The Yakuza’s Mute Bride novel Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

262

60

Before I could type any reply for the detective, before I could ask him why he believed I needed saving, a familiar voice carried down the corridor with quiet authority.

“Naomi?”

I lifted my head.

Tadashi stood several steps away, framed by the pale hospital lights that softened nothing about him. Yukito walked at his side, alert and unreadable, and two of Tadashi’s other men followed behind them with precise steps. Their presence shifted the entire hallway, transforming the sterile corridor into something tense and sharp, as if the walls themselves recognized who had arrived.

Detective Alridge straightened instantly. His expression changed the moment he saw Tadashi approaching. The easy smile he had shown me earlier slipped into something more careful, more cautious, almost rehearsed.

Tadashi did not immediately look at me.

No, his gaze locked onto the detective with the stillness of a predator assessing a trespasser. When he finally spoke, his tone was entirely different from the voice he used with me. This one held no softness, no warmth, no hesitation.

“Detective,” he said in a low, controlled voice. “Why are you here?”

The question was polite only on the surface. Underneath it ran a quiet threat, tightly leashed.

Detective Alridge smiled again, but this time with the stiffness of someone trying to appear confident while standing too close to danger. “I was simply walking down this corridor when I noticed Miss Hunter stepping out from her therapy session. I thought it would be appropriate to greet her.”

Appropriate… The word made my stomach twist. Nothing about this encounter felt appropriate.

Tadashi did not bother to hide the way he closed the distance between us. He reached me with fluid steps and extended his hand, helping me rise from the chair. The movement was gentle, yet undeniably assertive, as if he wished to erase any trace of the detective’s presence near me.

“You are all right?” he asked softly.

I forced a small smile and nodded once. I could not bring myself to look directly into his eyes. Something about this moment felt too exposed, too fragile, too heavy for words I did not possess,

His hand remained at my elbow as if anchoring me, but his attention returned to the detective almost immediately.

“Did you intend to question Miss Hunter?” Tadashi asked. His tone was cold as winter steel, the kind of cold that warns rather than freezes.

Detective Alridge shook his head too quickly. “No. Nothing further. Then he added, with pointed emphasis, “It was merely a conversation. I shall see you again, Miss Hunter. Please remember what I told you.”

My heart dropped.

Tadashi’s eyes sharpened at that, but before he could speak again, the detective turned and walked away. The doors at the end of the corridor slid shut behind him, cutting off his presence like a clean slice.

Only then did Tadashi look back at me fully.

“Nao-”

Mon, Jan

Chapter 42

62

al 55 vouchers

“I am tired. Let us return to the room.” The words came sharply through the automated voice on my phone before he could finish. I could not bear the weight in his eyes. I could not withstand his questions, his concern, or the possibility that he might already know what I was thinking.

I turned away before he had the chance to say anything more.

He guided me gently but without speaking, his touch steady while his silence burned against my skin. I felt his gaze on me with every step we took back to my hospital room. The familiarity of his presence brought both comfort and a quiet ache that pressed against my ribs.

He knew… I could feel it in the place where intuition becomes certainty. He knew something had shifted inside me.

–

not

When we reached the room, he helped me settle onto the bed. His fingers hesitated for a moment near my hand touching, but close enough to feel the warmth. Then he straightened, his brows tightening as if he wished to speak but did not know which words would not wound.

“I will return shortly,” he said finally.

I nodded and pretended not to notice the hesitation in his voice.

The moment the door closed behind him, I felt the air leave my lungs.

What should I do now?

What am I becoming to him?

A weakness?

A liability?

A burden?

Should I leave before I ruin everything he has built?

The questions followed me through the night like shadows that refused to disperse. I slept restlessly and awakened with a strange heaviness that clung to me like fog. I forced a cheerful expression each time Ai entered the room, but it felt brittle and unconvincing. Even she began to watch me with cautious eyes.

For two full days, I managed to avoid Tadashi. It took effort – weaving excuses about extended therapy sessions, requesting additional time with the nurses, pretending to nap whenever he passed by the doorway. Each avoidance felt like both victory and defeat.

But I knew the truth: I could not hide from him forever.

On the third night, my luck reached its end.

I had just finished a long session with the physical therapist and returned to my room with Ai’s help. My muscles trembled, and I wanted nothing more than to change into clean clothes and rest. Ai helped me briefly before stepping out to fetch

more warm water.

I believed I had a moment alone.

I believed he had already left the hospital for the night.

But, I was wrong.

The door slid open with a soft whisper of air, and Tadashi stepped inside with the kind of quiet certainty that made the walls

feel smaller.

62

Chapter 42

I& 55 vouchers

He did not look away or not hesitate. No, he simply crossed the room and stood near me with a patience that felt too intense to bear.

“I will help you,” he said calmly.

1 froze.

Ai returned just long enough to see him reaching for the folded garments on the bed. Her eyes widened in immediate understanding. Without a single word, she set the water down, bowed quickly, and hurried out of the room – almost running, as if she recognized the emotional storm gathering in the air.

My heartbeat surged until I felt every pulse in my fingertips.

Damn it.

He knows…. He knows something is wrong.

He knows I am pulling away.

He knows I am drowning in thoughts I have no voice to speak aloud.

He reached for the clasp at the back of my hospital gown with careful, unhurried hands. His movements held no shame, no impropriety – only unwavering determination. He intended to help me, not because I was helpless but because he refused to step aside and watch me struggle alone.

His fingers brushed the fabric near my shoulder, warm and steady made my breath falter.

“Naomi,” he murmured, his voice lower now, rare in its vulnerability. “You have been avoiding me.”

The truth in his sentence cut through me.

I lowered my gaze, unable to meet the intensity of his eyes.

The room felt unbearably small. My thoughts spun in frantic circles, tangled and aching.

He knows I am afraid of being his burden.

He knows I am questioning whether I should stay.

He knows I am imagining a world where my presence ends up destroying him.

Damn it…. He knows.

And I have no idea how to tell him why.

AD

Comment

Send gift

No Ads

12:47 Mon, Jan 12 TOG.