Chapter 142: Sister-in-law, Eldest Brother gave birth to a son for you!

There is no need to rush into that. Right now, he harbors a bone-deep hatred for me. You should use that to extract as many benefits from him as you can. We are not just talking about political resources here—even if it is just conning him out of some extra cash to help with household expenses, it would be useful. Look at you; you have a child to raise, and I have to take care of my sister-in-law. The expenses are quite high.

Aoyama Hidenobu said this with an earnest and well-meaning expression.

An idiot with the intellect and experience of Nihei Jiro was a rarity, almost impossible to find twice. Since he had delivered himself right to the doorstep, there was naturally no way he would let him off easily.

He would first squeeze whatever oil he could out of the man, and only when there was nothing left would he crush the guy into pulp.

"This... will this actually work? If I keep asking him for this and that without showing any real progress, won't he start to suspect something?" Aoyama Sosei asked.

After all, he had always been the one giving things away to others. He simply had no habit of shaking people down for money.

Aoyama Hidenobu was entirely confident in this scheme. He did not put his faith in his own intelligence, but rather in Nihei Jiro's. He replied, "The more greed you display, the angrier he will get, yet the more convinced he will become that you are indeed a man willing to sell out his own flesh and blood for profit. Especially once he has invested a certain amount of cost, it will be even harder for him to easily abandon your line."

There was a concept known as sunk cost; the more one invested, the harder it was to pull away. As long as a sliver of hope was dangled before him, he would not give up until the very bitter end.

"Yoshi, we will do as you say." Aoyama Sosei nodded in agreement, finding the logic sound.

"Let's not speak of that mediocre fool any longer," Aoyama Hidenobu said with a wave of his hand, a smile returning to his face. "Let's talk about my sister-in-law. Since you were once husband and wife, is there anything else big brother would like to entrust to me?"

As brothers, so long as his dear brother could live happily, he was more than willing to shoulder the heavy responsibility of providing for his sister-in-law.

Aoyama Sosei's expression stiffened. After a long silence, he sighed and said, "There is nothing special to entrust. Just treat her well. I am the one who failed her; she would never find happiness continuing to follow me. This outcome is better for her."

He was searching for excuses to convince himself, persuading himself that handing his wife over to his younger brother was for her own good, rather than his.

"Don't you worry, big brother. From now on, your wife is my wife. I will certainly cherish her as if she were my very own flesh and blood!" Aoyama Hidenobu made a solemn promise.

Hearing him misuse the idiom, Aoyama Sosei's mouth twitched slightly. He waved a hand, unwilling to say anything more.

"Right, big brother, from now on it would be best if we maintain the appearance of a poor relationship and mutual discord. That way, others won't think to use you to threaten me, nor will they think to use me to threaten you. At the same time, who knows? We might just be able to hook a few more fools like Nihei Jiro."

Aoyama Sosei agreed to the suggestion. After all, the two brothers had always been on bad terms in the past; this bad blood was their natural advantage for pulling wool over the eyes of their enemies, and it certainly needed to be maintained.

Aoyama Hidenobu did not linger. After finishing lunch, he eagerly took his leave, impatient to deliver the good news to his sister-in-law that big brother had blessed her with a son.

Upon arriving home, Aoyama Hidenobu dismissed Nakamura Shinichi, took a deep breath, and pressed the doorbell.

"Why are you back so soon?" Aoyama Haruko asked, her initial confusion quickly giving way to concern for her husband. "Hidenobu, is big brother doing all right in Saitama Prefecture? There is no one there to look after him."

"Sister-in-law, I..." Aoyama Hidenobu's expression turned somewhat grim, his lips parting and closing as if he had words he was afraid to speak.

In a panic, Aoyama Haruko reached out and grabbed his hand, her anxiety reaching a fever pitch. "Hidenobu, has something happened to big brother? Tell me! Speak!"

"Let's go inside first," Aoyama Hidenobu sighed.

Aoyama Haruko hurriedly crouched down to fetch his slippers.

As she squatted, the denim jeans hugged her generously curved peach-like buttocks and thighs, making them look even more enticing, while a glimpse of snow-white cleavage rose and fell from the neckline of her shirt.

After changing his shoes, Aoyama Hidenobu walked over to the sofa and sat down in silence, burying his face in his hands without a word.

"Hidenobu, what on earth has happened? Are you trying to worry me to death?" Aoyama Haruko sat down beside him, on the verge of tears as she looked at his distressed state.

"Sigh!" Aoyama Hidenobu let out a heavy sigh, turning his head to look at his sister-in-law. "Sister-in-law, big brother has failed you."

