It all began on Tachibana Mayumi's eighteenth birthday...
As she was walking down the hotel's grand staircase, wearing an intricately designed red dress whilst a flower wreath adorned her head, she accidentally slipped which caused her to fall and...
❝Life is too short to waste your time on people who don't respect, appreciate, and value you. Spend your life with people who make you smile, laugh and feel loved.❞ - Roy T. Bennett
【Third-Person POV】
After crying for several hours, Mayumi shakily stood up and made her way towards her walk-in closet.
It was a spacious room filled with various designer clothes, shoes, and bags that fit for a young woman such as herself.
She strode across the room towards the vanity mirror and sat in front of it.
Her eyes were red and puffy from crying but she ignored it as she took something from the drawer- a gray journal with a combination lock on it.
It was her diary, a gift from her okaasama on her thirteenth birthday. She unlocked it and flipped it on the first page.
She stared at the worn-out picture with deep resentment. It was a picture of her otōsama together with his mistress and their once five-year-old child. They look like a happy family and she loathed it so much.
It was an open secret that the marriage between Mayumi's parents was forced and a loveless one.
They were both in a relationship when their engagement was announced to the public.
They didn't want to marry each other. However, they didn't have a choice because of a legal contract, so they got married unwillingly.
Two years later, they had a son and was followed by a daughter.
Hideo was only ten years old whilst Mayumi was only seven when their otōsama shamelessly announced to the world that he had a love child.
That day... they finally understood everything. The reason why their otōsama seldom goes home was actually because he's staying at his mistress' house and was spending his time with his 'beloved daughter'.
It was just the beginning though...
On their half-sister's sixteenth birthday, the three of them went to different countries to celebrate it together.
Tachibana Benjiro ignored his wife and legitimate children for his bastard child. When his mistress' unexpectedly died due to cancer a few years ago, he took his 'poor daughter' in.
Mayumi let out a deep sigh before flipping on the next page. There was another picture- her fiancé with her half-sister. They were inside a fancy restaurant and were smiling sweetly.
Unexpectedly, Minamoto Giichi fell in love at first sight to Tachibana Hanami when they first met three years ago.
They would have been in a relationship now if not for the Minamoto and Tachibana Clans' interference.
'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree'. Mayumi thought as she looked up and stared at herself in the vanity mirror- anger flashed in her eyes.
Hanami, just like her harlot mother, is a sly and treacherous woman.
As much as Mayumi wants to get her revenge, she knew what will be the outcome- she will be killed by her otōsama and fiancé, and she doesn't want that to happen... she doesn't want to involve herself with her otōsama and fiancé anymore because they're not worth it.
Mayumi put her diary back on the drawer before standing up.
She had forgotten that she's not dressed yet. She opened one of the large, wooden cabinets and took out a plain yellow sundress.
She put it on the white divan before making her way to the shoe section. She chose a pair of white, flat shoes.
After dressing up, she went back to her bedroom and took out her favorite novel entitled Kokoro (こころ) by Natsume Sōseki, a famous Japanese novelist. She sat on her queen-size bed and immersed herself fully in the novel.
• • •
It was half-past six in the evening when Mayumi decided to step out of her room.
She hastily opened the double-door and sprinted off towards the dining room whilst clutching her stomach as it continued to grumble in hunger. She hasn't eaten anything since the morning. Upon her arrival, Mayumi stopped dead in her tracks as she saw her otōsama smiling lovingly towards his beloved daughter, Tachibana Hanami.
They were happily eating their dinner whilst her okaasama and onii-sama were silently sitting at the furthest side of the long dining table.
This is one of the main reasons why she locked herself inside her room. She doesn't want to see this dreadful scene that had haunted her since she was still a child... every single day.
Anger and resentment slowly crept into her heart, but she closed her eyes for a few seconds and breathe out a deep sigh to calm her nerves down.
Her old self would have dashed out towards her otōsama and half-sister the moment she arrived at the dining room, however, because of that vision she had nearly a month ago about her future, she knew that it won't do anything good to her.
Mayumi slowly made her way towards her onii-sama and sat next to him which earned a gasp from her okaasama and a disbelieving look from her onii-sama.
She had already expected this reaction from them because it had been years since the last time she dined with them.
She smiled genuinely towards them and started eating whilst ignoring the two other people who were now looking at her with disbelief.
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1. Onii-sama is a Japanese honorifics that means "older brother". 2. Okaasama means "mother". 3. Otōsama means "father". 4. -sama (様, さま) is a more respectful version for people of a higher rank than oneself or divine, toward one's guests or customers, and sometimes toward people one greatly admires.
