Villain: Your Heroines Were Delicious - Chapter 235 - 23

Chapter 235: Chapter 23

“T-That doesn’t matter!” Miss Saki’s voice shrieked through the high-definition speakers, her face contorting into a mask of desperate malice. “The numbers, the tax brackets—none of that changes the core issue! The fact remains unchanged, you embezzled company funds! You are a thief, Fujiwara Touka!”

“I didn’t! Don’t talk nonsense!” Touka snapped back. “You can keep talking all you want, but if you don’t provide any evidence, believe it or not, I will sue you for defamation!”

“Sue me? The audacity! Just admit it! I know for a fact that you went out and bought a luxury car that costs 50 million yen, didn’t you? A limited edition sports model! I have evidence of your purchase as well!” Miss Saki shouted, leaning so close to her camera that her features blurred before taking out a paper, and pointing at it. “And look at here, this is the evidence, and you even dared to put it as a business expense? A car for a student intern? You still say you aren’t embezzling money!? We lost a massive deal and then you bought a luxury car that costs fifty million yen! You used the company’s capital as your own personal piggy bank!”

“It’s not embezzlement! It is a necessity! I had to do it!” Touka’s voice rose, cutting through the CEO’s hysterics. “That is because even with our revenue capped to save on the VAT, our taxable net income still spiked to 340 million yen! We were drowning in paper profit!”

“Are you kidding me!?” Saki laughed mockingly. “According to you, we only have 450 million yen in sales. Where did that 340 million come from? If you want to lie, at least make it believable! No logistics firm has a 75 percent profit margin!”

“It’s all your fault!” Touka argued, her eyes flashing with a sharp, academic fire. “Because the small-time vendors you insist on using don’t provide official receipts, our millions in operational costs, fuel, labor, maintenance and others, couldn’t be legally deducted from our gross income! In the eyes of the IRS, our revenue is our profit! And once the profit exceeded 300 million yen, we lose the 5 percent small business tax break entirely! And our tax rate would jump from 5 percent and hit the 25 percent ceiling! That’s 85 million yen in taxes, Miss Saki!”

Seijirou took a deep breath hearing that.

’85 million yen in taxes?’ He winced internally.

If he lost that much money to a tax man only for it to end up in the pockets of politicians, he’d feel like someone was pulling his teeth without anesthesia.

At that point, you might as well kill him.

Even Hakari’s cheek twitched hearing that number.

Even if she is a head of a global conglomerate, she still knew the pain of wasting money, and 85 million yen lost to poor accounting was a sin that no one in her position can tolerate.

It’s one thing to lose that much money on a terrible investment, but to lose it to taxes? Even the devil would cringe from that sin!

“T-That still doesn’t explain why you bought the car!” Saki sputtered, her defense crumbling into petty jealousy. “You must’ve enjoyed it a lot, huh!? Cruising around the district while my drivers use old vans!?”

Touka clenched her fists, her voice dropping into a cold, flat tone. “The car was delivered straight to Seijirou’s garage! I didn’t even touch the keys! And I already explained it! But if it still doesn’t make sense to you, I will tell you! Since I bought that 50 million yen car as a company asset, I can write it off as an immediate business expense under the ’depreciation’ clause for this quarter! That purchase plummeted our taxable profit back down to 290 million yen!”

Seijirou hummed, his mind quickly running the figures.

’290 million… meaning the taxes go back to the 5 percent mark.’ He did the math in his head. ’At 5 percent, 290 million is only around 15 million in taxes. Compared to the 85 million they would have paid…’

He whistled low. They saved around 70 million yen, and even after spending 50 million on a luxury car for him, the company still ended up with 20 million yen more in the bank than if they hadn’t bought the car at all.

’A luxury car and 20 million yen in pure savings,’ Seijirou thought, looking at Touka with renewed admiration. ’She’s a genius. That car is a steal; it’s basically free money.’

He blinked. Hold up, in my garage? Since when was there a car in his garage?

He tried to remember…. And he did find something suspicious. Earlier when he took his bike, there is indeed a car which was covered in his garage, but he didn’t think too much about it and just thought that it was the Ferrari that Retsu insisted on giving him.

