Chapter 3: Prologue - Betrayal
Kahoru walked down towards where the driver was located and hopped into the passenger seat of the black Mercedes-Benz. Just before her driver was going to take off, Kahoru noticed in the corner of her eye, someone familiar.
"Was it really him?" She pondered to herself.
The car started to move and Kahoru stared out of the window checking for the shadowy figure. The familiar shadow had disappeared behind a building. As she was on her journey home the sceneries changed from buildings into trees. She took her phone out and stared blankly at the screen.
Her boyfriend of five years had not made contact with her during the three years she was studying abroad and she thought that maybe he has changed his phone number. After coming to Japan to visit, she couldn't help but to wonder what her partner was doing. Kaho knew that she would see him at her high school reunion. She felt giddy and smiled to herself knowing that she was going to reunite with him soon.
After the half an hour ride home, she was greeted at the door by her mother and father.
"How was your day Kaho?" Aiko gently held both of Kahoru's hands.
"It was good. Everyone hasn't changed at all." Kahoru grinned.
"That's good. let's go inside. The maids have a bath ready for you." Makoto wrapped his arm around Kahoru's shoulders and led her inside.
As the days of the week quickly passed, It soon became a Saturday afternoon, it also happened to be the day of her high school reunion. Kahoru was feeling anxious as the butterflies in her stomach began to swirl. She had only spent two years going to the school, but had multiple students targeted her because of her weight. Kahoru's cousin Handa Risa had transferred during the second year of high school and easily became popular on the first day due to her voluptuous body. After discovering Kahoru and Risa were related, the bullies had stopped harassing Kahoru as they all moved on to fawn over Risa instead.
...
The two cousins did not get along well with each other. Kahoru treated Risa like family whenever she had the chance however Risa did not want to be anywhere near Kahoru as she thought having someone like Kahoru around her was deemed embarrassing.
Kahoru had developed feelings for her classmate Hasegawa Keiichi as they often spent their lunch times together. Keiichi was very popular and always followed Kahoru around as he thought she was 'Interesting'. During the second year, Kahoru and Keiichi started to date.
Kahoru had only spent two years in high school before she was given the opportunity to advance to higher education as her IQ level was much higher than an average high school student. She was offered a scholarship to study in the medical field at Harvard University. She accepted the offer. Not only had she finished high school early, but Kahoru was also on her way to completing her Master's degree. She had first hand experience helping around in the hospital and had completed most of the assessments which allowed her to catch up to higher grade students. The professors decided to let her complete her studies and graduate earlier. She would finally complete her degree after two years.
...
The Banquet was set to begin at four in the afternoon. Kahoru was getting ready in her bedroom, she wore a long pink dress with thin straps that had reached down to her feet. She had bought it whilst she was shopping with her mother. Her makeup was minimal with a salmon-pink lip tint and a peach coloured eye shadow accentuating her natural beauty. Kahoru's mother curled her hair for her, resulting in soft curls.
After getting ready, Kahoru walked out of her room and her mother looked at her in awe. "My daughter looks very beautiful in that dress! Let's take a photo!"
Kaho blushed as her mother complimented her. "Mother I am not as beautiful as Mei, but I appreciate your compliment."
"Nonsense! Both you and Mei are both so beautiful."
Before Kahoru could respond, the maid had already counted down to three. She quickly striked posed and smiled elegantly at the camera.
"Don't forget about us. We want to be in the photo too." Makoto and the rest of the family had bombarded their way into the hall and crowded around Kahoru.
"Our older sister looks so gorgeous." Ryutaro places his arm around Kahoru's Shoulder.
"She really does look beautiful," Shintaro mumbled not wanting anyone to hear.
"Hey guys, This isn't my graduation you know. No need to crowd around me." Kahoru sighed and finally gave in after Kenjiro and his family showed up. It was now one big family photo.
The maid counted down again and each photo was unique. Aiko and Kahoru giggled as they looked through the photos. "Please print some of these photos out." Aiko asked one of the butlers to go on an errand.
"Mother, you're all dressed up. Where are you going?" Ryutaro questioned.
"I'm going to meet some friends. It has been awhile since I last saw them," Aiko beamed.
"I will be dropping off Kaho first."
"Lady Aiko, the car is ready." A middle-aged man had bowed in front of Aiko and Kahoru. This man was the head butler of the Yukimura residence; Ito Izumi.
"Good, Thank you. Let's head out Kahoru."
"Yes, mother."
The car headed down the roads of Tokyo and soon came to a stop in front of a large building which was located in Urayasu; Kings Crown Resort. The hotel was ranked as one of the top ten of the best hotels in Japan. As she was about to get out of the car, her mother held her hand. She smiled, "Have fun and stay safe my dear daughter."
"Yes, mother I will." Kahoru gave her mother a quick hug before she hopped out of the car. Then watched the car speed off towards the city.
Kahoru took a deep breath and as she stepped into the lobby of the resort, she was taken aback by the interior. The floor was marbled and there were dazzling chandeliers hanging down from the ceiling. Although it was just the resort lobby, Kahoru was impressed. Everything from the furniture to the lighting was elegant; it had an old western twist to it.
She wandered around to find the reception halls. Her heels tapped against the marble flooring. Kahoru peeked at her phone to find the hall number and searched around until she found the room that was sent to her. As she walked into the hall, she was breathless. The lobby was elegant, but the ballroom she stood in was on a different level. Everything from the floors to the walls was painted in gold. She felt like she had stepped into a different world, a world she doesn't belong in as everyone around her were refined and classy.
