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"Since we left St. Joseph Island," Ned said.
"Why did she leave?" Conrad couldn't help himself. "She didn't even tell any of us. Just up and gone. And she was supposed to be in the hospital. She was supposed to be recovering from the accident."
Darcy fisted his hands at the mention of this and fired one of his own questions. "Did you know before that accident if she was leaving?"
Ned nodded. "She had always planned to leave since before you boys returned to St. Joseph Island for Mary's wedding. She wasn't going to stay there forever."
Sebastian frowned at this. Of course, he remembered that time when he'd taken her for a ride on Hayden's motorbike after Lauren's birthday party. She'd mentioned something about leaving St. Joseph Island.
"She was planning to find her biological mother," Ned supplied. "Those few weeks you boys came to stay, I found out some background as to who her mother is."
"What's her name?" Nicolas asked.
"Haruka Tanaka," Ned said. "That should make sense of what happened on Saturday."
Nicolas looked at Sebastian and then both nodded in understanding. "She thinks Ms. Ruka, whose real name is Haruka Tanaka, is her mother?"
Conrad wanted to know. "Who's Ms. Ruka?"
Nicolas turned his attention to his other brothers, who looked a little confused, and said, "Ms. Ruka works for Mr. Tachibana. She's his assistant."
"But she's a transgender," Tristan said from behind.
"Sakura didn't know that," Nicolas said. "And thank goodness for that."
Logan started laughing then, loudly, in which case Hayden and then Conrad followed. Darcy couldn't help but shake his head at the whole odd situation as well and smile. It was the first time Sebastian had seen his younger brother lighten up, and he himself laughed. It felt so good, and he rested his back against the sofa.
Nicolas nudged his glasses up the bridge of his fine nose, as was his habit, and said, "I suppose there's more than one Haruka Tanaka in the world."
Ned sighed. "Yes, and she went all the way to the hotel just to take a peek at the wrong woman. Mind you, I did tell her not to go. She knew fully well you boys would be there. But she just didn't listen. And now look where it got her. Stuck in a muddle of mess."
Sebastian said, "We're glad she didn't listen to you."
"That's our Sakura for you," Logan said. "Our darling sister couldn't wait to meet us."
The brothers understood the irony of Logan's words and chuckled.
"Why is she taking so long?" Conrad asked, flicking his eyes to the door.
"Look," Ned said, serious all of a sudden. "You boys know where she lives now and what she does. You knows she's in good health and that she's fine. You mightn't like what I'm about to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. She doesn't want to see you boys yet. She needs time to come around. If you know what I mean."
Conrad didn't like the sound of that. "What if she doesn't come around?"
"She will," Ned said. "I know her better than you boys do. I've been with her since she was a little girl. Whilst you boys were running around trying to please Tara and Alaina and then gone off to your fancy private school, she was with me, learning how to cope with the bullies from school and at home."
At the reminder of their childhood, the brothers immediately fell quiet and tense with guilt.
"So my suggestion is to leave her be for a while. You can trust me."
"We trust you, Ned," Sebastian said. "How long do you think she needs?"
"A while," Ned replied. "Trust me. You can't rush her. Her priority right now is to find her biological mother, and her seeing you boys again just doesn't help."
"What if we come to visit once a week?" Conrad asked. "I mean like casually? Or coffee?"
Ned laughed. "I'll see what I can do."
"So you'll try to make her come around?" Darcy asked.
"Yes," Ned said. "But it will take time."
Nicolas stood. "I'll give you a call sometime this week."
Ned couldn't help but laugh again. "With reports? Sure." In which case, he opened the door, ushering them out.
When Logan put Toby down on the floor, the dog groaned in displeasure.
"Can we come and take Toby home sometime?" Conrad asked Ned as they came down the stairs.
"Why not? I usually take him out for long walks while Sakura works," Ned replied. At this offer, Conrad couldn't stop smiling.
*
CHAPTER 16
An Unexpected Contract
"Do you realize, darling, you've completely ruined my masterpiece, yes?" Mr. Tachibana said, eyeing Sakura with a dark look.
