Chapter 633 - You’re here
Chapter 633: You're here
Takahara Kei headed straight to the rooftop of the villa after leaving the reception room.
There, two bodyguards dressed in black uniforms stood guard over the entrance of the loft. They respectfully greeted him when they saw him ascending the stairs. "Boss," they acknowledged in salutation.
"You two can go, and take three days off. I will still pay you," Takahara Kei said with a bright smile on his face.
Although they were uncertain why their boss would instruct them to do so, these two bodyguards were experienced enough not to ask questions. They bowed and responded, "Understood!"
They turned around and walked down from the loft, then left the villa immediately.
Takahara Kei opened the door to the loft. The room was relatively small, but it was well-furnished and cozy. The dominant color theme of the room was pink. Even the furniture was in the same color theme, and there were several plush teddy bears of different sizes laying around. Plastered on one wall was a poster of a popular Ri Nation music band.
A girl sat on the enormous bed in the middle of the room. She leaned against the headboard, mumbling to herself while cutting a photo with a pair of scissors. Scattered all over the floor were countless cut pieces of that photo. Littered all over the floor were little cuttings of other photographs she had cut up earlier.
The girl sneered when she saw Takahara Kei walking over and continued cutting the photo in her hand. It was as if she was pouring all her anger into the act.
"Keika."
Takahara Kei walked over with a face full of love and sat beside her. He then realized that the photo his daughter was cutting was his. They were photos he had taken when he met with clients or when he was in discussions on projects. He had a sad smile when he asked, "Do you hate daddy that much?"
He did not tell Takahara Keika that the person with her that night was the Thousand-Faced Killer, Xiao Han. The man who had recently struck fear into the hearts of many Ri Nation citizens. He did not want to scare or traumatize her.
"Yes, I hate you! I hate you to the core!"
Takahara Keika gritted her teeth and screamed, "All you ever care about is your career, right? Go then, do your thing. Why did you come here? I am sick and tired of seeing you put on an act. You always pretend that you care for me!"
Takahara Kei had an agonized look on his face. He placed his hand on top of his daughter's head, pouring with heartfelt and genuine love. It showed in his eyes."No father in this world would not worry and not care for his daughter," he said.
"Humph!" Takahara Keika snorted before turning her head away.
Takahara Kei sighed and said, "I did not even realize that my Keika has grown into such a graceful young lady."
"Tsk!" Takahara Keika was a little taken aback, but turned her head away and pretended not to hear a word he had said.
Takahara Kei had mixed feelings when he looked at his daughter. Knowing that his impending death was approaching had jolted him from his obsession with his business empire, and he had almost forgotten that his daughter was now a young lady. He could vividly remember Takahara Keika when she was still in elementary school. She was that little girl with a bright smile who would sit on his shoulders and hold on to his head. In his mind, she was still that little girl.
Where was I when she needed me?
The number of times that Takahara Kei had accompanied his daughter was simply too few. In all honesty, he hardly did. It was no wonder that during his divorce, his wife had complained that his family was not a priority to him at all, instead, it had been all about the company and money. He never understood it back then. But at this moment, he finally realized what his wife meant and why his daughter had become so rebellious.
It wasn't that she was being rebellious, but rather it was a way for her to get his attention. Like any daughter, she longed for his attention and his fatherly love. But he had never given her the love that she craved. There were even a couple of years where he failed to be with her during her birthday.
Suddenly, he felt that his life had been meaningless these past couple of years. His net worth may be worth hundreds of billions, but he had failed to give them enough of his time. He suddenly realized he missed the warmth and love of a family. Tears welled up when he thought about it, and they rolled down his cheeks.
"Daddy, what is wrong with you? What's… what is going on?"
Takahara Keika was shocked and stopped her tantrum immediately. She truly loved and admired her father, but hated that he had never spent much time with her. There was an occasion when she had received an award from school and wanted some praise from him. Instead, he told her, "Daddy is busy right now. I will look at it another time."
All she wanted was for her father to praise her. But all she ever heard was that her father was busy.
Despite her tantrums and anger shown toward Takahara Kei, in her heart, she loved her father. It was the first time she had seen her undemonstrative father crying, and she panicked. It felt like a knife had plunged into her heart. Her eyes turned red, and she cried, "I am sorry, Daddy. I won't be disobedient anymore. I won't ever be. Daddy, please stop crying? When I see you crying, I… I feel terrible…"
"The one who should apologize is me."
Takahara Kei shook his head and sighed. Then he said, "I was too selfish. I never tried to see things from you or your mother's perspective. I never thought about what you both truly needed. I always took it for granted that you would both be happy as long as I gave you money, never thinking once to spend time with both of you. Daddy is wrong. Daddy failed to take good care of both of you. Keika, can you forgive Daddy?"
"Daddy…"
Takahara Keika looked at the old man in front of her and burst into tears. She felt that God had finally answered her prayers—her father had been returned to her. She worried no longer and hugged him tightly.
Takahara Kei patted her on the back and tears streamed down his face as he closed his eyes.
…
On the morning of the second day, Takahara Kei opened the door of his study room. He saw someone sitting in front of his desk with his back facing the door.
It surprised him, but he knew what was going on. As if talking to an old friend, he said, "You are here."
With a swivel of the chair, the young man with a handsome face turned around to look at him.
He had a bright and fair face, a pair of smoldering black eyes, and a sinister smirk at the corner of his mouth. The young man was sitting as if it was his home. His left hand supported his chin, and his right hand rested on the study desk, tapping it with a rhythmic tempo.
It was Xiao Luo!
"You knew I was going to come, yet you asked all the people who were protecting you to leave. Tell me why?" Xiao Luo asked.
Takahara Kei lowered his head. With a smile, he said, "You will still be able to break in and kill me even if they were here. They cannot stop you. So, I might as well ask them to leave."
Xiao Luo looked at him steadfastly. Then he asked, "Are you not afraid of death?"
"Of course, I am afraid. Everyone is afraid to die. But I would rather die with some dignity," Takahara Kei said.
"Dignity?"
Xiao Luo laughed coldly and said, "Excuse me, but you lost the right to use that word when you took part in the Biochemical research base."
Takahara Kei smiled bitterly and sighed. Then he changed the topic.
"When I invested in the base, Kuroda Kiyotaka told me it was for research that would benefit the people and the country. I did not know that he was going to capture people and use them as test subjects to conduct genetic engineering experiments on them. When I realized that he was doing something so cruel and tragic, It was against my conscience, and I developed insomnia. I had to take sleeping pills to get to sleep. Since then, I have lived in deep regret every single day. Just once did I witness the experiment, and I could never forget it for the rest of my life."
"Are you saying all these so that I'd let you go?" Xiao Luo asked with a chuckle.