Kahoru was in awe; the ballroom was massive, she then suddenly remembered that she had to look for her friends. She shuffled her way around smaller groups. She kept walking in circles and after minutes of searching, She recognised a small group chattering among each other next to the bar. She made her way towards the group.
"Hi guys, I'm finally here."
"Kahoru, you're late." Jun answered as he tapped the top of Kahoru's head.
"I'm sorry, I got lost."
"It's okay, we can't blame you. This resort is enormous after all." Yuuki said as she gave Kahoru a hug. The trio seemed different. 'It could have been the way they are dressed', Kahoru thought to herself.
"I'm going to get a drink." Kahoru stated as she made her way towards the bar.
"Okay, don't get lost again." Jun joked.
"I'm not going to get lost."
Kahoru walked to the other side of the bar and ordered a Martini and when she received her drink, she turned around to watch everyone interact with each other. After she finished her drink, she decided to walked back to he friends . Again, she shuffled in between small crowds, then all of a sudden, he walked by.
Kahoru immediately froze. It was him. It was Keiichi. The man she loved so dearly. Her mind filled up with thoughts of his face and her legs started to move on their own. Walking away from the direction where her friends were, she was fixated on him. After all the years they have not seen each other, Keiichi had become such a handsome man. However she lost sight of him within the crowds. Just as she lost him, the MC announced for everyone attention and to face towards the stage, as there was some news.
"Good evening everyone, I hope you all had a grand time. Today I'll introduce one of the students as he has an announcement for us," Kahoru turned to look at the host and wondered what news there was since most of the students here had only just reunited with others.
"Can the host of this lovely event Hasegawa Keiichi, please come up."
The crowd applauded and listened in to the good news Keiichi had to tell on stage. Once Keiichi was up the stage, Kahoru had her gaze on him. It had been five years since she had seen him and he looked handsome as ever if not more. Kahoru's face relaxed and started to walk towards the stage. "Today I have come to announce something very special. I've never been so glad to have this person in my life and I will forever love her." Keiichi beemed.
It seemed that he had been waiting so long to see Kahoru. She was about to tear up as he went down the stage, walking towards her direction. She walked up to Keiichi, she was about to open her mouth, but Keiichi had walked passed her. She stopped in her tracks.
"Was he playing a joke?" she tried reassuring herself.
Kahoru turned around and her eyes followed the direction he was walking. Keiichi did indeed walk past her and stopped in front of a woman wearing long sparkly blue dress. Kahoru's eyes widened in disbelief and she started to tremble.
"Was that... Risa?"
At this point Kahoru began to panic.
Keiichi had a waiter hold his microphone in front of his mouth. He took a small square box from the pocket of his pants and kneeled down on one knee. "Handa Risa, I will forever love you. I am not perfect but I want to be by your side forever. Will you marry me?" Risa looked at Keiichi in shock. Tears started to run down her cheeks as she enthusiastically replied, "Yes! I will marry you!"
Everyone in the reception started to applaud and cheer as the couple kissed and embraced each other lovingly.
"Love? Marry?"
Kaho heard the words echo in her head. Everything started to spin and her eyes suddenly began to water. Her expression darkened and ears rang. Her heart was pounding loudly as it were to leap out of her heart and the walls began to close in on her. She didn't know when, but her anger had taken over her. Her voice was shakey but she manage to get words out of her mouth, "Keiichi! Since when were you and Risa-"
Kahoru stopped mid-sentence when Keiichi shot daggers at her. The words Keiichi said next tore her apart. He gave her a smug look. "I'm sorry... but who were you again?"
Suddenly a man nearby started to snicker. In a matter of seconds, the whole room was full of laughter. She had become a laughing stock. Kaho's voice trembled. "We dated... did you not remember?"
The reception became dead silent. It was full of past students wanting to hear the tea so they could have something to gossip about. Keiichi's smug face disappeared and turned very cold towards Kaho. "Oh, that was you? That only was because I pitied you. You were a way to past time. An object for my entertainment. In no way, could you ever be worthy of becoming my lover."
Kahoru stared at Keiichi in disbelief. She wanted to cry but then Risa spoke up. "While you were gone, I got together with my Keiichi. Everyone here never cared about you. We even forgot about you until you showed up today. They only pitied you because of your weight. Look at you now. You aren't worth becoming someone else's lover. You're literally wearing rags and your makeup is sh*t. Your friends also pitied you. They only hung out with you because they felt bad for you. They were just bored. No one ever liked you."
Kahoru stood in there dumbfounded.
"It couldn't be true right?"
The crowd started to laugh again, then went on with the party.
Risa slowly walked passed and momentarily stop next to Kahoru. She whispered in Kahoru's ear in a low tone, "He's mine now. You don't belong here and you never will. So get lost."
Kahoru felt like her world came crumbling down. She really felt like she lost everything.
Her happiness had disappeared. Everyone who she thought was close to her were gone. Kahoru lost trust in everyone. Her own cousin and her boyfriend who went behind her back and not only that, she felt used and unwanted.
She had been betrayed.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Sei08
Sei08 How could Risa do such a thing to her own family?
-Sei
wow.
- Mysterious Editor
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
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stone