"I still do." Akira levelled her gaze on Hanae.
Hanae was a little frightened by the large and cute eyes which had a coldness that could not be expressed. The fear made her a little confused.
"What?" She asked involuntarily.
"You said I used to work in restaurants. I still do." Akira explained.
Hanae shrunk back her head a little. She had expected Akira to be embarrassed when her secret was exposed, but she reacted in a completely contrary manner.
Seeing the shrinking Hanae, the server was convinced that her cousin had bullied her. The greedy girl looked like a cute and harmless girl, but she was obviously hiding a bad personality inside. Not only was she mooching off a meal, she still wanted to oppress and embarrass her cousin.
Sayaka felt the high tension and looked between the two young ladies and felt torn because she did not know how to help them make peace. She had a sister, but she had never understood how to handle things well. Most of the times, she just gave in to Kaoru.
She wondered who should give in between Hanae and Akira. On one hand, Hanae was younger. But on the other, Akira was her biological daughter.
Akira did not care about the thoughts going on in either of her companions' heads. Her attention was drawn to the entrance where a group of three was entering the restaurant behind a young female server.
Her clear eyes narrowed in displeasure, and some anger arose within her.
The group of three was being led to a different area in the restaurant. However, when the old man saw Sayaka, he said a few words to the server before walking towards their table. The other two men followed behind him.
The youngest of the men looked at Akira and winked at her lasciviously with a teasing grin. Akira almost ground her teeth at the shameless man's gesture.
She could not believe that she was meeting him again so soon after that incident. She had not yet had time to plot her counterattack.
"Mrs Yamazaki!" The old man greeted.
Sayaka was lost in her thoughts, so she did not notice the approach of the group. She was startled at seeing the old man. She stood up quickly and almost upset her chair.
"Elder Takahashi, you should not have come all the way here," Sayaka said as she greeted the old man.
"It is no problem. I have not seen you in a while." The old grandfather who was always tough and stubborn smiled.
"I have been a little busy at home. I will visit Aunt Takahashi when I have a moment." She responded.
Unlike the old man, his old wife could not move around a lot. So, Sayaka often went to keep her company occasionally when she had some time.
For this reason, the unforgiving elder was quite friendly with Sayaka.
"Take your time. But the old woman has missed you." Elder Sayaka referred to his wife casually, but everyone knew that the elderly couple got along quite well.
"Hello, Sayaka!" The man who was following behind the old man greeted.
"Hello, Chairman Takahashi," Sayaka responded coolly before turning back to the grandpa with a smile. "Elder Takahashi, let me introduce you to my daughter."
"Your daughter? I thought this young woman was your niece." The old eyes looked at Hanae.
Sayaka laughed and indicated to Akira. "Not that one. This one. This is my daughter, Akira."
Akira, who had been glaring at Kaito, looked away and stood up gracefully.
"Nice to meet you, Elder Takahashi." She said before bowing slightly.
The soft voice coupled with the cute appearance and the conservative clothing won over the old grandfather immediately.
"What a beautiful child!" He exclaimed. "I have the mind to introduce her to my grandson."
Sayaka laughed awkwardly. The old man was known for being tyrannical and doing things without a care. Moreover, his mindset was still quite old-fashioned. He was probably the only one who would think that his sudden suggestion was acceptable.
"Akira is still young." She said.
"My grandson is only twenty-three, so they should be a good match." The elder persisted.
In his imagination, Akira was the perfect wife candidate. She did not look like the aggressive type of woman who would be interested in controlling issues with the company. She would be a soothing homemaker while his grandson ran the business.
"Grandpa, I thought that you were finally thinking about me." The youngest member of the group of three stepped from behind the Chairman.
Elder Takahashi was snapped from his daydreams. He looked to his grandson, who had been behaving well, with anger. He could see that the boy was going to start something up. Unfortunately, he could not do anything in case he lost his standing as an elder.
Kaito smiled charmingly at the three women. Sayaka felt that the young man was a refined and cool playboy while Hanae was dumbstruck. She had seen that the man was handsome from afar. However, she had not gotten a good look at him until this moment.
He had stood in a strange position that made it impossible to see him well.
Now that she was seeing him clearly, she felt stirrings in her heart. Her cheeks blushed a bright red, and she looked at him with some expectation.
"What are you going on about?" Elder Takahashi looked at Kaito with a warning glint in his eyes.
Kaito had never been one to care about small things like subtle threats.
"I can feel the strong fate between me and Ms Yamazaki." Kaito's evil smile widened. "Don't you feel it too, Akira?"