Heartfelt - An Arranged Marriage with a Billionaire

Chapter 13 - Business Vacation

This chapter is dedicated to AsunaXI! Happy reading!

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Naomi pov:

"Hmm....maybe I should try making some pudding today...." I mumbled to myself as I walked back from the bus stop. I also tried to recall if we had the necessary ingredients to make it. We did have all the ingredients we needed, including eggs, so I skipped going to the grocery store.

More than a month has passed since the incident with my father and life has settled down quite well, I have to say. Kazuo san handled the matter himself, as he had said, though I was called in once to explain the abuse my mother and I suffered at his hands when I was younger along with other necessary details. My father was charged for domestic violence, cheating and fraud and was sentenced to six years in prison. His company was shut down and my step mother and Yuuka were thrown to the streets. I felt a little bad for them, especially Yuuka, and I requested Kazuo san to help them. He was reluctant but agreed and arranged for a small studio apartment for them to live in with the first two months rent paid in full to give my step mother enough time to find a job to make a living.

Unfortunately, Yuuka resented me for what happened to our father because she didn't want to believe that the man who treated her like a princess would do something so cruel to me. Although, she did come around soon enough after she remembered how I had been locked up and forced into this marriage. We didn't talk much anymore but I guess we were on good terms nonetheless.

Kazuo san had changed quite a bit after that too. He no longer treated me like I was an unwanted existence in this life. In fact, he was attentive and appeared to be trying to get close to me. It was a good feeling and I too had come to feel closer to him – I really liked his attentive and gentle side, through it wasn't too openly expressed because I think he was still hesitant, and we were awkward, but I no longer felt afraid or nervous when with him. His presence was now pleasant and even unexpectedly comforting and I looked forward to the moments we spent together, even if it was nothing more than sitting together in the same room silently and engrossed in our own works.

We had short conversations every now and then too, though mostly about general topics. I had learned from these better interactions with him that there was more than his detached and aloof behavior that he had with almost everyone around him. There was something mysterious about him too which piqued my curiosity quite a bit. I wanted to know why he always kept his distance from people, why he had treated me so coldly before he found out about my past, why he had such dangerous rumors going on around him, why he was hesitating and....who he really was. There was something about him that was childlike at times and innocent and it was unexpectedly charming.

I was falling in love with his side I hadn't seen before. My heart skipped a beat when he looked at me with such warmth yet visible uneasiness, his tiny gestures of offering to drop me to university – which I had accepted only thrice until now just because I didn't want to be too rude to decline every time he offered – or asking me how my studies were going or offering second helpings or an extra variety with our meals made me understand that he was a gentleman and someone who knew how to care for others. He was....tender.

My heart skipped a beat again and warmth rose to my cheeks. I shook my head to shoo away the flustering thoughts as I entered the mansion's compound. I smiled though as I remembered the time we had met Reiko san and Shojuro. They were awed and excited to meet Kazuo san and talk to him and despite hearing of why I had married him, they cheered us on and wished us a happy future together.

Reiko san was especially doting to Kazuo san, serving him more food than he could eat and insisting that he come to café along with me often. He did, and he seemed to enjoy the almost mother-like pampering from Reiko san too – his eyes were distant and lonely at that time, as if he missed his mother and relived the affectionate moments with Reiko san instead. It made me contemplate and get confused over the words Father in law had said about Kazuo san being responsible for his mother's death.