I don't know why I decided to let this lady into my apartment. I know she claimed to be "Hinata's wife", but she could just be a crazy ex-girlfriend and me being an idiot for letting her into my place.

She walked inside with such confidence, something Hinata would do, except the only difference was she had this superior aura. She was much taller than me, had short sleek jet-black hair, with rather large round eyes. She wore a long white button down dress that had a tiny waist belt attached to it.

I asked her if she wanted anything to drink, while looking around my room, she responded with a blunt no. I could tell she was taking everything in, judging my living location. I tried not to let it bother me, except I didn't know who this woman was and I wanted answers. Before I demanded answers, she finally said something, "My name is Masako... I've heard a lot about you Tabitha. You work at Cherī cherī, right?"

"Ummm, yes."

"That's where you met Hinata, is that correct?"

"Yes..."

"I also heard that you're originally from California. They call it The Sunshine State, right?"

"It's actually The Golden—"

"I don't really care either way, but you are sleeping with my husband."

"I-I don't even know who you are lady, so I'm just gonna have to ask you to—"

"I'm not going to leave until you get it through your thick skull, so I guess I'll have to prove it to you." She started touching around on her phone screen at a fast pace.

"I don't care! I just want you to-—"

At that moment, my world had shattered. Masako had lifted her phone up into my face, there I saw Hinata in the picture-standing next to Masako... There were little kids in the photo too, two of them. They had to be around the ages of 10 and 12.

Masako continues to speak in a smug tone, "We've been married for a while now... Those are our kids. You can keep scrolling to see more photos if you want, but from the looks of it, I think you're finally getting the idea." What? This can't be true... I wanted to look away from the picture of Hinata standing there looking so happy, except I couldn't. My eyes were glued to the screen.

"I'm sure you are aware Hinata is part of the Yakuza. I met him years ago and fell in love with him the first time we met... At the time, I already knew he was in the Yakuza because... Well, I don't need to get into detail, but our marriage was planned. Your not the first girl Hinata has slept around with, and unfortunately you won't be the last, but I love Hinata and I won't jeopardize the clan for Hinata and his stupid urges." I stood there, feeling my knees giving away, however I did not want to look weak in front of her. I needed to be strong.

Masako continued on, "You know, for most girls I usually make their lives a living hell once I find out, not for you though. I'm going to give you the exception because I heard that you are a widow." Oh no. Please don't bring this up... "I honestly feel bad for you, it's kind of pathetic. Maybe you really didn't know he was married, or maybe you were so lonely that you didn't want to see the signs and blinded yourself to this fake happiness. Could that be the case?" My knees couldn't hold on any longer, and I dropped to the floor. It felt like my heart was being torn to shreds and I could hardly breathe. I was staring at the floor, attempting to wipe away the tears before Masako saw them. I heard her footsteps coming closer to me, if she was going to kill me-I wanted her to do it. "Yeah, this is pathetic. You're already grieving and this makes it not as fun for me anymore. So, I'll give you a warning. I don't want you to speak with Hinata ever again. Now I understand that'll be hard because I'm sure he'll try to reach out to you, nonetheless I want you out of Japan within the next 24 hours. And trust me, I'll know whether you are gone or not." I could barely hear the words that were coming out of her mouth. I was still in shock at everything that I was told.

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Everything was a lie. "... Tabitha do you hear me?"

I looked up at Masako and she was giving me a furious look, "I'm listening..." I whispered.

"Good. Get out of Japan. I don't care where you go, just leave me and my family alone. Don't ever speak to Hinata again. If you do, you'll wish you hadn't." Masako walked right past me as if I were trash lying in the street and slammed the door shut.

The only words I could muster out were, "Hinata is married..." I wanted to scream! Why was this happening to me? Did I do something in my past life to deserve this treatment? I just wanted to be happy... As that thought crossed my mind, the tears came flooding in. I wanted to call Hinata and ask him why he would do this to me? But I knew I couldn't, not after everything Masako told me.

I managed to stand up on my own, feeling shaky, I grabbed my luggage from earlier and threw all the clothes out of it. There I saw the red satin dress Hinata had given to me. I glared at it, wishing it would just disappear. I grabbed the dress again and started ripping it apart with my hands. With tears streaming down my face, running onto the dress, it had made every single thing feel more real. There was a part of the dress that I could not rip and I became so frustrated that I just threw it off to the side. Ripping that dress was not going to heal my wounds, I needed to get out of here. But where was I going to go? I wanted to go home, but Hinata knew where I had lived before. I told Hinata so much about my past and my personal life that I was afraid he would come and find me, or worse, his wife would find me.

I needed to think straight. I wiped away the tears and briskly grabbed anything that was important to me. Anything that I could fit into 2 large suitcases. As for the rest of my stuff, well... I'll just have to leave it behind. I needed to hurry because I did not want Hinata calling me. If I didn't pick up he would drive over and I couldn't risk it.

I grabbed as many items as I could from my tiny apartment. I started walking towards the door and turned around to take a look at everything that I was leaving behind. Why did this have to happen to me? I know I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself, but I didn't know how. Masako was right, I am pathetic. I turned back around to face the door and grabbed my luggage. I walked out of my apartment one last time before shutting it all behind me.

I sat there in the cab as it was driving me to the airport. I looked down at my phone to check the time, 7:26 p.m. Cho was probably busy, so maybe she won't pick up if I call her. I decided to call her anyway-knowing she won't pick up, that would make it easier for me. As expected, it went to voicemail:

"Hey Cho... I know you're busy with work right now. Ummm, you were right about Hinata..." I tried holding the agony in my voice, "I can't tell you everything, but I have to leave Japan. I'm so sorry for saying goodbye like this... This wasn't my intention and you truly were one of my only friends here... So thank you again. I couldn't take everything with me, I left a note in my apartment for my landlord and they'll be reaching out to you. Again, I'm sorry Cho. Ki o tsukete kudasai."

As I arrived at the airport, I walked up to the front desk. The woman behind the counter greeted me with a customer service friendly smile, "Don'na goyōdeshou ka?"

"Anata wa eigo o rikai shite imasu ka?"

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Ummm, when's the next flight and where is it?" I probably seemed suspicious to her, but I did not care. I just needed to get out of here.

"Hmmm, let me check..." She started typing away on the keyboard, staring at the computer screen. After what felt like forever, she spoke up, "There's an 8:30 p.m. flight to Suvarnabhumi Airport."

"Suvarnabhumi Airport?"

"Bangkok, Thailand." I knew no Thai at all, let alone I knew nothing about the country. It didn't matter to me anymore, nothing mattered.

"I'll take it. One way please."

I never imagined myself leaving Japan feeling dreadful. I wanted to leave Japan feeling happy, finding myself and accepting the death of James. Instead, I'm doing the opposite. I feel like I'm back at square one, I didn't know what I was going to tell my mom. I couldn't think straight, maybe going to Thailand was a bad idea, however it was too late to change my mind. I peered out the tiny window that was next to me on the flight. I gave one last goodbye with a small wave to the Land of the Rising Sun.