1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 50

There was absolutely nothing left to do but wait. What did they do to past time when they weren't working, she wondered. It must be boring in the mornings. She went over to her bed and settled down. The sheets smelled fine, and so did the pillow. That was good. The mattress seemed thin, but she didn't mind at all, as it meant she had a proper bed anyway. This situation was something she had never envisioned herself in.

Without warning, the door swung open and her head popped up.

'Oh,' she blurted.

The girl at the door stared back at her, her baby blue eyes widening as she shifted, unsure if she should enter. Hana gave the closed bathroom door a glance.

Sabine was still in there.

Then, she looked back at the girl, her own eyes enlarging. She was twisting strands of her golden hair between her slim fingers, but that wasn't all. Her other hand was preoccupied as well, rubbing the swell of her belly beneath the dark blue shirt she wore, with an almost proud expression on her face. Hana knew she was outrightly staring, but she couldn't tear her eyes away.

Besides, the girl didn't seem to mind.

She had porcelain pale skin and a heart shaped face. A ruby red lip tint adorned her plush lips, and her smile was the sort that had one arrested on the spot.

'It sometimes happens, you know?' she said softly.

Hana stayed silent. She could acutely hear her heartbeat, and felt a sort of heat rushing through her veins. She had never expected this. Juan's trickery, maybe, but definitely not this. This was even more outrageous, worse than any deceit, making all the sweet words he'd spoken seem void. Had he been lying the whole time too, the only person she had come to trust in her stay here?

She knew she should have said something, even a greeting would suffice, but words escaped her at that moment.

Then, the bathroom doors popped open and Sabine emerged.

'Oh?' Her brows raised, staring at the girl by the door. 'Why didn't you come in, Marie?'

~

'You look well, mladishiy brat,' Vera said, with the hint of a smile on her face.

His lip curled into a sneer, then immediately regretted it. A sharp, stinging pain surfaced from the cut on his upper lip and he winced.

'It wasn't my fault,' he said immediately.

'You understand that you'll be charged in court for this as well? Your sentence will be lengthened for getting into fights while incarcerated and for killing a man.'

'It was self-defence!' he exclaimed. This was insane. Should he have taken the beating or allowed himself to be killed?

'Leon,' Vera started in a firm tone. 'It's in the law. You'll still be charged.'

He let out a low groan and lowered his head onto his arms. That pounding in his brain had picked up again, and dark spots were swimming in his vision. Damn that Old Boris. Damn that old man.

'Anyway, your court date has been set for the end of January. That's in two weeks. I managed to get my friends to help,' she continued. 'As for the police, they are still doing whatever investigations they have to do.'

But he wasn't listening anymore.

Two weeks?! Bloody hell.

He felt a hand on his arm.

'Are you even listening?'

He grunted, not bothering to remove his head from the table.

'You okay?' Her tone was softer.