Filed to story: When His Wife Can’t Forgive
Kenji’s lips curled into a smile, his tone light.
“Holding you, so you could practice the piano.”
“Kenji, you’re insane!” she shouted in disbelief, her voice ringing in his ear.
“I wasn’t exactly begging for this! I’m completely unmoved by you!”
Kenji couldn’t hold back a chuckle but quickly smoothed his features.
“Alright then,” he said, his voice taking on a serious tone.
“Let’s practice.”
After finishing her piano practice, Scarlette hesitated before making her way to the bathroom, her steps uncertain.
Kenji, preparing to leave, paused as a thought crossed his mind. He turned and walked toward the bathroom, swinging the door open without hesitation.
Scarlette froze, her hand mid-wipe, her face a mask of shock and embarrassment.
Kenji glanced at a specific spot on her, his lips curling into a carefree grin.
“What are you wiping?” he asked, his voice laced with curiosity.
Scarlette blushed, her legs instinctively clamping together. She was torn between pulling her pants on or tossing the tissue first.
“Why didn’t you knock?” she managed, her voice a bit shaky.
Kenji shrugged.
“This is my house.”
“Even in your house, you should be polite.”
Kenji scoffed.
“I don’t extend such courtesies to those I find disagreeable.”
Scarlette fell silent, her cheeks burning, hastily pulling up her pants to conceal the evidence of her indiscretion.
Kenji, however, was not about to let her off the hook.
“Didn’t you claim to have no reaction to me? Yet, the tissue, I observe, is quite saturated.”
Scarlette, mortified, clung to the last vestiges of her dignity.
“I merely used the restroom. The tissue became damp from that.”
“From what, precisely? Urine?” Kenji’s tone was laced with a knowing smirk. He continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Weren’t you wiping your underwear just now? Did you piss on them?”
Scarlette could no longer bear the weight of his taunting.
“Why must you be so crude?”
Under the oppressive weight of Kenji’s scrutiny, Scarlette diligently practiced the piano each day. Finally, a few days before her mother’s birthday, she was able to flawlessly execute a breathtaking piece.
As Scarlette sat bathed in the warm glow of the stage lights, witnessing the smiles that graced the faces of her parents and guests, she suddenly realized that all the preceding frustration and arduous labor had been utterly worthwhile.
Scarlette straightened her spine, immersing herself completely in the music.
Kenji, seated among the audience, observed the young woman with an intensity that bordered on fascination. Perhaps it was the enchanting melody that softened the edges of his emotions, causing him to perceive her as more beautiful than anything else in that moment.
Upon the conclusion of the piece, Scarlette gracefully exited the stage amidst a shower of applause. After extending her birthday wishes to her mother, she surveyed the room, only to find Kenji conspicuously absent.
“Mom, where’s Kenji?”
Alicia, seemingly privy to some unspoken knowledge, chuckled softly.
“He may be in the VIP lounge.”
A triumphant glint entered Scarlette’s eyes. With a mischievous lilt in her step, she adjusted the hem of her dress and set off to find him.
Kenji, having just concluded a phone call, was emerging from the room when he spotted Scarlette hurrying toward him down the hallway. She resembled a vibrant flower, pulsating with life and energy. He found himself inexplicably drawn to her, a powerful urge to possess this captivating bloom taking root within him.
As she drew closer, Scarlette felt her heart pounding against her ribs, a desperate longing to fling herself into Kenji’s embrace. However, at the last moment, she steeled her resolve and resisted the impulse. Halting a mere step away, Scarlette looked up at him with a proud smile.
“What did you think? Wasn’t I remarkable today?”
Kenji, though aware of her underlying motives, chose to indulge her for the time being, retracting the hand he had unconsciously extended toward her.
“Indeed, you were quite something.”
Scarlette beamed.
“Then you must admire me even more now.”
“Yes.”
Kenji struggled to suppress the burgeoning desire within him.
“Are you returning home tonight?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“I must celebrate my mother’s birthday with my father. Will you be joining us?”
“No,” he declined. Having already attended the birthday festivities, he had no inclination to intrude upon their family celebration. It would undoubtedly prove to be far too cumbersome.
Scarlette’s smile faltered.
“Do you not enjoy my company? Why are you not spending more time with me?”
“Am I obligated to spend every waking moment by your side?” he retorted.
Scarlette huffed.
“Very well, then. Do not come if you are unwilling. I did not particularly desire your presence anyway.”
Kenji declared that he would collect her later that evening and then departed for work.
His colleague, also a close friend, inquired with a curious glint in his eye, “You already have a full plate. Why did you take a job at the school?”
Kenji replied nonchalantly, “To pursue a certain young lady.”
His friend’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“You? Who?”
“Scarlette Ward.”
His friend’s surprise quickly subsided.
“Ah, that explains it. She certainly presents a formidable challenge.”
Anyone acquainted with Scarlette was well aware of her social standing and her flamboyant personality. She was noisy and flirty, but she was also incredibly beautiful.
His friend remarked, “She should be an easy conquest for someone of your stature, yet you don’t strike me as her typical type. She tends to gravitate toward more aesthetically pleasing individuals.”
Kenji contemplated this observation for a brief moment.
“I do not concern myself with her preferences. I am confident in my ability to win her affection by year’s end.”
His friend chuckled.
“Such confidence. I thought you were serious with her.”
Kenji joined in the laughter, making no attempt to refute the accusation.
Later that evening, when Kenji arrived to collect Scarlette, she adopted a mischievous air.
“Close your eyes.”
Kenji, holding the steering wheel with a single hand, inquired, “What is this, some sort of surprise?”
“Simply comply with my request,” she said.
Kenji obliged, closing his eyes.
A few seconds later, Scarlette’s voice rang out, filled with excitement.
Kenji opened his eyes to behold an unsightly, diminutive cake.
Scarlette beamed.
“Taste it.”
Amused by her earnestness, Kenji took a bite. The dry, crumbly cake lodged in his throat, his expression instantly solidifying into one of utter disgust.
“Is this… Is this your mother’s birthday cake?” he stammered.
Scarlette nodded enthusiastically.