The Yakuza’s Mute Bride novel Chapter 107

Chapter 107

The next two days did not feel like days at all.

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They blurred together into something shapeless and endless, a continuous stretch of fear and pain where time lost its meaning and mercy never came. I could not tell when one night ended and another began, because they kept moving me, dragging me from place to place like an object they were afraid to leave behind for too long.

Every time I woke, the air felt different.

Sometimes damp and cold, sometimes stale and heavy, sometimes thick with the smell of oil or metal or dust, but never safe, never familiar. They never allowed me to remain in one place long enough to recognize it, long enough to build hope that Tadashi might find me there.

They were hiding me.

From him…

I understood that much even through the haze of exhaustion and fear.

They were afraid.

Not of me but of him.

Every sound made my body tense, every footstep outside whatever room or space they had locked me into sent panic surging through my chest. I learned to breathe shallowly, quietly, because any noise, any resistance, any sign that I still had strength left seemed to anger them.

I tried to fight at first.

Not because I believed I could overpower them, but because surrender felt worse than pain. I kicked, scratched, bit when I could, screamed when the terror became too much to contain, even though my throat burned and my voice came out broken and raw.

Each time I resisted, they punished me.

Not in ways that left marks where they could be seen.

They were careful.

Cruelly careful.

They struck my body where clothing would hide it, where bruises would not show easily, where pain could be inflicted without damaging what they believed was their profit. They avoided my face entirely, treating it as something fragile, something valuable, something not truly mine anymore.

I learned that lesson quickly.

The pain came regardless.

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It bloomed beneath my skin, deep and aching, settling into my muscles and bones until even breathing felt like work. My arms trembled constantly, my legs felt weak beneath me, and every movement sent sharp reminders through my body of how little strength I had lef

I stopped screaming eve

Not because I wanted to.

But because I could not anymore.

Aty throat felt torn and swollen, my voice reduced to a house whisper that barely carried beyond my lips. Even crying became difficult, my body too exhausted to produce more than silent tears that slipped down my cheeks without sound.

They gave me water sparingly.

Food came inconsistently, just enough to keep me conscious, just enough to keep me alive.

The word felt cruel.

Sleep, when it came, was shallow and broken, haunted by memories and flashes of fear that jolted me awake in panic. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Tadashi’s face as he had been before all of this, the way he looked at me when he still remembered who I was, when his gaze held warmth instead of calculation.

I clung to those memories desperately.

They were all I had.

But as the hours dragged on, even those began to hurt more than they comforted.

Because each time I remembered how he once held me, how he once protected me, the reality of where I was now felt sharper by comparison.

I wondered if he was looking for me.

I wondered if he knew.

I wondered if he blamed himself.

Or if, perhaps, he did not remember me enough to feel the loss at all.

The thought hollowed me out.

By the second day, my body felt like it no longer belonged to me.

Everything hurt.

My head throbbed constantly, a dull ache that never faded, my limbs felt heavy and slow, and even lifting my hands took effort I no longer had. I moved when they told me to move, sat when they ordered me to sit,

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Chapter 107

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because resisting only led to more pain and I had nothing left to give.

I began to think this was how it would end.

Not with a dramatic escape.

Not with rescue.

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But with me slowly disappearing into exhaustion and despair until there was nothing left of the person I once

was.

I lay on a cold floor, curled in on myself, my cheek pressed against something hard and unyielding, my breathing shallow and uneven. My vision swam as I stared at nothing, my mind drifting in and out of consciousness.

I felt like I was dying.

Not suddenly.

But gradually.

As though pieces of me were being stripped away one by one.

I did not know how much longer I could endure it.

Or if I even wanted to.

That was when I heard it.

Knock. Knock.

The sound cut through the fog in my mind like a blade.

I blinked slowly, my lashes heavy, my vision blurred, wondering if I had imagined it. Sounds had become unreliable in this place, sometimes real, sometimes nothing more than echoes of hope that shattered when I reached for them.

Then a voice followed.

“Anyone here?”

My heart slammed violently against my ribs.

That voice.

I knew it.

Every part of me reacted at once, adrenaline surging through veins that had felt empty moments before. My breath caught painfully in my chest as recognition struck with overwhelming force.

Yukito.

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Chapter 107

I tried to move.

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My body protested immediately, pain flaring sharply, but I forced myself to push up, my hands trembling as I braced myself against the floor. Every muscle screamed in protest, but hope was stronger than pain in that

moment.

He was here.

He was close.

If I could just make a sound.

If I could just reach the door.

“Yu-” I tried to call out, my voice barely more than a breath. “Yu… ki…”

Before I could do anything else, before I could scream or knock or throw myself forward, something slammed over my mouth.

A hand.

Rough.

Strong.

Panic exploded inside me.

I fought instinctively, thrashing weakly, clawing at the arm restraining me, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure they could hear it. I tried to bite, to scream, to kick, but my strength was gone, my body too damaged, too tired.

“Quiet,” a voice hissed close to my ear.

I shook my head desperately, tears streaming down my face as terror flooded me anew.

Then pain.

A sharp impact against my head.

The world tilted violently, light fracturing into white flashes as everything spun out of control.

“No…” I whispered faintly, my vision darkening. “Yu… ki… to… he…”

The words dissolved before I could finish them.

Darkness rushed in, swift and merciless, swallowing my consciousness whole.

As I fell back into it, my thoughts scattered, fragments of memory and emotion colliding without order.

Life is hard.

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Chapter 107

Life is cruel.

Maybe this was always how it was meant to be.

In the darkness, memories surfaced unbidden.

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