If you ask me, Hojo exhibits some serious narcissistic tendencies. He ticks the boxes. And narcissists are always narcissists, in EVERY aspect of their lives, because they lack empathy and compassion (they may fake it, though), and don't actually love and care for anyone. They're also excellent manipulators and know which buttons to push to get their way. It's likely that he knew about Lucrecia's pain points and weaknesses, and exploited those to his advantage, and may possibly have love-bombed her, with some future-faking (false promises of a wonderful future together that they never actually intend - similar to what romance scammers do to milk their victims for money), and isolated her from people who care about her. Vincent being one of them. We don't know anything about Lucrecia's past - what her childhood was like, if she even has any living family and relatives, or friends outside of work. Could be that Grimoire was her only true friend - and by extension, Vincent. If Hojo knew this, then he would have been working on isolating her from Vincent.
The reality of abusive relationships is that, because there are deep wounds in the target of abuse, they easily get addicted to the drama and turbulence of the abusive relationship, and there is a strong sexual magnetism also. A healthy, happy individual says "fuck no, I'm out" as soon as they recognize that someone is toxic, and isn't attracted to or interested in drama. But people who are hurt, insecure in themselves, are vulnerable to manipulators and abusers. And the tragedy of it all is that it's addictive like a drug, and EXTREMELY hard to let go of, because you're always hoping that they will revert back to the loving person you first got to know, and that it will all work out. You may even feel like it's meant to be you and the other person. The target of abuse doesn't even recognize that they are being abused, because they are in a so-called FOG (Fear, Obligation, Guilt).
Narcissists can be tremendously charming and appear loving, but once they feel that they've "got" their victim (with marriage, pregnancy, living situation, the victim being financially dependent on the abuser etc), the mask slips and they show their true colors. They go from loving to cold, cruel and sadistic. The victim ends up thinking that it's their fault, and the narcissist will BLAME THEM for "changing". They'll gaslight the victim with "you made me do that", and make them believe that it isn't the narc, but the victim that's the bad person who deserves that kind of treatment. The sad truth is, though, that they were always a sadist, and that loving person they appeared to be never existed; it was all an act to get their victim to fall in love with them. Or work under them, invest in their business or whatever.
They will actively work on getting their victim dependent on them in some way, and will act jealous and might even throw a tantrum if their partner succeeds or outshines them in some way - they will blow it way out of proportion and won't let it go. (I want to remind you that a healthy, loving partner is PROUD of your accomplishments, happy for your wins and celebrates them with you.) Furthermore, they will either try to downplay your accomplishments, or take credit for them as if they were the ones who achieved them, not you.
I can definitely see this being the case with Lucrecia and Hojo. He likely showed her a side that he knew would get her to choose him, and once she got pregnant, he showed her who he truly is. A grandiose narcissist who feels no empathy, care and love towards anyone, and it was all a game to him.
I've been in an abusive relationship with a narcissist for many years, so I speak from firsthand experience. He essentially convinced me that he was the only one who really cared about me, even though he actively worked on tearing me down. He was jealous of my accomplishments, threw a fit whenever he wouldn't get his way, he would sulk for hours and sometimes even kept me up at night and made it all about him and I felt so confused by that behavior, and I ended up apologizing for "hurting" him, just to appease him. If I wanted time for myself, with friends, or just didn't want to spend all of my free time with him, he threw a fit and guilt tripped me into doing what he wanted. He would even say things like that "I should count myself lucky that he chose me and loves me, because I'm so hard to love that if he didn't, then no one would". He said it like he was doing me a favor. All of this at a time when I was already emotionally and mentally unstable; suffering with depression and suicidal tendencies at the time, and he pushed me to the edge of suicide. And when I was close to going through with it, he physically stopped me from doing it - which he took credit for later, and made himself out to be a hero and a savior.
That's the sort of psychological games they play, and it poisons your mind. After that relationship ended, I felt numb. I didn't know who I was. I didn't even know what I liked or disliked, because I was so numb and empty, I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't feel joy or gratitude or satisfaction. I couldn't appreciate things. I didn't even trust myself. I felt like I was dead inside. I had to literally start my life over from zero, rediscovering who I truly am, and it took me a decade of actively working on healing myself to get to a good place. That's what an abuser can do to you. I wanted to share this as a survivor to put things into perspective a little bit regarding abuse. Hope that sheds some light on things.
Edit: One last thing. When a narcissist feels they're losing control of their target, they will likely feel narcissistic injury, and try to exact revenge to feel like they've won or got the upper hand. This is usually when they murder their victim or go after someone they care about, usually their kids or current romantic partner. Hojo shooting Vincent, I would argue could be the result of narcissistic injury.
(Post was edited for more context)