"W-what do you mean?" Aoyama Haruko froze in place, a look of panic flickering in her eyes as if she had already guessed the truth. "What are you trying to say?"

"Sister-in-law, haven't you ever wondered why big brother has spent so little time coming home over the past few years?" Aoyama Hidenobu looked at her with genuine sympathy. Aoyama Sosei's actions had dealt her a blow that stripped away every layer of her emotional armor.

Aoyama Haruko's eyes instantly reddened, her delicate body trembling slightly. She was not a fool; at Aoyama Hidenobu's words, she immediately guessed the reality, yet she desperately tried to salvage her pride, forcing a weak smile. "Men will be men, you know. Playing around in political circles is bound to happen sometimes, and since I wasn't by his side, having someone else look after him isn't the worst thing..."

The slight twitching of her face and her continually trembling hands betrayed the raging tempest deep within her heart.

"He has a son. A year and a half old." Aoyama Hidenobu dealt a fatal blow with a single sentence.

She instantly shattered, tears streaming down her face as her body slowly slid onto the sofa, weeping aloud. Her nature was meek and submissive, so even when faced with such devastation, she did not scream or rage; she could only cry uncontrollably.

"Wuwuwu... Why? Why would he treat me this way? Wuwuwu... He clearly promised he would only ever be good to me for the rest of his life! Wuwuwu... Why..."

"Sister-in-law." Aoyama Hidenobu gently pulled her into his embrace, patting her back to soothe her. "I will certainly never acknowledge that woman. In my eyes, there is only one sister-in-law, and she will never be allowed to set foot in our family's home!"

"Hidenobu, am I really that worthless?" Aoyama Haruko instinctively hugged him back, tilting her head to look up at him through her tear-stained face, asking in a choked, pitiful tone.

Her husband had betrayed her—it was clearly his fault.

Yet her very first instinct was to doubt her own worth.

Aoyama Hidenobu raised a hand to gently wipe away the tears at the corner of her eyes. "In my eyes, sister-in-law, you are the most perfect woman in the world. It is my big brother who is unworthy of you, and he deserves to lose you. You have done nothing wrong, and you have no need to second-guess yourself."

He felt that if he were to act forcefully right now while Aoyama Haruko was lost and overwhelmed by grief, he could easily claim her. But doing so would be far too uninteresting.

Aoyama Hidenobu wanted his sister-in-law to fall in love with him step-by-step out of her disappointment in her husband, and then offer herself to him of her own accord.

His love for Aoyama Haruko was pure.

"Hidenobu, wuwuwu..." Aoyama Haruko buried her face in his chest again, weeping so hard she nearly fainted.

Clearly, the blow had dealt a catastrophic strike to her psyche.

She cried until exhaustion claimed her and she drifted into a deep sleep.

When Aoyama Haruko finally opened her eyes, she found herself lying in the bedroom. The sky outside the window had already turned dark, and the room was cloaked in shadows. The wind rustled the curtains in a gentle dance, making the entire world seem so quiet and desolate that she was left entirely alone with her solitude. The memory of her husband's betrayal rushed back, and sorrow welled up within her once more, tears slowly tracing down her cheeks.

Her hand instinctively wandered down to touch her flat stomach.

Was it because she had never been able to conceive a child that Sosei had sought out another woman to bear him one?

She felt furious over Aoyama Sosei's betrayal, but she also blamed herself for failing to fulfill her duty as the eldest daughter-in-law of the Aoyama family to carry on the ancestral line and bear descendants.

Things had already reached this point; what was she to do now?

Aoyama Haruko felt lost and entirely at a loss.

A moment later, she padded out of the bedroom barefoot. As she opened the door, the rich aroma of cooking wafted into the air. Descending the stairs slowly, she saw Aoyama Hidenobu wearing an apron and setting dishes out on the dining table.

"Sister-in-law, you're awake. Just in time for dinner." Aoyama Hidenobu looked up and flashed a bright smile at her.

Aoyama Haruko instinctively returned the smile, but her expression quickly hardened into cold indifference. "Hidenobu, I intend to divorce your big brother. Don't call me sister-in-law anymore. I will move out as soon as possible, wu..."

As she spoke, taking in the familiar sights of the home and the presence of her brother-in-law, she broke down into soft sobs once again.

