingness to reveal such things so readily made him suspicious.

Does she have some ulterior motive?

Surely, it’s not because she finds me handsome, right?

“Does Madam know anything about Young Master Aoi?” Lu Jin pondered for a moment before continuing to ask.

Although he suspected that she had hidden intentions—perhaps even lustful ones—since she was Aoi Kai’s wife, she must know some inside information about their household affairs.

“Him?”

At the mention of Aoi Takumi’s name, a flash of undisguised disgust crossed Yuriko’s face.

She let out a soft snort, her tone laced with schadenfreude.

“He brought it upon himself.”

“Oh?”

Lu Jin raised an eyebrow. He had asked casually, not expecting much.

But judging from her words, there was actually a secret behind this?

“It’s not really a secret. If you ask around, you’ll hear about it.”

Yuriko twirled a loose strand of hair around her finger, speaking with lazy indifference.

“A few days ago, a female student from the University of Tokyo was gang-raped to death by a group of male students. That incident was orchestrated by Takumi and his gang of cronies.”

What?!

Lu Jin was momentarily stunned.

Raping a fellow student in school—and even causing her death?

It could only be said: like father, like son.

Aoi Takumi had truly inherited his father’s “outstanding” genes—already a beast at such a young age.

Thinking about how Aoi Kai had spoiled his son, Lu Jin figured that while Takumi’s nature played a part, his father was at least half responsible for how he turned out.

“And that girl? She was actually Takumi’s girlfriend.”

Yuriko’s lips curled in a mocking smile as she continued.

“She wasn’t a good person either. While dating Takumi, she flirted with other men and even had affairs with her professors. She even worked as an escort in the red-light district.”

“His father is cunning as a fox, but the son is brainless—falling for such a cheap woman.”

“When he found out, he originally just wanted to teach her a lesson. But things got out of hand, and she ended up dead. My husband tried to cover it up, but the girl’s parents refused to accept any hush money—they only wanted Takumi in prison.”

“The next day, they died in a car accident.”

Tsk!

A familiar pattern.

If you can’t solve the problem, then just get rid of the ones causing the problem.

Not only did they kill the girl, but they didn’t even spare her family.

Father and son—both absolute scum.

So, Aoi Takumi turning into a woman at midnight was likely due to the murdered girl’s spirit possessing him.

Every night, he would transform into a woman and randomly seek out men to sleep with—making him experience exactly what he had once inflicted on others.

It’s indeed his own karma.

Not that Lu Jin ever intended to perform an exorcism for him—this had nothing to do with him anyway.

But from Yuriko’s tone, he could tell that she loathed her stepson.

So much so that even hearing his name made her disgusted.

Lu Jin glanced at her voluptuous figure and suddenly understood why she hated Aoi Takumi so much.

For any normal man, if their father was a useless fool and they had a stepmother as sexy and alluring as her, they’d probably have some improper thoughts.

But despite Yuriko’s flirtatious nature, she did have her standards.

Or rather, she had a refined taste.

Even if she was desperate, she wouldn’t take just any man.

As for Lu Jin? Well, he had his own personal charm.

And what did Aoi Takumi have?

Nothing but his worthless manhood.

A toad lusting after a swan—it was only natural that she found him repulsive.

“It’s late. Time to rest.”

Yuriko stretched lazily, her curves accentuated even more.

Turning away, she swayed her hips seductively as she walked back toward the villa.