As The Wind Blows Your Scent To Me

When most people were leisurely waiting for their bedtime after a hard day of studying or working, notifications of the latest breaking news kept being pushed to their phones and computers. 

The titles of the news were enough to make their eyes pop out of their sockets. 

[BREAKING! The Face of Ishizaki Ryuu's Secret Wife!]

[Is it True Mrs. Ishizaki Involved in Harming an Old Man in the Past?]

[From an Escort Girl to the Film Emperor's Wife? The Maiden Life of Mrs. Ishizaki]

[Whitewashing Her Past to be a Teacher?]

[The Hidden Wife of Ishizaki Ryuu is Kidnapped?]

The articles caught Ryuu and his PR team off guard. Although Yousuke and the others were keeping an eye on the media, the sudden surge of news bewildered them.

Photos of Yuina that clearly showed her face were displayed on countless microblogs. Her background was exposed to the public with fabricated remarks saying she used to work in bars during her youth.

There were also photos of Yuina and Ryuu, shattering away the doubts of some people who questioned the authenticity of this young woman's identity.

"Ryuu, this time that person didn't contact the media. It seems like he's using microblogs by small-name social media figures. The headlines keep coming to the top posts."

Yousuke immediately called Ryuu to inform the matter. 

The microblogs owned by the figures usually didn't generate much attention. But, tonight was an exception.

To make them more popular, the people behind the IDs agreed to publish the posts that they got from an anonymous e-mail. They just simply thought by doing this, they would be able to pull more followers and traffic to their microblogs.

By the time the PR team contacted the owners of the microblogs, thousands of people had been reposting the same articles to their social media sites, making it impossible to pull them down in a short time.

Ryuu was only barely able to hold himself back from lashing out. The reds in his eyes were apparent. His entire body was shivering in anger and frustration.

"For now... do your best to minimize the damage on Yuina. Also, show that she's not what the articles portray," Ryuu spoke hoarsely to the phone, his gaze went up to see the police who were still working to trace his wife.

"Understood."

Yousuke just said a word before he quickly hung up. 

Tonight was destined to be a long one.

Ryuu didn't keep his silence. He uploaded a short post on his official platform.

[Ishizaki Ryuu: My wife is innocent]

In his messy state of mind, Ryuu just typed a few words. He wanted to make a clarification regarding Yuina being framed but, this was not the perfect time to do so.

Compiling evidence was still the most important thing to do if he wanted to make a perfect counter-attack. 

After putting the phone back inside his pocket, Ryuu rushed to the detective who led the investigation, a faint hope was imbued in his voice as he asked.

"Detective Arai, is there no clue yet?"

Midnight would approach soon but, until now there was no positive development in this case. Ryuu had been camping inside the police station accompanied by Hiro.

Detective Arai appeared exhausted by he answered Ryuu patiently, "We've increased the radius from where the van was last seen this evening. We've also extended our searches to the abandoned places around the area."

Ryuu's heart sank. He stiffly asked, "Is there... no other way? I can just wait?"

The detective pursed his lips. He sighed softly, "If only the kidnappers would call us for ransom. We can track him down from there."

Aside from the call, the police officers were cooperating with Ryuu's PR team. They were trying to find traces left by the one who contacted the microbloggers. 

"He might not call us," said Ryuu, he sounded almost hopeless.

From the start, Ryuu had guessed that the one behind the kidnappers won't call him for ransom. Despite not knowing the real motive, it was clear that the perpetrator actually targeted Yuina instead of him. 

If only money could solve this issue and let him have his wife back, he was willing to exhaust all of his wealth.

While Ryuu kept his mournful silence, Detective Arai suddenly thought of something. He looked at Ryuu.

"Mr. Ishizaki, follow me to the lounge first. There's something else I want to ask you."

Ryuu answered right away, "Alright."

Detective Arai led Ryuu to one of the lounges in the police station. He made a gesture at the couch. Ryuu sat opposite the detective. Their seats were separated by a coffee table.

Detective Arai didn't waste time. He immediately asked. 

"Before, you said that your wife began living with her aunt after the death of her parents. Her aunt's husband sexually harassed her so many times before he was sent to jail. Did many people know the fact that she injured that man when defending herself?"