Sakura nodded. "I really, sincerely apologize, Mr. Tachibana. I'll pay for the repairs."
The designer just gave her a look and then laughed loudly, almost insanely. "Darling, are you kidding me? Not just anybody can fix this! Only I can fix this because it is my masterpiece and I don't want anyone to ruin it, again!"
Sakura jumped a little in her seat at the exclamation. Jane, who was sitting on the sofa beside Sosuke, jumped as well.
Sosuke said in Japanese to Mr. Tachibana, "Tachibana-sensei, you're frightening her. If you must know, she's Mr. Princeton's adoptive daughter."
Mr. Tachibana widened his eyes at Sosuke with a questioning look. "What?" he replied in Japanese.
"Yes, or haven't you seen how the Princeton brothers were chasing after her backstage on Saturday night after the show?"
"Really? Yes, but I thought they were chasing her because she was stealing your aunt's necklace and my gown."
Sosuke couldn't help himself and laughed, which drew Jane's undivided attention. She was in awe of his laughter and simply stared at him with delight. She also loved the way he spoke Japanese, and she couldn't stop herself from gazing at him.
Sakura could only understood a little Japanese, so she couldn't quite make out what Sosuke was talking about. Though, she did know it was something to do with the Princeton brothers.
When Sosuke managed to calm down, he said, "She's their missing sister, and that night was literally the first time they've seen her since a year ago."
Mr. Tachibana turned his eyes to Sakura and looked at her closely, as if he were scrutinizing her. Sakura blinked, wondering why he was staring at her the way he did all of a sudden.
"Then why did she run away from them?" he asked Sosuke.
Sosuke nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, "I think she wants to run away from them."
That was, of course, a very obvious statement, and to be honest, Sosuke hadn't a clue as to why either. For that, they'd had to ask Sakura herself. But of course, none of them was going to do that.
When Sosuke looked up to Mr. Tachibana again, he saw the glint within the man's dark-brown eyes and thought, Shit
! The man was up to something. Sosuke panicked and was about to ask when Mr. Tachibana said to Sakura, "Do you think, darling, that I have time to fix that ruined gown when I need time to design more beautiful gowns that could sell in the hundreds of thousands?"
When Sakura was about to utter something, he stopped her and continued, shaking his head adamantly. "And even if I do, do you know how much I'd charge you to fix my own gown?"
Sakura held her breath because she knew he was going to tell her any moment now.
Mr. Tachibana took a deep sigh and said, "At least eighty thousand US dollars, darling."
Sakura hung her mouth open, quite shocked.
Jane shot up. "Eighty thousand? Who has that type of money to pay you to fix your own gown, Mr. Tachibana?"
Mr. Tachibana raised his brows at Jane and said arrogantly, "Well, my dear, that gown alone took me at least three years to design. On the market and with my label on it, it'd cost at least nine hundred thousand."
Sakura swallowed at this news. Sosuke didn't like the sound of that and said in Japanese, "Tachibana-sensei, what are you up to?"
Mr. Tachibana gave Sosuke a grin before turning his attention to Sakura. "If you don't have money to pay, how about paying me by becoming my model?"
At this proposal, Sakura's brows shot up. "Your model?"
Jane said, "Mr. Tachibana, you're not thinking of casting Sakura as your female model for the upcoming photoshoot in Hawaii, are you?"
With Mr. Tachibana's grin, Jane continued. "But I thought you already have the females cast. Akira is one of them, right?"
"Yes," Mr. Tachibana said. "But I need a female main." He turned to Sakura. "And you're perfect, darling. Besides, you have no choice in the matter. Either model for me or pay the eighty thousand."
"Sakura," Jane said. "I saw the casting file. Tara and Alaina are models as well."
Sakura straightened her spine at this and said, "I'll do the modeling, Mr. Tachibana."
"Ah, marvelous," Mr. Tachibana shrieked with delight. He rushed over the table, came around to Sakura, hauled her into his arms, and hugged her tight. "Thank you, darling. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." When he finally released her, he instructed, "Now, Ms. Ruka and Jane will be preparing the photo shoot, and Jane will brief you in the process."
