"You two..."
Tsukiko looked at her two daughters and felt helpless, yet when she looked at the property deeds that were prepared by Nifuji, she knew well that Nifuji could take care of her daughters even if there were only the two of them.
It was weird, and frankly, it felt like she sold her daughters, but despite how vulgar it was, her logic knew that this was the reason why she could trust Nifuji.
Even if Nifuji somehow left them, he didn't let them starve, and they could live on their own.
This was cold, and it made someone even wonder whether Nifuji had a heart, yet Tsukiko closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then she asked, "Do you love my two daughters, Nifuji-san?"
"...."
Did Nifuji love the two?
He probably felt good, but he knew well that it was still hard to say that he loved them so much that he would give his life.
The love that he knew, or the one that he knew, was fanatical, after all.
It was as if their partner was their everything, and losing them meant the end of the world.
Yet, Nifuji knew that even if he lost them, he could move on.
Why did he feel this way?
Was he really as heartless as a robot could be?
No, if there was a reason, it was because their meeting wasn't that long.
If their meeting was long, Hina would be like oxygen for him. It might be invisible, but when she disappeared, she might have made him die.
Frankly, he had hoped for such a time to come, since as he grew older, the feeling of love had become more ambiguous and less passionate than before. Instead of wishing to love someone so deeply that they were his everything, he was with women partly because he was lonely and wished for someone to be by his side, and secondly, because the requirement for a man could be met in the eyes of many.
Also, in many cases, due to the development of technology, even without women, men could live fine on their own, but in the eyes of many, especially for those who were single, it was definitely far from good.
More importantly, it had always been within the men's genes that they sought to conquer women.
To have someone whom they could trust and love.
If one had such a relationship, one's life was as good as settled.
Nifuji wasn't sure whether he could ever feel that again, but he hoped he could. Yet for now, facing Tsukiko's question, he knew well that he could say, "I love Hina and Rui."
"...."
Tsukiko stared at Nifuji, trying to see the lie in his eyes, but she couldn't, and instead of getting angry, she hated herself for thinking that Hina and Rui had gotten a good man, even though they had to share him.
Yes, she hated herself as she couldn't really hate Nifuji, as she knew well that her two daughters weren't perfect.
One had dated a married man, and the other had a problem with communication.
Even if they got close to someone else in the future, how would their future be?
Tsukiko somehow could imagine that the man who was with Hina might become inferior, as he complained about how she wasn't pure, especially when she had dated a married man, and for Rui, the man might get bored with her and leave her.
More importantly, and the one that was more important, even though she hated it, she knew that the reason why she could accept Nifuji so easily was because of his economic prosperity.
If it were a normal man, what would they give to her two daughters?
Probably nothing.
Or rather, their daughters would be the ones who feed their men, since even the men were unable to think of how to feed themselves. As the world had developed, many men thought that being a provider wasn't the role that they should be in, and many of them wished to become a household husband, living in the house, cleaning up, as their wives worked.
Frankly, it wasn't bad, as the concept of a relationship was different from before, but Tsukiko was from an older generation, so her thoughts were still stiff. As Nifuji could take care of her daughters in the economic and also feelings, and the two loved him so dearly, while it was hard to accept, she somehow... decided to accept it, since she knew that there was nothing she could do.
If she didn't give them permission, they would likely leave, and as Nifuji had money, he could move to various places, from Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, London, Paris, and many other places in the world if he wished to.
If they left, what would happen to her?
Tsukiko loved her new husband, but even so, she loved her two daughters more, since if she didn't love them, how would she even think to take care of them till they were adults, right?
In many cases, many adults threw away their children, as they couldn't handle the weight that crushed them from taking care of their children (mostly economic reasons), which made them like animals, like cats, who were just in heat, then threw away the women and the babies when they were satisfied.
However, Nifuji didn't do that, and while he couldn't give her two daughters complete love, he reassured them by showing that he could take care of them even if he wasn't around.
More importantly, Tsukiko had never really believed in the marriage to begin with.
Her marriage ended in failure, she was betrayed, and she was hurt.
The vow that she and her previous husband had made was nothing but a lie.
If there was a reason why she accepted Akihito, it was because he was a simple man.
Yes, so simple that everything about him was so clear that Tsukiko decided to take a step forward.
Still, sometimes, within her mind, she wondered whether their marriage would be broken again, and this was also the reason why she could accept Nifuji's ways.
If there were no marriage, then her two daughters wouldn't be hurt, right?
Yes, it was lonely.
It was even sad in the eyes of many, but was there any way for the three to be happy except for this?
It was because there were no other methods that existed in this country that they did this, and because of that, Tsukiko took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I believe you now."
"Thank you."
"But, I will sleep here tonight. You can stay for a night, too, right? I want to talk with you more."
"...." Nifuji.