The Shape of Happiness: A Family Crumbling Due to the Mother's Infidelity, a Wounded Middle School Daughter, and a Struggling Father Finding a New Form of Happiness. - Episode 27

Late at night, around midnight—

Click… Click… Clack…

Akiko opened the front door. She had spent the night indulging in passion with Atsushi and was still lost in the lingering ecstasy as she returned home.

She looked down at her feet—Shinichi’s shoes were missing.

“…Shinichi isn’t home yet?”

With a sigh and a slightly amused smirk, Akiko headed upstairs. She collapsed onto the bed in the bedroom, savoring the afterglow of her time with Atsushi.

“Ah… Atsushi was wonderful… He desired me with pure instinct tonight as well… And I accepted all of him… This ‘form of happiness’ is unchanging… I don’t need anything else… As long as I have this happiness… As long as I have this true love… Nothing else matters…”

Without even changing clothes, Akiko slowly drifted into sleep, the bedroom light still on. As she fell into slumber, she recalled the thrill of sinking into the depths of forbidden pleasure—

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♪

—8:00 AM, the alarm on her smartphone rang. The unpleasant electronic sound startled Akiko awake for a moment. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and turned off the alarm. Today was her day off from work. A dull day without Atsushi had begun.

She got out of bed and left the bedroom. Every morning, Shinichi would prepare breakfast for her, so she went downstairs to eat.

(Is he trying to stay on my good side? Well, I’ll never let him lay a finger on me. What a pathetic man…)

Thinking this as she descended the stairs, she felt a rush of superiority imagining Shinichi desperately yearning for her yet being completely ignored. That intoxicating feeling of dominance filled her heart like a drug.

However, when she stepped into the dining kitchen, her good mood vanished instantly.

There was no breakfast on the table. Nothing was prepared in the fridge either.

“Tch… When he comes home today, I’ll have to scare him a little with the idea of divorce.”

Akiko left the kitchen and walked into the living room.

“Good morning.”

“!”

Akiko froze in shock.

Sitting on the sofa were Shinichi and his mother, Saori. Standing beside them was a middle-aged man in a black suit with neatly combed black hair.

It was as if they had been waiting for her.

Akiko couldn’t grasp the situation and stood frozen in place.

“How long are you going to stand there? Sit down already.”

Shinichi and Saori were sitting on the sofa to the left of the room. Shinichi motioned for Akiko to sit on the opposite sofa, across the low table.

Following his lead, she sat down.

“What is this?”

“Akiko, I’ll get straight to the point.”

“So, what—”

“Akiko, you’re having an affair, aren’t you?”

Shinichi cut her off.

Saori glared at her daughter.

Akiko, however, let out a sigh, looking annoyed.

“Hah? What are you talking about? Of course not.”

“I want you to be honest.”

“I am being honest!”

“If you don’t admit it now, you’ll regret it later.”

“I told you I’m not cheating!”

“You’re denying it? If you’re lying, it means you feel no guilt at all.”

“If you’re so sure, then show me proof! PROOF!”

Akiko leaned back arrogantly on the sofa.

Shinichi pulled out a laptop from his work bag beside the sofa, turned it on, and started operating it. Then, he turned the screen toward Akiko.

“!”

The screen showed the rear gate of Super Matsunaga.

Inside the company car were Atsushi and Akiko.

It was footage from Misaki’s dashcam when she had followed the car.

“Still won’t admit it?”

“We were just traveling for work!”

“You’re a part-time worker. Where were you going in a company car?”

“Wherever I want!”

“Hmm… Then, let’s watch a little more.”

“Enough already! How long are you going to—!”

The footage showed Akiko, seated in the passenger seat, leaning her body toward Atsushi’s lower half.

Though her exact actions weren’t visible, the implication was clear.

“What were you doing here?”

“…I-I wasn’t feeling well… That’s right! I felt sick and leaned over!”

“You felt sick?”

“Y-Yes!”

Then, the car was seen entering a hotel.

“And this?”

“I wasn’t feeling better, so we stopped at a hotel for him to take care of me!”

“Really?”

“You’re so persistent! I’m not lying!”

“…Mother.”

“Yes, just a moment.”

Saori stood up, left the living room, and went upstairs. Soon, she returned—with Akiko’s smartphone in her hand. She had taken it from the bedroom.

“Ah! My phone…!”

Saori placed the smartphone on the table and sat back down.

“Thank you, Mother.”

“It’s nothing.”

Shinichi slid the phone across the table toward Akiko.

“Alright, Akiko. With this evidence, we need to hear directly from him.”

“A-Atsushi… The store manager has nothing to do with this!”

“Of course, he does. Call him.”

“What…?”

“Call him right now. Get him here.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

“I’m not joking.”

“You really don’t trust your own wife!?”

“We’re past that. Call him. Right now.”

“This is ridiculous—”

“JUST CALL HIM!”

Shinichi’s sudden outburst made Akiko flinch.

It was the second time she had seen him like this.

(As long as we both deny everything, there won’t be a problem… Just wait, I won’t forget this!)

Akiko tapped her smartphone.

“…Hello? Store manager? Sorry to call so early in the morning. This is Takagi. There’s something urgent I need to ask—”