Forced Marriage, True Love

30. Trouble

Mitsuha POV:

I was working on my design when I suddenly heard someone call me. "Mitsuha-san, you have a guest waiting for you in the lobby." The person said, making me look up. "I see. Who is it?" "I cannot say that. But that person is waiting for you." I sighed, having a bad feeling about everything. "I see. I'm coming."

I went to the lobby and was surprised to see Miki there. "You slut! Tell the media the truth or else I'm going to kill you!" Miki shouted, making me cover my ears. "Why don't you shut up? You're so loud." Miki shivered in rage and ran towards me. I quickly dodged her, making her trip and fall down near me. "Like I said. This is Ta-" Before I could complete, hundreds of reporters burst inside the lobby, stunning me in the process.

Miki smirked as she looked at me. "I told you to leave him alone. You didn't listen. Now, bear the consequences." She said, making me look at her. The receptionists tried to stop the reporters, who were taking photos and videos of me and Miki.

"What is going on here?!" Taki's voice boomed through the hallway, making me and Miki turn to his direction. "Everyone," Miki cried in so pitifully, I could almost give her an Oscar award for her acting. "the person I loved and worshipped my whole life betrayed me and left me for another woman. But... I still didn't want to hurt his feelings and respected his decision when he said he wouldn't want to be with me. But... this still wasn't enough. And she tried to harm me." Miki said as she lowered part of her blouse, revealing a deep, red wound.

My eyes widened. How did she get hurt like that? The reporters kept muttering among themselves. "No matter how jealous you are, hurting someone physically like this is too much." I heard one of the reporters.

"Miyamizu-san," I heard someone call me as they strode forward. My eyes widened when I realised it was my ex-CEO, Itsuki Tachibana, Taki's father. "You?!" Taki exclaimed in pure rage as he fisted his hands. "Taki, it's been a while. I hope you're doing well." Itsuki-san said to which Taki didn't reply.

"Well then, this is a family matter. It would be better if we discuss this privately, don't you think?" Itsuki-san said. Taki didn't respond and simply kept glaring at his father and Miki. If looks could kill, they both would've died a hundred times already. Itsuki ignored Taki's fierce look at walked forward, beckoning Taki to follow him.

Taki walked up to me and held my hand, dragging me with him, away from the reporters. The receptionists managed to hold the reporters back while Itsuki-san walked towards one of the private offices in The CEO's floor.

Itsuki-san, Miki, Taki and I all went inside. The entire time, Taki didn't let go of me, and I decided not to anger him. He was so furious; I was quite scared. Miki kept glaring at me and my hand, which was intertwined with Taki's. "So, my dear son, how are you?" Itsuki-san asked. "Not good. I'd feel a hundred times better if you and this slut leave this building as soon as possible." Taki said as he pointed at Miki.

"How rude of you to say that Taki-kun! I'm your fiancée!" Miki said shamelessly. "My fiancée is her." Taki said as he side-hugged me, making Miki glare at me again. "Taki, may I have a word with you?" Itsuki-san said with a small smile. "Whatever you have to say, just spit it out and scram. I don't have all day." Taki replied in a cold voice.

"Don't test me Taki. I'm still the chairman of this company. And your father." Itsuki-said in a rather cool voice, although I could see a little anger in his eyes. "You don't deserve either of the titles." Taki replied coldly.

Itsuki-san sighed. "Fine. I want you to attend your mother's birthday party." "And what makes you think I'm going to come for that?" Taki said. "Because Tsukasa is also coming." Both mine and Taki's eyes widened while Taki shot up to his feet. "What have you done to Tsukasa?!" He shouted.

"Taki, where are your manners?" Itsuki-san said, making Taki ball his fists in anger. "It's decided that you're coming. You have no say in this... unless you want something to happen to Tsukasa too." Itsuki-san said. Taki almost jumped on his father to beat him up, if it hadn't been for me holding him back.

"Well then, that's settled. See you in a week." Itsuki-san said as he left the room. "Mr. Tachibana, what about our deal?" Miki asked Itsuki-san. "You said that if I did this, you would help me get Taki back." "Ah... about that, how about we just forget that deal Miki?" Itsuki-san said, shocking Miki to the core.

"What?! How can you take back your words like that?" Miki shouted. "Miki, just look at them. Aren't they good together? Just forget it." Miki burned in rage as she glared at me. "You slut! I'll never forgive you!" Miki shouted as she picked up a paper weight and threw it my way.

I quickly turned my head and covered my head, to prevent it from hitting my head. Luckily, the paper weight didn't hit my head, although a sharp pain shot up the back of my left palm. "HOW DARE YOU!!!" Taki shouted as he strode over to Miki at the speed of light and held her neck, chocking her. "How dare you hurt her!!" Taki shouted as he tightened his grip around Miki's neck.

I quickly ran to Taki's side and hugged him, trying to calm him down. "Taki, Taki! Calm down! I'm okay. I'm okay, calm down!" I said in horror as I hugged him and rubbed his shoulders to calm him down. Miki held Taki's hand which was chocking her and tried to move it away. "Taki, please." I whispered in his ear as I leaned towards him.

Taki eventually calmed down and let go of Miki's neck, which was red and had hand prints all over. Without wasting any time, Taki held my hand and dragged me out of the room. From the corner of my eye, I saw Miki crouching down while holding her neck and gasping for air, coughing once in a while.

Taki took me to another room and opened a drawer. He took out an ointment and took a good amount before gently spreading it on my wound. "Taki." I called, but he didn't listen. His eyes were still blazing in anger, although his touches were as gentle as ever. "Taki! Please, calm down." I said as I held his hand, making him snap back to reality. 

"I'm so sorry Mitsuha. I dragged you into this. I'm sorry." Taki replied, feeling guilty. "It's not your fault Taki. Besides, there's no point crying over spilt milk. For now, we need to be careful of Miki." I said. "I'm going to kill that woman." Taki hissed under his breath. Was it my imagination... or could I actually see tears in his eyes?

I gently cupped his face and wiped away his tears, stunning him in the process. He gently held my hands and kissed them, lingering his lips on my fingers for a while. 'He really needs a shoulder to lie on right now.' I thought. 'There's not much I can do... but... if this makes him feel better, it's worth a shot.'

I slowly leaned forward and kissed Taki's cheek. Taki leaned his head on my shoulder and slowly wrapped his hands around my waist while I placed mine on his broad shoulders. We stayed in each other's embrace, enjoying the other's warmth. However, unbeknownst to me, there was someone who witnessed the whole scene with a deeply hurt expression.

Third person POV:

When Tessie heard that Miki had come to the company, he immediately rushed to find Mitsuha. However, he later heard that Mitsuha was taken away by Taki to accompany him to meet his father.

Feeling worried for Mitsuha, Tessie made his way to the CEO's floor and started searching for Taki's room. After searching for a while, he eventually found Taki's room, whose door was slightly open.

Tessie thought of knocking, however, the scene in front of him made him freeze. Mitsuha had actually kissed Taki on the cheek and hugged him? Tessie's heart felt like shattering when he saw Mitsuha relax in another man's embrace so peacefully.

Unable to see the scene anymore, he slowly backed away and left, his heart bleeding while tears spilled out of his eyes.