ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ // ɴᴇᴊɪ ʜʏᴜᴜɢᴀ

19 | white lies

     " Neji, why are you doing this? What did I do wrong? I.. I.. " she quivered, her sight blurry from the unshed tears. 
Everything faded away, and the only thing that she focused on was Neji, and the foreign girl in her arms.
Neji's eyes were locked with (Name)'s, and they were so cold, that it made her entire being shiver.
     " Well, I must thank you for helping me to escape the marriage with that Hayashi bitch. This is for you, " he scoffed, tossing a briefcase full of a hundred dollars notes in (Name)'s direction. At the sight of the money, her tears began to fall. This wasn't what she wanted, nor what she had expected. 

      " Why? Is it not enough for you? You've become so greedy, (Name), " Neji chuckled as he let go of the girl's body. He walked over to his desk and retrieved a checkbook and a pen.

    " Here. Write the amount of money that you want, " he said, placing the black fountain pen in (Name)'s trembling hands. 
Her gaze landed on the checkbook, and they transferred to Neji face, which seemed so foreign. Then, she noticed the girl in the background, her expression seeming to be mocking (Name). Another tear escaped her eyes.
      " Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up," the girl sneered as she strutted towards Neji.
      " Neji-kun, when is she going to leave? She's such a distraction, " she pouted, glaring daggers in (Name)'s direction. 

      " It's alright Yuki. She'll leave when she gets what she wants, " Neji consoled, running his fingers through Yuki's long white hair. 
(Name) clenched the pen tightly with her fingers, and her knuckles began to grow white. The taste of bile rose in her throat when she saw her husband and the wench in such an intimate position.

She picked up the checkbook and began writing.

As soon as she finished writing, she closed the checkbook and handed it to Neji, before storming out of the room. Her eyes were filled with so much tears, that she could barely see her surroundings. She wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her jacket, but they continued to flow no matter how frequent she wiped them.

      " How much did she ask, Neji-kun? " Yuki asked out of curiosity, peering at the checkbook in Neji's hands.
He stifled, eyeing the page coldly as a bitter taste welled up in his stomach.

' Thank you for everything '

♤

(Name) jolted awake, her eyes wet from the tears that she didn't realise were falling. Her cheeks were damp, and so was her pillow.

     " What's wrong? " Neji asked, still groggy from being awoken so abruptly. 
(Name) turned her gaze towards Neji, and her face blanched. Without even realising it, she inched away from him, the expression of fear evident on her features.

Neji frowned at her odd behaviour, especially since she just said the three-word-phrase to him earlier, and now she was acting like this.
   
    " (Name)-" Neji said, reaching out to her, but she swatted his hands away roughly. 

Her eyes were still dripping with tears, but the look of them made Neji's heart drop.

The look of heartbreak, betrayal and intense sadness on her face.. It was exactly identical to her expression when she caught him together with Yuki all those months ago.

♤

After the incident with Reina, Neji and (Name) decided to proceed with the marriage quicker than planned. And so, there she was, dressed in a simple white wedding kimono. The makeup artists were fussing over her, and picking the suitable type of makeup to put on.
A pinkish-peach lip gloss was put on her lips, and the rest of her face was lightly makeup-ed with natural colours. Her eyes were framed by a thin layer of black eyeliner, making the colour of her eyes pop out.