The Yakuza’s Mute Bride novel Chapter 87

Chapter 87

“No…”

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The word left my lips as a fragile breath, barely louder than the embling inside my chest. I pressed my hands against his chest, trying to push him back, trying to remind myself that this was not the Tadashi I loved.

But he did not release me.

His arms tightened, not violently, not cruelly, but with a force that spoke of confusion and possession all at once. His forehead brushed against mine, his breath warm against my skin uneven and heavy, as though something inside him was unraveling faster than he could control.

“Tadashi…” I whispered his name again, not as a plea but as a memory.

His

gaze darkened.

His hand slid to my waist, steadying me, anchoring me, as though he were afraid I might disappear if he loosened his grip. His thumb brushed the fabric of my clothes with unconscious familiarity, tracing a path he had followed countless times before in another life.

I hated how my body reacted.

I hated how my heart betrayed my mind.

Every place he touched felt like recognition. Like something inside me was crying out, This is where you belong.

But I knew better.

This man did not remember me.

This man did not know me.

This man only felt something he could not name, and that frightened him.

“Do not look at me like that,” he murmured, his voice low and rough. “You make me feel as though I am forgetting something important.”

I swallowed hard.

“You are,” I whispered. “You are forgetting me.”

For a moment, something flickered in his eyes a fracture in the ice, a crack in the armor anything more, a thunderous sound shattered the air.

–

but before it could become

BANG!

The sound of door slammed open.

“TADASHI! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Yukito’s voice tore through the house like a blade.

I gasped and pulled away instinctively, my heart slamming against my ribs. The world rushed back into focus the bed, the painting of myself staring down at me like a ghost from another life.

–

the walls,

What was I doing?

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17:27 Thu, Jan 22 GDD.

Chapter 87

What had almost happened?

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Tadashi stepped back abruptly, as though the interruption had yanked him out of a dream he did not understand he was dreaming. His jaw tightened, his expression hardening as he turned away from me.

Without another word, he began putting his clothes back on with sharp, efficient movements.

“Stay,” he ordered coldly, not even looking at me.

Then he left.

The door closed behind him with a final, echoing click.

I stood there, shaking, my fingers curling into the fabric of my dress as I struggled to breathe.

What had just happened?

Why had it felt so real?

I walked slowly toward the painting on the wall, staring up at my own eyes reflected back at me. The woman in that painting looked like someone who had been loved deeply.

I did not feel like that woman anymore.

“WHERE IS SHE?!”

Yukito’s voice again, closer this time.

My heart leaped.

I hurried to the door and opened it just a fraction, slipping out into the quiet corridor. As I had expected, the hallway was empty. No one dared to linger near Tadashi’s private quarters.

I followed the voices.

They led me to the large living room.

Yukito stood there, breathless, furious, his eyes burning with something I had never seen in him before. Ota and Gio were beside him, tense and wary. Tadashi stood across from them, composed and dangerous, like a blade resting in a velvet

sheath.

“Why did you bring her here?” Yukito demanded. “You do not even remember her!”

Ota bowed slightly, trying to maintain peace. “Yukito is correct, fadashi-sama. Why did you bring Naomi-sama here again?”

Tadashi’s eyes narrowed, the air around him turning cold.

“Are you in love with her, Yukito?”

The question landed like a bomb.

“What?” Yukito froze. Even Ota looked shocked.

I felt my heart twist painfully in my chest.

Why would he ask that?

“I asked you a question,” Tadashi continued calmly, though something sharp glinted behind his words like a blade catching light. “You protect her. You defy me for her. You refuse to leave er side. Are you in love with her?”

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17:27 Thu, Jan 22 GDD

Chapter 87

The room fell into a silence so thick it felt as though it pressed against my ears.

Yukito did not answer.

Not a single word.

Not a denial.

Not a confirmation.

Not even a breath strong enough to be heard.

I could only stare at him, disbelief burning through my chest.

In love with me? Say No, Yukito, why you didn’t say anything?!

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The idea felt impossible, almost absurd. Yukito had always been steady, controlled, loyal to Tadashi above all else. He had protected me because Tadashi ordered him to. Because Tadashi rusted him. Because that was who Yukito was.

Or so I had always believed.

My hands curled slowly at my sides as Tadashi watched him, eyes dark and calculating, as though he were dissecting Yukito piece by piece in his mind.

Tadashi’s lips curled into something that was not quite a smile, not quite a sneer. It was the expression of a man who believed he had just uncovered a hidden truth.

“I see,” he said quietly.

Those two words carried a weight that made my stomach twist.

He turned away from Yukito as though he had already passed judgment and shifted his gaze toward Ota and Gio instead.

“I want all of you to eliminate every remaining trace of treason within the clan,” he said in a voice that was calm, almost casual, yet deadly in its certainty. “I trust no one right now. There are too many knives pointed at my back, and I am finished allowing shadows to decide my fate.”

Ota bowed deeply, his face pale but resolute. “Of course, Tadashi-sama.”

Gio nodded beside him, his expression tight, understanding exactly what such an order meant.

Tadashi then turned back to Yukito.

“You too,” he said slowly, his eyes narrowing just slightly. “Yuki, want you back.”

Yukito stiffened as though struck by something invisible.

My heart began to race.

“But you keep protecting her,” Tadashi continued, his gaze flicking toward me for the briefest moment before returning to Yukito. “And I want you to be part of me again. I want you standing at my side, where you belong. So that is why I brought her here.”

The words felt like a blade sliding beneath my ribs.

So that is why…

Not because he wanted me.

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17:27 Thu, Jan 22 GDD.

Chapter 87

Not because he remembered me.

Not because he loved me.

But because he wanted Yukito.

My breath caught painfully in my throat.

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“So,” Tadashi concluded, his voice flat and unyielding, “she will main under your protection. You will stay with her. You will keep her safe… here.”

Here…

In this place.

In this cage.

The words struck me harder than any cruelty he had spoken since awakening.

Not because he wanted me protected.

But because I finally understood the truth beneath it.

He did not want me.

He wanted Yukito.

I stood there unseen, my chest aching as the realization settled deep inside me, heavy and cold.

Every kindness he had shown me today, every moment of closeness, every confusing touch and look-none of it had been about me. It had all been about keeping Yukito close. About preventing him from leaving. About using me as a tether.

I had become a reason.

A reason for another man to stay.

And somehow, that hurt more than being forgotten.

More than the coldness.

More than the cruel words.

More than the rejection.

Because at least when someone forgets you,

it is empty.

This…

This was being used.

I felt something inside my chest slowly crack, not loudly, not dramatically, but with the quiet sound of something breaking that could never be fully repaired.

He had not brought me here because I was loved.

He had brought me here because I was useful.

And standing there, hidden in the shadows of a mansion that one felt like home, I finally understood how completely alone I truly was.

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17:27 Thu, Jan 22 GDD

Chapter SS