Sometimes the components of a news story fit together so perfectly that you can't help but wonder how much of it was engineered by the press. Actress Hisako Manda, a former beauty queen who found success in recent years as a cover girl for magazines catering to women in their 50s, is currently at the center of a celebrity melodrama that has the weeklies competing for new, startling revelations.

Last month, Manda's long-time live-in partner, businessman Chikara Sasaki, died of a rare form of cancer that was diagnosed only two months earlier. Sasaki was the head of the fashion house Link Theory and is reported to have been worth ¥20 billion. However, because he and Manda were not married, the actress can't expect to receive any money. Wills are rare in Japan and Sasaki didn't write one, so his inheritance is determined by the Civil Code, which is strict about who gets what. Spouses receive half, with the remainder divided among the couple's children. If there are no children, then the deceased's parents and siblings have claims on the legacy.

Common-law wives don't, but if the couple has a child who was formally acknowledged (ninchi) by the deceased male partner, that child can receive one-half of the amount a "legitimate" heir — a child produced from a legal union — would receive. Manda and Sasaki have a son, who can therefore receive something, but Manda is entitled to nothing, even though she supported Sasaki financially during a period when his business was on the ropes.