"You... met my uncle?"
Tsubaki was in a daze as she stared at Ren's concerned eyes. Her lips parted but no word came out from her mouth. Her eyes blinked slowly as if she still couldn't accept what he had said. A blurred image of a foul-looking older man popped in her mind.
"Uncle Takashi?" Tsubaki asked again, seeking for reaffirmation. Her tiny hands grasped the front of Ren's pajamas, a faint ghost of anxiety gleamed in her bright eyes. "You really met him? Really?"
"Yes, sweetheart," Ren nodded once. He rubbed her back, sending some comfort to her since he understood how much Tsubaki feared that despicable man. "Don't worry. He couldn't harm you. I have him confined under the supervision of my bodyguards."
Tsubaki bit her lower lips. A thin layer of mist started to form on her eyes. Without saying anything, she buried her face on his chest, seeking his unconditional protection in his arms. Both of her hands tightly clasped on his pajamas, she took a deep breath as she tried to stabilize her emotions.
Ren let her be in silence. As far as he understood, Yagi Takashi did something out of character when he left a sum of money for Tsubaki when she was still recuperating in the hospital due to the accident before he vanished in the thin air. But, that tiny bit of kindness couldn't be used to wash away all the bad things he had done to the Hanada siblings.
After some time, Tsubaki slowly pulled away from her husband. She raised her chin and looked directly into his eyes. It was apparent that he was worried about her yet he didn't press her with anything. She thought for a moment, trying to arrange her words inside her mind before she finally broke the silence.
"Did he tell you anything about 5 years ago?" Her voice was so soft and he detected a hint of anxiousness in it.
She didn't even ask about her supposed uncle's well-being. As kind-hearted as she was, she wasn't one to easily forgive anyone who had wronged her, especially in repeated offenses.
If someone did a mistake once, he needed to learn his actions. If he did it twice, he might just forget the consequences but if he did it for the third time, only a fool would forgive him.
"He told me what he knew about your past yet it wasn't sufficient," Ren sighed heavily, he felt bad because his wife needed to hear about that scum man again in her life. "But, he did say he might encounter Ms. Nakamura once when your Mom has just passed away. He said he saw an unfamiliar woman outside your home."
"What?" Tsubaki had completely forgotten about Yagi Takashi once she heard his last sentence. "You mean... she came to see me too as she has done for Hinata?"
"Yes, love."
Both of them still remember that Ms. Nakamura had come to the orphanage where Hinata lived. While it didn't escape any possibility, for Tsubaki to know that the woman had traveled to her hometown just to watch her from afar made her emotions fluctuated.
"And... there's still a thing I haven't told you." Ren gently retracted his arms from his wife. His deep gaze was profound as he looked at her anxious face. He ran a hand over her head, "I'll go and get it now. Wait here for a minute, sweetheart."
Tsubaki had yet to say anything when Ren had slipped out of the bed. He calmly walked toward the door. He turned around and gave her a reassuring smile as if telling her that everything was fine before he stepped out of the door. His long legs brought him to the study.
It was time for Tsubaki to read the letter.
When Ren returned to their bedroom, Tsubaki was nowhere to be found. The bed was empty. The only sign left by her presence earlier was how the blanket had overturned at her side of the bed. His brows furrowed slightly.
"Tsubaki?" Ren walked deeper into the room. His right hand was holding the letter. "Sweetheart?"
Did she vomit again?
Just as he wanted to head toward the bathroom, the sound of skirt rustling caught his attention. He turned around, his eyes landed on his dainty wife who had just emerged from the wardrobe.
"Sweetheart?"
Tsubaki bit her lower lip as she stared at her husband in silence. She appeared nervous as both of her hands clasping together. A corner of a piece of white paper stuck out from one of the spaces between her fingers. Without having to guess, Ren knew that it was the mysterious note he found in her handbag yesterday.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Feigning innocence, Ren went closer to his wife without looking back at the note. He didn't want to startle her if she knew that he had found it yesterday.
"Err..." Tsubaki lifted up her gaze so she could meet his. Her husband was so tall. Sometimes her neck would ache if she looked up to see his face in a long period of time. "Actually, I..."
A faint smile curved on Ren's face. He gently patted her head. He had always loved the feeling of running his hand over her silky hair. It brought him another sense of intimacy with his beloved wife.
