The Yakuza’s Mute Bride novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57

For a long, heavy moment, no one moved.

Sasha Kuznetsova stood like a blade dipped in poison, her red lips curved into that dangerous smile, the kind that made lesser men fold and greater men sharpen.

Yukito held the handles of my wheelchair so tightly his knuckles turned white. Ota shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet, ready for violence. The guards hovered in a tense semicircle, unsure whether to intervene or flee.

And Tadashi…

Tadashi stared at Sasha with a coldness so sharp it felt as though the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees.

“Sasha,” he said, voice low and lethal, “if you know anything about Reiko Yamasaki, you will tell me. Now.”

–

She laughed light, melodic, practiced at any second.

–

as though this were an elegant party and not a situation where blood could spill

“Oh, Tadashi,” she purred. “Always so commanding. Always so irresistible when you are angry.”

Yukito made a noise somewhere between a groan and a suppressed curse.

Sasha stepped closer, her heels echoing through the polished floor like taunts.

“But you misunderstand,” she continued. “I do not know where Reiko is.” Her smile sharpened. “I simply know the direction she fled.”

Tadashi’s shoulders tightened.

“And

you waited until now to tell me?” he asked.

She shrugged, the movement slow and deliberate, as though she were performing for an invisible audience.

“I was offended,” she admitted without shame. “No one informed me that you were injured. I heard only whispers from my father’s men – that you singlehandedly tore through the Watanabe network in London.”

She paused.

“And that you did it for her.”

1

Her gaze flicked to me – sharp, assessing, venomous.

I did not look away. I did not fidget. I simply met her eyes with calm defiance.

Tadashi spoke before she could twist the silence into another insult.

“Sasha,” he said coldly, “your presence is not welcome here.”

She arched a brow, amused. “Since when? I used to spend entire nights in your home.”

A tightening sensation coiled in my chest – not jealousy, but a strange ache of sympathy toward the version of Tadashi he must have been back then. A version who lived without softness, without gentleness, without the fragile intensity that now lived inside his touch.

Sasha took another step, her voice lowering into a whisper that dripped with past intimacy.

“You forget,” she breathed, “I know the taste of your skin. I know the sound of your voice when you lose control. I know the

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Chapter 57

way you-”

Tadashi cut her off with a single, sharp command. “Enough.”

The room stilled.

He was not angry. He was not embarrassed. But he was done.

His back straightened. His eyes hardened. His jaw locked. Every part of him shifted into a state I had not yet seen rage, not protectiveness, but something deeper.

It’s a rejection.

“You are not part of my life anymore,” he said quietly. “And I will not tolerate disrespect toward Naomi.”

Her eyes flared.

Ah… There it was.

The truth she could not swallow.

The truth she had come here to challenge.

–

not

The truth she had likely never imagined that Tadashi Masayoshi, the untouchable heir of a deadly clan, would choose someone like me.

Not a glamorous heiress. Not a powerful European schemer. Not a woman dripping in diamonds and poison….. But me, simple me.

A girl with no voice. A girl with a shattered past. A girl who had almost died in his arms. A girl he loved anyway.

Her lips curled, but this time the smile did not reach her eyes.

“Is that so?” she whispered. “You are truly choosing her?”

“I do not choose,” Tadashi replied. “I belong to her.”

Every breath in the room vanished.

Ota’s mouth dropped open. Yukito coughed in shock. Even Ai, who had just stepped into the hallway, clapped a hand over her mouth.

Sasha blinked once the first crack in her flawless armor before she masked it again.

–

“Well,” she said softly, icy now, “that is… disappointing.”

–

She turned slightly, her gaze sweeping the room before settling on me again.

“But do not think the world will protect her, Tadashi.” Her smile darkened. “Reiko is not the only woman who wants her gone.”

A chill ran down my spine. Not fear

–

awareness.

Sasha was not warning him. She was promising something.

Tadashi moved fast

–

too fast

–

stepping between her and me.

“If anything happens to Naomi,” he said in a voice colder than I had ever heard from him, “I will come for you next.”

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Chapter 37

Her brows lifted, impressed

“Ah.” she murmured. “There you are. The man who does not bow to anyone. The man who would burn cities for what le

loves

She looked at me again, slower this time, studying me in a new way- not as prey, but as a threat to her own power.

“I see why you are dangerous, miss Hunter,” she said softly. “Not because you are strong, but because you made him weak

I lifted my chin meeting her gaze.

“If he is weak,” I said quietly, using my imperfect voice without shame, “why is he still standing between you and me?

The room went silent.

Sasha’s smile disappeared completely – replaced by an expression of recognition.

Not fear… Not anger but it was respect.

For the first time, she saw me not as a fragile foreigner or a passing distraction.

But as someone standing at Tadashi’s side.

Someone he would kill for. Someone who held his heart. Someone she could not simply erase.

She finally stepped back.

“Well then,” she said, her tone turning businesslike, “let us speak of Reiko.”

Tadashi nodded once, cold and composed. “Speak.”

Sasha folded her arms, eyes narrowing. “Reiko has fled to the one place she believes you will hesitate to enter,” she said. “Your homeland.”

Japan.

Yukito swore under his breath. Ota tensed immediately.

Sasha smirked. “And there, Tadashi… she is not alone.”

My stomach dropped.

“Who is she with?” Tadashi asked.

Sasha leaned forward, her voice dropping to a whisper of triumph: “Your own clan.”

The world tilted.

The betrayal twisted like a knife. Tadashi’s face turned to stone.

And Sasha straightened, satisfied with the chaos she had delivered. “I have said what I came to say. I will take my leave now

She turned toward the door, but not before glancing at me one last time – her gaze sharp, calculating, and begrudgingly acknowledging.

“Good luck, little doll,” she said softly. “You will need it.” Then she swept out of the room without looking back.

Only after the echo of her heels faded did anyone breathe again.

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Chapter 57

–

Tadashi immediately turned to me fear, anger, and protectiveness all colliding in his expression

“Naomi-“But I reached for his hand first.

Because I was not afraid. Not of Sasha. Not of his past and not of Japan.

I squeezed his fingers gently and whispered: “You know you belong to me too.” His breath caught.

And Ota shook his head in disbelief.

“She is going to be dangerous,” he muttered silently.

“For the enemies?” Yukito asked, turned his head at him.

Ota shook his head “No,” Ota said. “For anyone who thinks they can take Tadashi-sama from her.”

Yukito quietly wheeled me away, giving us space, but even he could not hide the small smile tugging his lips.

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12:51 Mon, Jan 12 TOG.