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Tears blinded Sakura now as she stared at the woman before her. Her whole body shook when she whispered, "You're my mother?"
Haruka nodded. "The moment I saw you on the runway that day, Sakura, I knew you were my daughter. I just had to find a way to be with you. And well..." She glanced up at the brothers, who nodded and understood perfectly.
Sakura still couldn't believe it. She'd spent the majority of her life praying and dreaming and searching for the woman who had given birth to her, and now, here she was. In fact, she'd been living with the woman for almost three weeks, yet Sakura just couldn't believe it.
"You're my oka-san?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, I am, Sakura," Haruka said, hugging her tight. "I wanted to tell you so many times, but I... I was afraid you'd reject me. I am a horrible mother, Sakura."
"No, you're not. You must have your reasons," Sakura said.
The two stayed there, hugging each other tightly, mother and daughter at long last reunited. It wasn't until much later when everyone settled down after the shocking revelation had completely sunk in that James drew everyone's attention to him.
"Sakura," he began, "The woman you've bumped into is Mrs. Margaret Byrd. Although, she's going by the name Julie Clark now."
Sakura swallowed and nodded.
"As for Tara, we're unsure yet whether she knows about her mother being alive and has any connection with her."
"This is just unbelievable," Nicolas said. His brothers agreed, nodding their heads.
Haruka, who looked very concerned about Sakura's wellbeing now, said, "Mrs. Byrd is the headmistress of the orphanage?"
"Yes," Brenda confirmed.
Haruka turned to her daughter. "Sakura, I sent you letters. Too many to count. Didn't you receive any?"
Sakura frowned. "You sent me letters? No, I never received letters from anybody."
Haruka looked confused. "I sent countless letters and checks with them. You didn't get any of those?" At Sakura's shake of her head, Haruka said in outrage, "This is unbelievable. I wanted to make sure you had the best of everything. I wrote letters to Mrs. Byrd and gave her instructions, Sakura. That money was for you."
Sakura still shook her head. "I've never received anything."
James said, "I believe this needs further investigation."
"How much in total did you send to Sakura?" Nicolas asked, being the one good with money management.
"It had to have been at least over three million," Haruka said.
Sakura nearly choked on her breath. Over three million? She couldn't believe it. If there was no Mrs. Byrd, then Sakura wouldn't have suffered the torture and bullying. If there was no Mrs. Byrd, Sakura would have had a lovely childhood, what with all that money saved up for her. But that was not to be.
"Sakura," James said, "you do understand you might be in danger where Mrs. Clark is concern?"
Sakura nodded.
"If she knows Sakura recognized her," Sebastian said, "she'd make sure Sakura stays quiet."
Sakura said, "She knows I recognized her. I saw it in her eyes. She was scared, Sebastian."
"Then there's no doubt she'll be planning on something?" Darcy asked his father.
James nodded. "Erick said she owns a gentlemen's parlor. She has a number of men working for her."
The brothers understood what men meant in their father's context. They were ruthless gangs who went about doing their own things regardless of the laws. They were men the Princetons didn't like, going about doing drugs and killing anyone they were asked to, provided there was good pay.
Sebastian turned his attention to Sakura. From now on, they'd have to be on guard where she was concerned. There might be a chance Mrs. Clark wasn't going to do anything to Sakura, but that chance was slim, considering the extent the woman had gone to in order to gain her second identity and lifestyle. What they needed was more information, and that would take time. Meanwhile, they'd just have to look after Sakura as best they could.
It was some half an hour later when everyone bothered to leave Haruka and Sakura alone so they could do some catching up. It was a long session since they hadn't seen each other for twenty-five years.
*
CHAPTER 29
Mother and Daughter under the Stars
The whole day flew by after the reunion between Sakura and her biological mother Haruka. The Princeton brothers and their father James went about devising plans to protect Sakura. After all, it was better safe than sorry. In the end, it was decided it was better for Sakura to live with the brothers and one of them had to be with her at all times, regardless of where she went. More importantly, especially when they were in Hawaii next week for the photo shoot where Tara would be around.
