The Yakuza’s Mute Bride novel Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Chapter 69

The first thing I noticed was the quiet.

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It was not the peaceful kind, nor the comforting hush of a house at rest, but a strange and stretched silence that felt as though something essential had been removed from the air itself. The mansion breathed around me, yet it felt hollow, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath alongside mine.

I sat near the window, wrapped in a light blanket despite the warmth of the room, my hands resting in my lap where Tadashi’s presence still lingered like an echo that refused to fade. Outside, the city moved as it always did, indifferent and alive, cars gliding through the streets, people walking with purpose, unaware that my world had shifted the moment he boarded that plane..

He should have called by now.

The thought arrived gently at first, harmless and almost reasonable. Tadashi had promised to message me once he landed, even if it was only a single word, even if it was sent through someone else. He understood how silence unsettled me, especially now, when my voice was forbidden and my words were locked behind healing flesh.

I told myself there were delays.

Security checks.

Council protocol.

Time zones and obligations stacked one after another.

Still, my fingers curled slowly into the fabric of the blanket, tightening as unease crept through me.

Ai entered quietly, carrying a tray, and placed a bowl of warm broth on the table beside me. Her movements were careful, restrained, as if she feared disturbing something fragile. She smiled, though it did not quite reach her eyes.

“You should drink while it is still warm,” she said softly.

I nodded and lifted the cup, but my gaze drifted toward the clock mounted above the doorway.

Another hour had passed.

Ai noticed immediately.

“He will be busy,” she added gently, as though sensing the tension tightening my chest. “The elders never make anything simple.”

I forced a small smile and nodded again, lifting the cup to my lips even though I tasted nothing at all.

When Ai left, the silence returned heavier than before.

I tried to distract myself.

I opened my notebook and traced idle lines across the page, writing nothing of importance, letting the repetitive motion calm my thoughts. I reread old messages Tadashi had written to me, his handwriting precise and disciplined even when his words carried warmth and affection he never showed to others.

Still, my chest felt tight.

By evening, the quiet had changed.

It was no longer empty.

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Chapter 69

It was expectant.

Yukito returned to the mansion shortly after dusk, his presence immediately noticeable even before I saw him. The usual steadiness in his steps was gone, replaced by something sharper and more urgent. Voices murmured through distant corridors, hushed and controlled, yet too frequent to ignore.

I lifted my gaze the moment he entered the room.

Our eyes met.

And something in his expression confirmed what my heart had already begun to fear.

He did not approach me. Instead, he paused, then turned and left the room again, his movements stiff and deliberate. I did not see him again after that moment, and the tension that settled over the house grew heavier, sharper, until it pressed cold fingers against my spine.

What was happening?

That night, I insisted on having my meal at the dining table.

It was only then that I finally saw Yukito again. He stood a short distance away, his posture rigid, his hands clasped behind his back in a manner far too formal for a man who had become almost family to me.

My fingers tightened around my phone.

I typed carefully, deliberately. ‘Yukito, what is wrong? Why are you avoiding me?’

Yukito swallowed.

The movement was small, but it was enough.

Enough to fracture the fragile wall of calm I had built around myself.

He stepped closer and lowered himself into a chair across from me, meeting my gaze with unwavering seriousness. I noticed

Ai and Yuka move closer as well, instinctively drawn toward the tension gathering at the table.

“Naomi-san,” Yukito said quietly, his voice measured with visible effort. “I need you to remain calm. I am not certain whether it is right to tell you this yet, but I know that you deserve to know.”

The words struck harder than any scream ever could have.

My breathing slowed, controlled by instinct rather than choice.

I typed again, slower this time. ‘What is going on, Yukito?’

He hesitated.

That hesitation was a wound in itself.

“Tadashi-sama’s plane landed safely,” he said carefully. “However, there was an incident.”

The room suddenly felt too small. Too close. Too bright.

Oh God. Please tell me this is not happening.

My fingers trembled as I typed. ‘Is Tadashi okay?”

Yukito’s jaw tightened.

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Chapter 69

He looked away for a fraction of a second, just long enough for the truth to gather its full weight.

“There was a sniper,” he said quietly. “The shots were aimed at him.”

The world did not spin.

The floor did not vanish.

Instead, everything became terrifyingly clear.

I typed again, my hands shaking. ‘Is he alive?’

Yukito closed his eyes briefly before opening them again.

“He was shot,” he said firmly. “Three times.”

Shock surged through me so suddenly that it left me lightheaded, my grip loosening as the breath I had been holding escaped my lungs in a silent rush.

But Yukito did not stop.

“Ota was also hit,” he continued. “He moved to shield Tadashi-sama.”

My breath caught sharply.

Ota…?

“He is alive,” Yukito answered immediately. “But the guards report that both of their conditions are serious.”

The room became unbearably still.

I lowered my gaze to my hands resting uselessly in my lap, and for the first time since Tadashi left, fear tore cleanly through my composure. ‘Take me to him. We need to go now!

Yukito shook his head slowly.

“Not yet,” he said. “Communications are locked down. The council has taken control of the situation. They are investigating the attack.”

Investigating…

I knew exactly what that meant in Tadashi’s world.

I lifted my gaze again, meeting Yukito’s eyes with cold clarity. This was not random.

Yukito’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“No,” he admitted. “It was not.”

I inhaled slowly, carefully, mindful of my throat, and set the phone down.

For a long moment, none of us spoke.

The weight of distance crushed down on me then, heavier than it ever had before. An ocean lay between us now, and on the other side of it, the man I loved was bleeding, surrounded by enemies, bound by duty, politics, and violence.

And I could not even say his name.

Yukito stood at last.

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Chapter 69

“You must rest,” he said gently. “You are still recovering.”

I shook my head violently, panic surging through me as I typed. ‘No. I need to go now!!!!

Before anyone could stop me, I tried to stand, ignoring the pain, the dizziness, the warnings shouted at me from every direction.

“Naomi, no-”

“Please, you cannot-”

Ai and Yuka rushed forward, trying to hold me back as I struggled against them, tears spilling freely as terror overwhelmed

restraint.

“No,” I said aloud.

The sound shocked them.

I knew I should not speak. I knew what it would cost me.

But I did not care.

Not when the man who had given me my life back was bleeding somewhere beyond my reach.

“Let go,” I cried, my throat burning as I fought them, every word tearing through fragile healing tissue.

Then I felt a sharp sting in my arm.

A needle.

The doctor had arrived.

“I am sorry, Naomi-san,” Yukito said softly, his voice breaking as my vision blurred. “But Tadashi-sama will kill me if something happens to you.”

Darkness closed in.

The last thing I remembered was Tadashi’s voice echoing in my mind.

“I will return, Naomi. Wait for me.”

Tadashi…

I am here.

Please be okay.

When I lost consciousness, Yukito carried me back to my room, the doctor scolding them harshly for telling me the truth so

soon.

Yukito immediately took command, issuing orders, demanding fnformation from the guards. With Ota down, he assumed the role of second-in-command without hesitation, instructing Gio to oversee Naomi’s security at all times.

This was bad.

The mansion fell silent again.

But this time, the silence screamed.

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Chapter 69

Because somewhere far away, under the same sky. Tadashi Masayoshi was fighting for his life.

And everyone could feel it.

Even without a voice.

Even without words.

Something terrible had already begun.

And if Tadashi did not survive-Naomi would be in grave danger.

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12:56 Mon, Jan 12