(BL) Mafia Love; He who falls the hardest loses-Chapter 159: Marriage proposal?

"Don’t bother," Haruki replied. It was a crazy request. So crazy began wondering why the man was so obsessed with him married to a woman if he loved him.

It was also crazy that the man was in such a hurry when he had been with Hiroshi for so long. "I am on your side," Aiichiro said his voice soft and warm as though he had not just threatened Haruki.

Haruki scoffed disgusted by the man’s attempt to appear nice to him.

"I know you don’t believe me but the person against your progress is Hiroshi. If you stay with him, you will lose. It will go beyond simply a young man playing around before he settles down to you being unable to settle down.

"You will lose your supporters due to an unconventional sexuality. If you want to destroy your future because of the doctor, then I won’t let it happen. If you want to destroy it, then it has to be with me. Don’t destroy your future, marry a woman and I will step back.

"I am giving you the chance to have what you want. It might be sooner than you thought that’s all."

Haruki glared at the man wondering why he sounded just like Ren. They all said that was what he wanted. They weren’t wrong. He was the patriarch. He needed a family to carry on the weight of the legacy his grandfather placed on him.

That legacy could not continue with Hiroshi. It had to be with a woman. He wanted to marry, he had always planned towards that even after meeting Hiroshi. He could understand but none of them had the right to control the timeline of his decision and how he did it.

"I promise to kill all my spies as soon as you get engaged and end it completely with the doctor," Aiichiro repeated. "If you want a man like that in your life then I am no different from him."

Haruki felt his stomach twist painfully at the thought of being with Aiichiro the way he was with Hiroshi.

"I came before he did. I loved you before he did and would continue to. I would not let you be with another man the way I want to be with you."

Haruki held back the need to scoff and roll his eyes as he prayed for the man to leave. Like a puppet, he had come under the control of Aiichiro. It reminded him of those years in high school when he allowed his cousins to bully him the way they wanted.

This was no different from the humiliation he was subjected to then. Then he had no right and no power to fight for his rights. He swallowed feeling the urge to laugh at the irony of his situation.

Even with the power he wielded, he could not truly do what he wanted, there was still someone who could control him.

"I hope you don’t see me as your enemy," Aiichiro said warmly. It was similar to the tone Hiroshi speaks with but this one was very repulsive. It was not soothing, it was not the voice he heard in his dreams.

The voice that kept him away from letting himself get hurt went back to those dreams. He hadn’t seen his parents for a while and although he missed there was something about that voice that kept him from trying to go to them.

"Could you leave?" Haruki asked feeling suffocated by the many thoughts that flooded his mind in such a short while.

Aiichiro listened surprisingly well. He rose up and said, "Take care of yourself."

Haruki had no energy to waste on the man as he ignored his farewell. When the door closed behind the man, Haruki loosened his tie and took in deep breaths as he felt his heart race.

He pressed his hand over his chest and tried to take in deep breaths as memories flooded his mind. So many at once along with flashbacks of his painful memories. He remembered those warm arms that reminded him it was okay, that gentle voice assuring him he was not alone.

He had a funeral to attend today and another tomorrow. He rose up reminding himself that he had controlled all these memories and emotions well before he met Hiroshi and he would have to do it alone.

There was a knock on the door. He knew it was Satomi from the way she knocked. He fixed his tie and drank some water before inviting her in. She left as soon as she was done with the work-related information she had come to tell him.

Remembered she had made an advance on him in the past. He called her back. She came back into the office awaiting whatever he called her for.

He rose up from his desk and walked to the sitting area and gestured to one of the sofas. She sat down and looked up at him.

He also sat down. "I need your help," Haruki told her seriously. His palms rested on his knees as he sat upright. He thought of looking nonchalant but he knew such a step against a woman he knew had feelings for him was cruel.

"You want to be my fiancée, right?" he asked her directly despite the hesitation he felt. Looking at her beautiful face, he had never thought of being with her aside from anything work-related.

She raised her gaze from the table and looked at him confused. "I wanted to but you rejected me."

"What about now?" Haruki asked seriously.

She looked down avoiding his gaze as a slight tint of pink covered her cheeks. She bit her lower lip before nodding as she said in a small voice very uncharacteristic of her, "I want to."

"Then let’s get engaged." After saying those words, Haruki folded his hands and leaned against the backrest of the sofa.

"I . . ." Satomi who used to be a very confident lady seemed to have been switched in a second with a bashful, timid lady unable to say a complete sentence.

"Are you okay with it?"

She cleared her throat and asked, "Why? You rejected me before."

Haruki wanted to tell her something sugarcoated but to think of how he would most likely never love her and maybe find a way to be with Hiroshi in the future despite their relationship, he could not bring himself to lie.

"I have to get engaged in a week and you are the only lady I could think of." She was also a very trustworthy subordinate so he felt his plans would be a secret with her.

Her eyes widened. Haruki concluded it was because she was shocked to see him give in to the pressure of someone else. It was something he had never done in the past so that must be a strange image to her.

"If you don’t want, then you can get back to work," he told her giving her the chance to reject him since he had no intention to force anyone to live like that.

"No, I will do it," she stopped him raising her hand. When Haruki glanced at her hand, she placed it down on her shoulder and adjusted her posture back to her usual composure.

"Please, remember there’s no feelings involved and we might part ways once I am done handling my issues."

"I understand but what will I gain in return?" she asked seriously the blush on her cheeks betraying her composure.

"What do you want?" he asked. He knew she liked him but he was incapable of returning her feelings.

"I want you to give me the chance to try to make you fall for me," she replied after a few seconds of silence. "Do not dismiss my feelings so fast."

"Fine, if it is a chance you want, I will give it to you but I hope you won’t get your hopes too high," he replied to her bluntly. He was able to give her the chance but he was very certain at that point that she wouldn’t succeed.

Even if they end up getting married for years, he might show her the basic respect expected of him as a gentleman but it wouldn’t get too intimate or deeper than the business-like marriage they would have.

"That does not sound like that great of a deal and the last thing I want is to cheat you. So, what else do you want?"

She remained silent even after a couple of seconds looking down at her fingers. She sighed and raised her head to look at Haruki and replied, "I don’t yet, when I know, I will tell you."

Haruki worried that she might ask for something absurd but he was willing to give her since he needed her help more desperately. She had asked him before and had obviously given up when he had rejected her so he was the one bringing it up now, so he had to give her what she wanted.

"I will get back to work," she told him her voice a bit shaky as she rose up.