"Sister-in-law, what kind of nonsense are you talking about!" Aoyama Hidenobu untied his apron, walked down the stairs to her side, and grasped her delicate shoulders. "If you divorce him, aren't you just handing that vixen and her little bastard the legitimate right to move right into our home? You haven't done anything wrong, so why should you be the one to leave? You will stay right here in this house! As long as you are here for even a single day, big brother can forget about bringing that woman and child back!"

He certainly couldn't let his sister-in-law get a divorce.

If she divorced him, how could they continue living together?

"But... but what is the point of dragging this out? Since there is no love left, I might as well step aside and let your big brother have his way," Aoyama Haruko said with a self-deprecating smile.

One person suffering was better than two people suffering.

"Sister-in-law!" Aoyama Hidenobu looked at her with a mix of exasperation and reproach. "It's precisely because of this submissive personality of yours that big brother dared to bully you in the first place! He doesn't give a damn about your feelings, yet you are still making considerations for him? Besides, do you honestly plan to remarry after divorcing big brother?"

"Of course not," Aoyama Haruko replied without a moment's hesitation. This marriage had already caused her more than enough pain.

Even Aoyama Sosei could betray her.

How could she ever dare to trust another man?

Aoyama Hidenobu continued, "I knew that's what you were thinking, but would your family allow it?"

Aoyama Haruko hesitated and slowly shook her head.

Her family certainly wouldn't accept a woman in her twenties remaining unmarried; it would become the laughingstock of others.

"There you have it. Rather than going back after a divorce to face endless nagging about getting married again, you might as well stay put. Continue living right here. You are the true mistress of this house! We cannot let big brother and that vixen have an easy time of it—this is a form of revenge." Aoyama Hidenobu began his psychological conditioning.

Aoyama Haruko remained hesitant and indecisive, as her nature was simply not one inclined toward revenge.

Aoyama Hidenobu pressed on. "Just think about it. How many traces of yourself have you left in this home? If you really pack up and make room for them, that woman will come in, sleep in your bed, use your kitchen, throw away the flowers and plants you nurtured, toss out everything you arranged, and order me around by virtue of being the new sister-in-law..."

"Stop talking!" Hearing this, Aoyama Haruko was already growing angry. Her breathing turned ragged, her heavy chest heaving, and she tightened her small face as she declared, "Hidenobu, you are right. I have been far too weak. I am going to exact a ruthless revenge upon them! I will not divorce him, and I will make sure those two can never be together openly for the rest of their lives!"

"That's right, exact a ruthless revenge upon them!" Aoyama Hidenobu agreed with a solemn expression, though internally he found it rather amusing. Did she really consider that to be revenge in the eyes of her sister-in-law?

She truly was kind to a fault!

If Aoyama Hidenobu were to encounter such a thing, he would hack the adulterer and adulteress into pieces, blend them with cement in a concrete mixer, and pour them into the foundations of a public restroom.

Aoyama Haruko bit her lower lip, looked at the young man before her, and murmured, "Thank you, Hidenobu."

Now that she thought about it, she had actually spent more time interacting with Aoyama Hidenobu after her marriage than she had with Aoyama Sosei.

"We are family, after all," Aoyama Hidenobu said with a gentle smile, before bending down and scooping her up into his arms.

"Ah!" Aoyama Haruko let out a startled cry, her hands instinctively wrapping around Aoyama Hidenobu's neck as she flushed red and kicked her legs in his embrace. "Hidenobu, what are you doing! Put me down right now! We can't do this!"

She thought Aoyama Hidenobu wanted to sleep with her.

Then Aoyama Hidenobu carried her over to a dining chair and set her down. "Sister-in-law, what on earth were you just talking about?"

"N-nothing." Aoyama Haruko curled her toes in acute embarrassment, her face burning red as she glared at him in annoyance. "You are not allowed to pick me up like that ever again!"

Damn it, how mortifying! Whimper~

Hidenobu was just as hateful as his big brother!

Yet through the commotion Aoyama Hidenobu had caused, the grief in her heart had indeed been lifted quite a bit.

"Hidenobu, I hope you won't let your relationship with big brother deteriorate any further because of me. Otherwise, I will feel terribly guilty." Aoyama Haruko looked up and said.

From her perspective, Aoyama Sosei had only wronged her; he had not wronged Aoyama Hidenobu, and she did not want to become the catalyst for a complete rupture between the two brothers.

Aoyama Hidenobu picked up some food and placed it in her bowl, speaking with apparent indifference on the surface. "My relationship with him was never that great to begin with. The most we can do is maintain the status quo."

This was, after all, the little scheme shared between him and his dear big brother.

Aoyama Haruko bit her red lips and said no more.

The two of them quietly finished their dinner together in silence.