“In other words!” Touka declared, pointing a finger at the screen. “I saved your company from wasting tens of millions of yen! I didn’t embezzle a cent; I optimized your failure of a management system!”

“You—! You—!” Miss Saki was speechless.

She looked like she wanted to reach through the screen and strangle the girl, but her mouth just worked silently like a fish out of water.

But before she could say anything else, Hakari clapped her hands twice—a sharp, crisp sound that silenced the room. “I have heard enough.”

Hakari crossed her arms, her white robe fluttering as she walked toward Touka, a look of genuine appraisal in her eyes. “Fujiwara Touka, you impress me once again. I can say for certain that you just rose to being the number one candidate for being my son’s wife in my heart. You have the mind of a Kageyama.”

“…fuweh!?” Touka’s calm and cool accountant facade immediately shattered her face turned as red as a tomato, and Seijirou could almost swear he saw actual steam rising out of her head. “W-Wife!? M-Me? And S-Seijirou-kun!?”

Hakari ignored the girl’s meltdown and turned toward the screen, her gaze turning into ice as it landed on Saki. “And you, Miss Saki. It seems your father didn’t teach you anything when he passed on that seat to you. You are a disgrace to your bloodline.”

Saki flinched, her eyes widening in fear. “Madam, I—”

“I know how you got your position, and frankly, I don’t mind nepotism,” Hakari interrupted, “as long as the person themselves are capable. But now, it seems not only are you incompetent, but jealous and vain as well. You targeted Fujiwara Touka because you thought I wanted her to replace you, didn’t you? You knew yourself that you were incompetent and that if I wanted to, I could easily replace you with someone who actually understands a ledger. Am I correct?”

Saki remained silent, her head bowing in shame.

“Hmm. Miss Saki, meet me in my main office tomorrow, 10 AM sharp. We will discuss the terms of your resignation.”

“Y-Yes, madam,” the woman whispered before the screen went black.

Hakari turned toward the two, specifically at Touka. Her eyes were lighting up as if she were looking at a priceless treasure or a particularly lucrative merger.

She wasn’t joking earlier, she really considered this girl to be the most suitable candidate for her son’s partner.

She turned toward her son.

“Seijirou, it’s already late. The two of you stay here tonight. I still have business to attend to in…” she looked at the clock, “…eighteen minutes. There are ingredients in the fridge; you can cook dinner, or you can ask the room service. It’s up to you.”

With that, she went toward a marble table where a fresh set of clothes and silk underwear were neatly folded.

Without caring that her son and his potential wife were watching, she let her bathrobe fall to the floor as she moved with a fluid, noble elegance, putting on her black lace lingerie, black stockings, and a sharp pencil skirt.

She then slid into a white buttoned shirt and donned a black business suit over it, her movements as precise as a Swiss watch.

Once she is done with her clothes, she tied her hair into a tight, professional bun, and took a black coat with a furred collar, before she grabbed her designer bag and turned toward the two at the door, her presence commanding the entire penthouse.

“Farewell,” Hakari said, her eyes lingering on Touka with a mischievous glint. “And do… enjoy the night. Don’t leave the bedroom a mess.”

With that, she swept out of the room, the heavy door clicking shut behind her.

The penthouse was suddenly quiet, leaving Seijirou and a still-steaming Touka alone in the luxury of the Sunrise Hotel.

Seijirou looked at Touka, then at the massive, city-view window, and finally at the kitchen.

“Well,” Seijirou said, a smirk playing on his lips. “I guess I’m cooking. Any requests from the ’Number One Candidate’?”

Touka covered her face with her hands, her voice muffled and high-pitched. “Seijirou-kun, please stop teasing me! I think I’m going to faint!”

Seijirou chuckled and walked towards the kitchen….only to realise, he knew absolutely nothing about cooking.

Before, if it weren’t for Suzune sometimes coming to his home to cook or bringing him food, then he would’ve indulged in fast food.

Now, with Haruka and Yuko cooking for him, he was basically much lazier than before.

“…err, on second thought, maybe we should just get a room service.”

Touka stared at the awkward look on his face and chuckled, “Move aside you dummy, I can do the cooking.”

Seijirou stared at her and smiled, “Oh well, it seems like you earn more wife points for that one.”

Touka turned red once more.

“Seijirou-kun!”