" She is seeing another man behind my back!" Goro burst out angrily, pointing at cj with a shaking finger.
" What?! cj, is this true?" I ask in shock.
" Of course it is true! She just won't admit it!" Goro bellowed.
" cj? Who is that man?" I ignored the fact that Goro's face is turning purple and his eyeballs are bulging dangerously but cj remained stubbornly silent.
" See?! She just won't say who he is! It's obvious that he meant more to her than me!" Goro yelled. cj's head shot up and her lips quivered as she tries to deny Goro's accusations but after a few unsuccessful tries, she gave up and lower her head once again.
Takuya shot up from where he is sitting and without a word, grabbed Goro in a pincer-grip. His strength is amazing as he subdues Goro's strugglings and managed to drag him out of the house. Left alone, I stare at cj. The gutsy girl refuses to cry, instead she chew on her lower lip in total silence.
" Who is he, cj?" I ask again. " You are not helping things by keeping quiet."
Total silence as her chewing became more intense.
" My brother has a very nasty temper when provoked and the stubborness of an ox." I explained patiently. " If you won't do anything to savage this situation, even I can't help you."
More chewing went on till even my patience was worn thin but I struggled to keep calm. Suddenly she let go of her lower lip.
" His name is Yutaki." cj finally spoke up. Her voice is shaky and tiny. " He was the man my dad arranged for me to marry."
" He belongs to the mob?!" I cried in alarm. " What does he want now?"
" He doesn't work for the mob even though his father is. He is just an ordinary graduate student."
" What does he want?" I repeat myself. I am not foolish enough to believe that a son of the mob is harmless.
" ..."
" He wants you back? Is that it?" I persist firmly.
" He said he just wants to meet me for the last time."
" He was the one behind all those strange calls? The "old classmate" you were unwilling to meet?"
cj nodded with a grimace. " I agreed to meet him once but I never knew he would persist repeatedly after that. I couldn't turn him down. I was frightened."
" Frightened of what, cj? Did he threatened you?"
" No, but I was afraid Goro will find out eventually."
" Which he did, now." I sighed. " Why didn't you tell him about this in the beginning? He is your husband, you should trust him."
" I thought if I could quietly settle it ~" cj mumbles sadly.
" I'll go over and see how he is now."
Takuya exercises his limbs as he stares at Goro. After depositing the hysterical man on the couch, he realises that his arms are aching like crazy. Shingo and ima had excused themselves discreetly. When I walk in, both men are staring at each other like fighting cocks preparing to attack.
" Cut it out! Both of you!" I ordered sternly. Takuya broke the stare and went to stand by the window.
" How are you feeling?"
" Betrayed." Goro replied with the tone of a stubborn child. I was half-expecting him to pout next.
" Why?"
" How could she see another man behind my back?! If she never loved me, and was just making use of me to escape the marriage her dad arranged for her, she could had said so! She did not have to lead me on!"
" You are angry because you believe you sacrificed a lot to help her." I said calmly. " What made you want to turn a false marriage real?"
" Because I fell in love with her!" Goro argues loudly.
" Then why are you keeping tabs on how much she owes you?"
" I am not!"
" You are measuring her against the debt she owes you!"
" Where's cj going?' Takuya interrupts during the short span of silence Goro took to look at me. Before anyone can answer him, he turned from the window and made a dash for the front door. " Some guy is attacking cj!"
I never knew my brother can run that fast but he was ahead of us and when we finally arrived, he had already pried the predator's grip off cj's arm and is shielding her with his body. " What do you think you are doing with my wife?!" He yelled.
" Who are you?" Takuya growled. He is trying his scare tactic on the seemingly soft spoken young man.
" You are Yutaki, aren't you?" I demand shrewdly.
" Leave her alone!" Goro yelled angrily at the silent stranger.
" I just want to ~"
" You are not welcomed here!" Takuya warned as he took a menacing step forward. Suddenly, out of nowhere a dozen of fearsome looking men in uniformed dark suits appeared. The unwelcomed young stranger is no longer alone and helpless. Takuya stopped in his tracks immediately but he refuses to back down.
" I just want to see cj for the last time."
" You seen me more than once! Enough is enough! I don't want to see you again! You are putting me and my family in a very precarious situation!" cj yelled angrily from behind Goro's protective body shield.
" Stop harassing my wife!" Goro adds sounding equally angry. For the first time since their union, husband and wife shows how united they are in thoughts and in action.
" That was dumb for you to confront him like that!" Nakai chided severely.
" You should have called the cops!" Pam cried.
" Luckily he is just a lovelorn fool ~' I sigh.
" Pretty silly of you to rush out like that!" Shingo scolds Goro who blushed.
" He's just trying to protect his wife." Takuya defends quickly.
" Are you sure that what's-his-name will not come back again?" Joyce asks frightfully.
" Yutaki ~" ima corrects Joyce.
" Don't ever mention that name!" cj snaps angrily. Immediately, Joyce and ima stick out their tongues guiltily.
" I don't think he will be back." Tsuyoshi deduces thoughtfully.
" It's better if everyone be on guard for the next few days." Nakai insists.