It was decided also that the relationship between Haruka and Sakura was to be kept secret until the DNA results were received. The brothers knew if this Mrs. Clark were to find out about the two being reunited, her urge to completely annihilate Sakura would be stronger because proof of her guilt would be more damning.
Now all they needed to do was tell Sakura of the plan, and James left it to his sons to take care of it. After all, they wanted more responsibility where Sakura was concerned, and James was only too glad to hand it over to them. Over a five-minute discussion amongst the brothers, it was decided Sebastian would tell Sakura after dinner.
The brothers returned into the living room to hear their mother proclaim, "You boys are helping me cook dinner tonight."
Tristan and Conrad groaned. Logan laughed.
Hayden said, "Good for practicing your potato peeling technique, Tristan."
Tristan chuckled and said, "You're right. I'll show Sakura how good I am with my potato peeling ability so she won't be able to help herself she'll have to kiss me."
Conrad gave Tristan a sour look. "I bet I can do better than you. Ha-ha."
"Bring it on, bro," Tristan said, marching into the kitchen.
Darcy and Sebastian looked at one another and shook their heads.
Meanwhile, Sakura and Haruka were outside the penthouse, talking. Haruka had Sakura in her arms the whole time, refusing to let the girl go even just a little.
"Tell me about your childhood," Sakura said. "I want to know about you and your childhood."
Haruka stroked Sakura's long hair and nodded. "I was brought up very strict. The Tanakas are a very wealthy and traditional family. I was the younger of two children. My older brother, Sora, is now the head of the Tanaka Empire. You have three cousins. Two boys and one girl. Rui is the oldest. He's about Sosuke's age. Yuki is the second son. He's about Sebastian's age. And Hana is five years younger than you. She has a different mother from her older brothers."
She laughed brokenly. "Every time I saw Hana, I remembered you." Tears started brewing in her eyes again. "My family values name and status above all. We weren't allowed to do anything that would tarnish our noble line. But then I met a man and..."
"My father?" Sakura couldn't help but ask. She had always wanted to know more about that mysterious biological father of hers, and now she had the chance to ask, to find out what this person was like.
"Yes. I was only twenty then. Young and very naive... and very much in love."
"Do you still love him even now?"
"I haven't seen him for over twenty-five years, Sakura," Haruka said. "It's very unlikely I'd meet him again. I loved my husband, Kenji. He was such a wonderful man. But we couldn't have children together. He was sterile."
Sakura smiled. "I would have siblings if he weren't."
"Yes, you would have," Haruka said.
"Tell me about my biological father," Sakura urged her newfound mother.
Haruka took a deep breath as she stared off into the distance and the buildings beyond New York City.
"He wasn't a strikingly handsome man, Sakura. But there was that something about him. He was kind and understanding and, above all, had that dry sense of humor that attracted me to him." She returned her eyes to her daughter and chuckled. "You're so m
uch like him. Doing all sorts of artsy stuff. He was an artist. He painted a lot. Nature, portraits of human and animals."
Sakura perked up. "Had he ever painted you? I would really love to see his paintings."
Haruka laughed. "Yes. He painted me." Her eyes softened, and deep down, that feeling slowly came back to her. The feeling of being loved wholly and completely. A feeling that her dead husband Kenji had never been able to give her.
Once again, Haruka flashed her mind back to that morning long ago when she'd woken up to see the man she'd had a short affair with drawing her.
*
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Painting you," he said. "Although, this is only the outline. Stay still and don't move so much."
"I'm naked here," she muttered. "You baka! Stop drawing me."
"You're beautiful, Haruka. Now be a good girl and stay still."
She laughed and flew off the bed, wrapping the bed sheet around her body. She came to peek behind him and saw it was indeed a sketch of her lying in bed with only a thin sheet covering her naked body.
"Oh!" She chuckled. "You're good."
"Of course I am," he said, pulling her into his arms.
*
