KAYLA'S POV:
After that dinner, he took us for a long drive, without the driver and drove the car himself. This was the first time in ten years that he had softened in front of us. Before, he was always busy with his company and extremely strict, almost cruel with us. No school trips, no parties at home, no family time, no going out after sunset. He even had rules set for us that are still stuck on our kitchen fridge.
So it was surprising after years of not caring that he suddenly wanted to celebrate his birthday with us. Something felt suspicious. Maybe he wants something… or maybe he's had enough of being alone. Or had enough of existing so much that he wants us to die with him too?!
No!!!
Both Theo and him looked at me as I snapped.
N...no… noise… so peaceful, isn't it?
He turned back to driving, and Theo kept staring at me, clearly knowing I had been too deep in my thoughts to realize I'd said it out loud.
He spoke up.
You know… when I was a high school teenager like you, I used to drive cars on roads like this, no people, just peace in the provinces, so I wouldn't get caught and could enjoy freely.
Can I ask you a question?
I spoke up.
He nodded, Yes, go on. I'm listening.
Theo stared at me, silently warning me not to say something that would make him mad.
You lived in Japan since your teenage years… so why didn't your parents live with you here? Why are you still alone here without your family?
He sighed for a moment, then spoke.
Okay, let me tell you kids my story,
My great great great grandfather, Daiki Hayashi, started Hayashi Industries. Then my grandfather, Haruto Hayashi, expanded it into a group of companies. After my father, it was me who took control.
I came here to Manila for my studies because I didn't want to stay only in Japan. I wanted to explore the world on my own, so my first stop was here. After completing my studies, I fell in love and got married to Theo's mother, my first wife.
My family opposed the marriage and disowned me. In a second, I went from Yuichi Hayashi to just Yuichi. My family banned me from returning to Japan and cut all contact for years.
But… I didn't lose hope.
I worked day and night, at cafés and restaurants. Eventually, I opened my own Japanese restaurant. The restaurant we just had dinner at… it was mine. I built it to feel my homeland here, to feel something familiar.
After years, my parents finally allowed contact but only by phone. When my grandfather died, the entire inheritance came under my name: all the companies and industries. I became one of the most powerful and richest men in both the Philippines and Japan.
But still… the Hayashi family won't allow me to return to Japan.
That's why I let Theo go there, to visit his grandparents, to give him the memories I never got to have.