Although Ryuu was reluctant to open up Yuina's dark past, he had to do so when Detective Arai was questioning him everything about his wife earlier. 

At that time, Detective Arai didn't find it was important but, with the emergence of the news regarding Yuina's background being presented to the media, he changed his way of thinking.

"Your wife, Mrs. Ishizaki injured Mr. Arakawa. With concrete evidence, he was sent to prison under charges of sexual harassment and being abusive. Besides, he also misappropriated the funds left by Mrs. Ishizaki's late parents to support her livelihood."

Ryuu remained silent as he listened to the detective. 

"But, the person who's in contact with Mrs. Arakawa, your wife's aunt, is clearly not Mr. Arakawa. We suspect that this person is someone else, someone that knows that he can use Mrs. Arakawa to dig about your wife."

Brows almost knitted together, Ryuu finally opened his mouth.

"To be honest, when the news about our marriage was leaked a few months ago, we thought that the mastermind was my rival in the entertainment field but... judging by how things have been so far, I and Hiro, my wife's cousin, concluded that this person might bear a grudge against my wife."

"The question is..." Detective Arai tapped a finger on the coffee table, "Who is he and what is the motive that drives him into doing this?"

"Detective Arai, have you looked into the time when my wife still lived with her parents? I don't know much about them but, Yuina never mentioned anything like there were people who disliked her parents."

According to Yuina, her parents were honest in living their life.

After her parents died unexpectedly in the car accident, many of their friends and colleagues came to pay the last respect and persuade the young girl who had just lost her parents. 

There were no instances of someone causing trouble to Yuina like demanding debts or anything else. Even the neighbors always checked up on her to make sure she wasn't starving.

In fact, her sufferings only started after she moved into her aunt's house.

"We've just started looking into it. We also begin rechecking the case that caused your wife's parents' death."

Detective Arai's words stunned Ryuu.

"Do you perhaps..."

Ryuu's words were unfinished as the detective cut him off.

"The accident was purely bad luck. Mrs. Ishizaki's parents were just happened to be there at the wrong place and the wrong time. The drunk driver lost control of his vehicle then rammed against the couple's car."

The horrifying accident led to two casualties; Yuina's father and mother while the driver only got minor injuries. The irresponsible man was sentenced to prison time.

Ryuu's jumbled thoughts got messier. He asked the police officer in a bewildered yet cautious voice.

"Detective Arai, do you think there's a link between the accident and my wife's kidnapping?"

Dumbfounded, Ryuu himself didn't trust the words that came out of his mouth.

He never... even thought to make the connection.

The older man's eyes flickered, he smiled mildly. 

"I've found something interesting when checking on Mr. Arakawa," Detective Arai straightened up his posture. He took out a book from his jacket then flipped to a page, "The driver, Mr. Ueda was sentenced to five years in prison due to multiple offenses. Then, within one year and a half, Mr. Arakawa entered the same prison with him."

Hearing that, Ryuu abruptly asked, "Did they really have a contact?"

In the face of an anxious Ryuu, Detective Arai was still composed, "They might have a few encounters inside the prison but, Mr. Ueda passed away a few months before his release. So, his direct involvement is ruled out."

"What?!" Ryuu's tone raised to an octave, "But... what if... there's someone from his family who wants to avenge him then..."

"That's our new conjecture," said Detective Arai, "Mr. Ueda was divorced. His wife is currently abroad. The one and only family member he has here is his son, Ueda Youji. He should be around your age."

"Do you have information about him?"

It might just be an assumption from the detective but, Ryuu wouldn't simply brush it off. There would be a reason why Detective Arai mentioned this matter to him.

"He has constantly changed his residences up until three years ago. Right now, it shows that he lives in this city. Our officers have gone to his address. Let's pray that this leads us somewhere."

Pursing his lips tight, Ryuu stiffly nodded.

Detective Arai stood up. Before he left, he said a few more words to Ryuu.

"Even though it doesn't always happen, I've met such cases before. The perpetrator's family members often try to avenge their family by placing the blame on the victim's family. Their minds think that the humiliations and sufferings they go through won't happen if not for the victim's making reports or things like that."

In conclusion, Mr. Ueda's son was convinced that he lost his father because of the charges. With only Yuina left, he shifted the blame on her.. He didn't think that his father was in the wrong.