"Let"s talk."
Rie wants to say that there"s nothing to talk, but the words refuse to leave her mouth. His piercing gaze freezes her on the spot. She hasn"t moved since she stepped inside the house.
It"s been 5 years.
She doesn"t know why she feels anxious. She didn"t do anything wrong. If it was old her, she would have slapped him and kicked him out of the house. But her son is here. She doesn"t want him to see that side of him. Her son already likes Kiyohira.
Kiyohira sees her lips quiver nervously. She is rubbing her gloved hands anxiously. He walks to her and grabs her wrist. He drags her to the couch and makes her sit.
Sitting opposite her, he asks the first question. "Why did you say that I chose Chisa?"
He did hear her earlier words. She even thought that he would hurt his son. He knows that she doesn"t think much of him, but he didn"t expect that she dislikes him that much.
"Did you not?" She smiles at him coldly. Her heart feels colder when she recalls. "You locked me in the room and cheated on me with that woman. It was all over the media. She even sent me photos. I even heard it with my ears. She sent a recording. You knew what she did to me. How could you even go near her? Locking me, sending me the women"s profiles, making me feel how unsuitable I am for you while going to Has.h.i.+moto Chisa during day time and telling me that you loved me at night, what did you gain from that? I thought that you loved me back then. Were you laughing at me with Chisa?"
She didn"t want to speak about those things again. But when he asked that question again shamelessly, she"s both enraged and pained. She doesn"t like that she is feeling the pain because of this man. She knows the meaning of this pain.
"Why didn"t you ask me once?" Kiyohira is equally hurt. She is confirming his doubts. For the five years, she thought of him as a cheater. "You could have confronted me once. Are you that cowardly? Going away and hiding my son from me... even letting your father believe that you died... abandoning everything behind you... did you even think about anyone else other than yourself for once?"
"What do you know?" She hates his judgmental glare. "If I didn"t accept their help, those a.s.sa.s.sins would have killed me. You sent those a.s.sa.s.sins with Chisa. How dare you still dare to call me cowardly? Yes, I left everyone behind because no one came to me when you locked me inside that room for a month. I was supposed to wait for you all day like your servant and spread my legs for you whenever you wanted while you -"
Kiyohira slams the table hard. "I didn"t cheat on you ever. I told you that I was taking care of that woman. I kept you inside that room because her men were on the wait to capture you. I pretended to be in love with that woman to gain her trust and find out about her dark business. I..."
He chokes on the words. His eyes turn watery. He clenches his fists when he sees the disbelief in her eyes. She"s still not believing him. He met her for the first time when he was 26. It"s been 7 years since they met. She still doesn"t have a drop of trust in him.
"Why didn"t you tell me once?" She sneers at him. "You are still lying."
"Back then, I wanted to tell you everything after Chisa had gone to prison. I didn"t tell you because you would have overreacted. You would not trust me. You have never trusted me, Rie. Just like you don"t trust me even now. I didn"t know that Morikawa would abduct her while she was on the way to prison. They sent the a.s.sa.s.sins." His voice gets lower with each word. "If you don"t believe me, you could have talked to Ren. He helped me capture that woman."
She purses her lips, turning pale. Did she really think wrong? The heavy feeling in her body is reaching its peak.
"You even think that I would hurt my son." Kiyohira laughs, but his eyes are pained. "Why Rie? Why didn"t you doubt Chisa once? If you had asked me once, I would have told you. I kept you locked because I thought that Chisa would try to create misunderstandings between us. She succeeded before she died. But why didn"t you ask me once? You didn"t think once that I loved you back then? Not once?"
She did believe him. The last lingering doubts were removed when she saw the articles on the internet. When she asked him about his business meetings, he lied to her. He even filed the divorce.
Kiyohira sees her being incredulous. Frustrated, he grits his teeth and punches Ren"s number.
"Ren, how did we deal Has.h.i.+moto Chisa?"
[Kiyohira, why are you asking me that suddenly?]
"Just answer the question."
[Okay... You pretended to be interested in her. She trusted you and took you to that playground of hers. I saved your a.r.s.e that day by sending the special division cops at the right time. It"s too bad that Chisa was taken away by Morikawa. They found their ends though. Morikawa died and we know what happened to Chisa. Can you tell me what happened?]
"I will talk to you later." Kiyohira hangs up the call and turns off his phone. He stares at the woman whose face is almost white.
"You should have told me once." She doesn"t meet his eyes. She looks down, feeling heavier with each pa.s.sing moment. "If you had told me once..."
"I told already you why I didn"t tell you. At that time, both of us were at fault for not trusting each other. You didn"t ask me. I didn"t tell you." Kiyohira is heartbroken for the first time in his life. Earlier, he always blamed himself for treating her wrong. She suffered a lot. She didn"t trust him, but... "But why didn"t you talk to Ren once? Ren"s your friend. Why did you trust Chisa more than me? Am I worse than Chisa in your eyes? Even now, you still don"t want to believe that I loved you back then. You didn"t doubt me once because you would rather believe Chisa than me. You want to think that I am a man who does not deserve to be with you. You get your wish. After seeing you the way you are even after 5 years, I don"t want to be with you. I will sign the divorce papers. I will take Yuta with me."
In the bedroom, Yuta opens his mouth wide. What the h.e.l.l! Now, Father wants a divorce. Why did it go wrong again? He sits down on the floor and creases his nose. "Why my parents are so frustrating? What"s wrong with them? Why can"t they kiss and makeup like normal people?"