Chapitre 20: How Lonely Must He Be at That Time?

While Shouko was listening attentively to Old Toshio in their home, at the same time, Kyoya had just entered his office when his assistant came to him with a frightful face.

"President..."

Kyoya lazily glanced at him. He was in a bad mood today since his sleep wasn't well last night. The paleness of his face made him appeared colder than usual. The reappearance of his dark circles further increased fear in whoever caught his presence.

It was all because of the new message that he received last night.

He was just feeling happy due to his wife's consideration of his health but it all shattered with the next message he got just at the moment he wanted to go to bed.

Assistant Kuroda was still staring at him with a complex look on his face. Seeing his assistant didn't say anything after greeting him irritated him. More so when it was clear he had something to say.

"Speak," Kyoya muttered out just one word but it sounded so oppressive.

He unbuttoned his coat and hung it on the rack. Assistant Kuroda walked nearer as his boss sat down, preparing to start working. His entire body fidgeted in fear. He didn't know how to relay this matter to his boss.

What should I do? I don't want to die young...

"President... I have something to report to you," Assistant Kuroda straightened his back, bracing himself of what would happen next.

Kyoya gave him a side-eyed, was still feeling annoyed by his assistant's sudden lack of words.

"Err... actually..."

Then, he was interrupted by a loud sound coming from the door.

Bang!

Both of their attention went to the opened door. Assistant Kuroda turned around, he had almost jumped in fright when he saw the person standing there. While he was panicking inside, he suddenly felt a sharp drop of temperature coming from his back.

Oh, no...

When he focused on the source of the coldness, once again he felt like crying.

The man who was sitting behind the wide mahogany table was staring directly at the person standing at the door. His pupils constricted as anger and malice abruptly flashed in his eyes. His entire face was taut, the fingers that were holding the fountain pen clenched into a fist.

The vibe around him was akin to the King of the Underworld at this moment.

The person who caused the changes smiled as she walked inside the office with unusual confidence. She didn't even care with the murderous intent that came from the man sitting as she took a place on a couch that was facing his direction.

She lifted up her eyes, her lips that were painted ruby red curled up into a smirk.

"What, you don't greet me?" The woman stared back at the man with a nonchalant expression.

Kyoya ignored her, he looked at the flustered secretaries that remained at the door. Apparently they had tried to block this woman but it was just a futile attempt.

"President," Assistant Kuroda was unsure of what to do. Whenever this moment came, he couldn't be prepared!

Kyoya gritted his teeth. Even though he didn't want to, his darkened gaze fell on the woman.

"What are you doing here?" Each word that came out from his words was spat out harshly as if it was poisonous for him to talk to her.

The woman shrugged. Her long hair draped over one shoulder. She smiled playfully at Kyoya. "Since you didn't reply to my text, I have no choice but to come here myself."

"You've wasted your time, get lost now." Veins began to bulge on his temple as his self-control was slowly slipping away. The pen in his hand had slightly bent to the pressure of his fists.

"If I don't want to?" The woman laughed airily, treating his wrath as if it was a joke.

"Scram!"

"What, I've just arrived and you tell me to get lost now?" The woman glanced around the office, pretending to take an interest in it. "You won't even serve tea first to me?"

"Call security!" Seeing that she was being stubborn, Kyoya barked an order. He flung the pen harshly, the tip broke once it hit the floor. Assistant Kuroda quickly fumbled with his phone.

"My, my, you're as ill-tempered as usual," The woman laughed softly. "I didn't expect you to turn up like this. Is it because of your ill-bred wife?"

Bam!

Kyoya slapped the table, he looked at the woman with clear scorn and rage.

"Don't talk bad about her!" He said through gnashed teeth, his self-control had slowly shattered away by this woman's sudden appearance.

"Tsk, tsk," The woman clicked her tongue. She wasn't at all affected by his outburst. "Such an ungrateful son. Do you still remember the beautiful walking stick? The one that you loved~ the most?"

Kyoya flinched, in a flash, a trace of fear replaced his anger before it went back to fury.

"I'm not your son!" He spat the words with pure disgust. He clenched and unclenched his fists, trying hard to restrain himself.

"I'm the one who gave birth to you," The woman retorted back with a smirk. "Why did you say I'm not your mother? You're hurting Mommy, Kyoya."

"Lunatic!"

A sound of hurried footsteps interfered with the war inside the president's office. A group of bulky and tall bodyguards appeared with their chief entered the office with a grim expression.

"President," The chief bowed once. He had caught the wind of what had happened.

"Throw her out!" Kyoya slammed the table once again. His palm reddened under such force. "Don't ever let her step inside this company!"

"Yes, President!"

The bodyguards went to the woman. Even with their frightening appearance, the woman just smiled before she elegantly stood up from the couch.

"Alright, I won't bother my son again," The woman winked at Kyoya whose face was dark with rage. "I'll come to see you again later. After all, I heard my daughter-in-law just got into a car accident. As a kind mother-in-law, I should pay her a visit."

At the mention of his wife again, the last restraint of his sanity finally broke.

