When someone formed a subjective impression of another person, it was hard to erase. As far as Sayuri Sawamura was concerned, Sogo Doma's earlier string of actions had already made her see him as a bastard—a criminal bastard who wanted to extort benefits from her while leaving no loose ends...
With that impression in mind, even Sogo Doma's claim that he merely wanted to say goodbye and leave so she would stop pestering him made Sayuri Sawamura think deeply—and in entirely the wrong direction.
What did he mean by worrying that Eriri might be targeted again? What that bastard really meant was that she needn't worry about anyone targeting Eriri in the future, because he had his eye on her!
What did he mean by her wrinkles not being so obvious? Did she have that many obvious wrinkles? Pah! What that bastard really meant was that she was old, and even if she figured something out, she should stay out of his affairs with Eriri. That alone proved that even if this bastard had some interest in Eriri, he definitely wasn't sincere about her...
If that bastard had been sincere, he wouldn't have used the leverage he held over her, his future mother-in-law, as a threat...
What did he mean by this heartfelt love for her daughter? In truth, what he was implying was that she had already let Eriri run into a scumbag in the past, and she had been able to ignore it then. Now that it was Sogo Doma, he hoped Sayuri Sawamura would continue doing the same?
Damn it!
No wonder that, after going to such lengths to help Eriri investigate that scumbag, the bastard had not mentioned Eriri even once in front of her. So he had been waiting for this? If she played along