"Why are you standing here? Let's get back to bed, shall we?" Ren pushed a strand of her hair to the back of her left ear, revealing one side of her slender neck.
"Uhuh..."
Both of them got into the bed. As Ren was leaning comfortably against the bedhead, Tsubaki was sitting at one side while facing him. The soft light of the lamps illuminated her features, her delicate brows were almost intertwined with each other as she pursed her lips.
"What are you thinking?" Ren leaned over and stretched one of his long hands. He pulled her toward him. Once he settled her in his arms, he looked down. He playfully poked her nose as soft laughter escaped his thin lips. "Ease up, will you? Baby might think Daddy is bullying Mommy."
"Well, you really love bullying me," Tsubaki refuted back, she narrowed her eyes as she looked at him with suspicions. "Baby needs to know that his Daddy always makes fun of his Mommy."
Ren was rendered speechless. She was still in her gloomy state a second ago but once he teased her, she quickly answered him back.
Was this due to the pregnancy hormones?
"Alright, alright. Daddy really loves teasing Mommy," Ren said cheesily as he dipped his head in and kissed the tip of her nose. "So, Mommy could tell Daddy everything as compensation. Daddy will listen carefully."
Tsubaki glared at him. She raised her head and swiftly bit his chin in anger. Ren chuckled, his voice was low and deep, sounding seductive in the quiet room. He pulled her even closer to him, feeling her softness in his arms.
"Do you really want to show your claim on me?" He arched an eyebrow while one corner of his lips crooked up. "I don't mind people seeing this mark."
Tsubaki gasped in shock. When she realized what she had done, she felt like digging a hole to bury herself in. Her teeth mark was apparent on Ren's sharp chin, leaving a patch of red on his fair skin. No one needed to guess what had happened there.
"Aaa! It's your fault for being annoying!" Tsubaki exclaimed in a huff. She punched his sturdy chest a few times as she vented out her frustration yet the punches were like feathers tickling him.
"Okay! Okay! I'm being annoying to you, alright?"
Ren quickly wrapped her petite frame tightly in his embrace. Tsubaki had stopped punching him. She pursed her lips as her husband rested his chin on the crook of her shoulder.
"Sweetheart, I want to tell you something."
Tsubaki flinched in his arms. Somehow, a sense of uneasiness spread all over her body once he muttered out the words. Maybe because she was subconsciously trying to avoid the matter.
"What... what it is?" Tsubaki shuttered, she tried her best to calm the turbulence in her heart. Their little argument had faded from her mind. "You have said that earlier... What do you want to tell me?"
Ren heaved a sigh. He didn't let go of her as he tightened his embrace. One of his wide palms patted the small of her back. It took him quite a moment before he could finally voice it out.
"Your uncle said... when the woman we assumed as Ms. Nakamura visited your hometown, she left something in your postbox. It was a letter."
"Huh?"
Ren's heart ached as he saw Tsubaki was caught in a daze. Her eyes blinked slowly with her small mouth agape. She appeared so listless when she was staring at him. The smile that had always radiated from her face was gone.
"You said..." Tsubaki was still looking at her husband's worried expression, she could see clearly how she appeared right now from the reflection on his dark eyes. "She came... and left a letter?"
"Yes."
Ren shifted his gaze from her face and looked down at his hand. He brought up the letter to show to Tsubaki. The envelope had been crumpled and appeared yellowish eaten by time.
"This is..." Tsubaki was at a loss of words. She looked at the letter before her gaze went back to her husband's solemn look.
"This one was Hinata's. I got it from Mr. Nagao," Ren said truthfully. "Your letter has been thrown away by your uncle the moment he got it."
"Oh..."
Seeing her dull countenance, Ren knew she was feeling disappointed deep inside her heart. If she had got the letter, she would know the truth sooner and....
And what?
Would she go to look for her birth mother? And leaving their first meeting to fate once she was gone from the village?
Ren shook his head inwardly. This was not the time to dwell on such things. The important matter was she was already in his arms.
"Do you want to read it right now?" Ren quickly snapped out of his useless thoughts. He didn't want to burden his mind with matters like that.
Tsubaki took the letter from her husband's hand. Her bangs fell down, covering her face as she looked down to see the old letter. Her fingers trembled as she was thinking of what was written here.
Would she know the truth of her being left by her birth mother?
What was the story?