"Stay away from her!" Kyoya shouted, his eyes were bulging as the urge to strangle the woman's neck surged in his heart. "Throw her out! Right now! Go!"

The woman smirked. She left under the escort of the bodyguards.

"President..."

Bang!

Kuroda flinched. He had just wanted to speak when the frightening man swept all of the items on the table in an outrageous manner. His knees turned soft, he didn't know what to say seeing his boss losing control of his anger.

"Pre..."

A light tap on his shoulder grabbed Assistant Kuroda's attention. When he turned his head, he saw the vice-president's sullen face. Ryota shook his head and gestured for him to go out. Kuroda immediately complied. He didn't forget to close the door, leaving privacy for the two cousins.

After such a commotion, the still air felt stifling even for the goofy Ryota. He stared at his cousin's dimmed face, storms were brewing under his dark eyes. Kyoya was breathing heavily, his eyes were lost in focus as he stared at the broken glass on the floor.

Ryota sighed. "You lose control again, Kyoya."

Kyoya didn't pay attention to his words. Instead, he said with the voice as cold as the freezing winter lake as he glanced at Ryota. "What are you doing here?"

Ryota looked at the smashed and scattered items laying on the floor with a sense of helplessness. This wasn't something uncommon whenever that woman appeared.

"You knew she has purposefully come here to rile you up," Ryota crouched down, he began picking the documents scattered not far from his feet. These should be reprinted. "She returned because she knew what has happened to Shouko. Don't fall into her trap."

Kyoya ignored his cousin's words. His heart was still beating erratically due to him flying into a rage earlier.

"It's hard, but I hope you could free yourself from the shackle of your past," Ryota gave him his last words. "After all, you've succeeded five years ago. Don't let what happened to sister-in-law turns you back to how you were before."

Kyoya retracted his gaze from his cousin. He looked outside the glass walls of his office, looking at the bright sun over the sky.

Somehow, he felt irritated seeing the brightness.

Rosy Mansion.

Shouko remained motionless on the couch even after Old Toshio had left the library. Her mind was still running back and forth between the things the old butler told her regarding Kyoya.

His words were still clear and they lingered in her head.

"Young Madam, Young Master is suffering from insomnia since childhood."

"What?" Shouko was stunned. "Insomnia? How could he be?"

Old Toshio appeared conflicted with himself. It was a difficult subject to be brought up so he must be careful when choosing his words. He paused to think before with resolution in his eyes, he began the story.

"You didn't remember but, it started with the death of his father, the first son of Old Master Kashino."

Once again Shouko was shocked.

He's an orphan?

It was true she hadn't seen his parents ever since she came to this mansion and Kyoya himself didn't mention them but, Shouko thought it might be because his parents resided abroad.

"At that time, the glorious Kashino household was in a mess. Master Kashino suddenly passed away due to heart failure," The wrinkles on Old Toshio's forehead deepened as he was recalling the past. It was the bleakest period of the prestigious household. How could he forget about it? "When it happened, Young Master was still young. He has just celebrated his sixth birthday."

A six-year-old?

Shouko clenched the hem of her shawl. He was much younger than her when he lost his father. In her case, she was ten years old when her mother passed away.

At six years old, he was at the same age as Momo when the little girl went ahead of everyone to a place one could only think of.

How lonely must he be at that time?

A figure of a young boy came into her mind. Standing in front of a grave with his back slumped down as a group of adults were looking at him.

"The relatives began picking faults with one another with the intention of having them rose in power. Luckily, the old master suppressed all of the greedy relatives and reclaimed his position in the company. The once retired old master has to step up, taking the office to avoid prolonging the civil war of the family. At the time of the chaos, no one noticed that the young master has been suffering in silence."

Shouko snapped out of her daze. She narrowed her eyes, feeling suspicious with his words but she couldn't pinpoint it. Regardless, she asked the old man.

"Was it... because of his father's death? What about his mother? His mother was alive, right?"

"That..."

Shouko thought she saw a faint trace of disgust in the old man's kind eyes when she mentioned Kyoya's mother. Was it her imagination?

Old Toshio lowered his gaze from his young madam's peering one. His heart ached when he thought of disclosing the truth to this young lady. More so when the truth could hurt her.

He remembered when the young madam first knew the truth five years ago, the young master spent a lot of time coaxing the crying her. It was as if she was crying in his stead when the young master couldn't, wouldn't shed any tears for his own sufferings.

"Young Master... lived with the madam in their house but, who would have thought the young him would suffer from abuse. He's barely lived, skinny and bones by the time the old master came to rescue him."

"A.. abuse?"

Hearing the word, every inch of her nerves went strained.

"What... what are you saying, Old Toshio?" Shouko's voice started to quiver, her hands that were holding her shawl trembled. She opened her mouth to continue speaking yet no word came out of it. After calming herself for a bit, she asked again, "How could he get abused? Who dared to do that to him?"

At that, a realization dawned on her. With great pains, she mentioned a person.

"Was it... his mother?"

With pure sadness in his eyes, Old Toshio nodded.