It was spring again, and Haruka Suzuki felt her heart aching to once again hold the beautiful baby girl she had abandoned twenty-five years ago.

Torment, guilt, and regret—those were the feelings she felt deep within her being, burning in her soul, ripping her heart to pieces.

Why did I abandon my beautiful baby girl? Why?

Haruka couldn’t come up with an explanation as to why. The only pathetic excuse she had was she’d been too young to see reason, understand, and stand up for what she thought was right. She had also been too afraid of what might happen—too afraid of the future, society, and her own parents, of what they’d do to her and her beloved daughter.

Twenty-five years ago, her arranged marriage to Kenji Suzuki, the eldest son of the wealthy Suzuki family, had been imminent. She’d known it would ruin both families’ names if anyone were to find out she’d been pregnant before marriage with an unknown American man. Thus, she had no choice but to leave the baby girl at the orphanage in St. Joseph Island, a place she’d chosen because it had seemed so far removed from this corrupted world, a place where she thought her daughter would be well taken care of. Then she’d returned to Japan and honored her family’s wish by marrying Kenji in order to forge the bond between the Suzukis and the Tanakas and strengthen the already powerful, wealthy families even more.

Haruka Tanaka. That had been her name once, twenty-five years ago to be precise. She hadn’t understood why she hadn’t given her baby girl her last name. If she’d been smart enough to do so, then it wouldn’t have been so hard to search for her now.

Many times after her marriage, Haruka had doubted her decision. Perhaps she should have confronted her family and kept her daughter. She, however, had been too weak. Now her daughter was nowhere to be found. She hadn’t a clue where else to look, as the old Queen Mary Orphanage had burnt down seven years after that fateful spring day when she’d left Sakura on the doorstep. All records of the children had been destroyed in the flames and most of the children had been adopted. She knew Sakura had been one of them.

Her beloved daughter Sakura would be turning twenty-five years old today.

“Sakura, where are you?” she murmured under her breath as she watched the petals of cherry blossoms raining down around her. She reached out her hand to catch some, brought them lovingly to look closer, and gently stroked the petals, tears brewing in her eyes.

“Mono no aware,” a manly voice said softly.

Haruka turned to see the handsome billionaire Sebastian Princeton standing not too far away, his eyes on the cherry blossom tree in full bloom of pink clouds behind her. He had a faraway look in his azure-blue eyes, which she knew spoke of loss, of beautiful memories long gone. Now he was reminded of those unforgettable memories and it pained him, as it pained her. Had he lost his loved one, too, she wondered and felt saddened at the thought.

“It’s beautiful,” he said, closing his eyes and inhaling the sweet scent. Instantly, it reminded him of the woman he loved, the woman named Sakura, and his heart ached.

“Mono no aware,” Haruka said, nodding. “You understand its meaning.”

Sebastian opened his eyes. Before him, he saw his new tenant from Japan who, with her small family, had moved into this very luxurious private apartment on the upper east side of Manhattan three months ago. Haruka, Sebastian thought, was one very traditional Japanese woman all right, for he had never seen her dressed in anything except yukata. This one was very beautiful indeed, with purple and white flowers.

Sebastian liked to visit Haruka. He liked to talk to her because she was always so soft spoken and so philosophical. Then there was also the fact that Haruka reminded him so much of Sakura.

He came to sit beside her and said, “Someone told me.”

“A woman?” Haruka couldn’t help asking. There was a lovely ring of teasing in her voice that Sebastian didn’t miss.

Sebastian nodded without hesitation.

“Is she beautiful?”

Again, Sebastian nodded. “The most beautiful being I’ve ever seen.”

Haruka smiled. “You love her?”

Sebastian frowned and his face darkened.

Haruka noticed. “I apologize, Sebastian-san. I did not mean to ask you such a personal question.” She stood, her hands folded politely in front of her as she bowed her head apologetically. “Please, forgive me.”

Sebastian shook his head. “There’s nothing to forgive. I’ve come to see how you’re settling in the apartment. Please, if you needed anything, just inform the manager Mr. Smith. He’ll take care of everything.

Haruka chuckled. “Sebastian-san, I thank you for your wonderful hospitality. Might I thank you for the lovely design of the apartment as well? It is very much to my taste, especially my bedroom. How did you come up with such an idea? A mixture of Japanese and European décor.”

It was Sebastian’s turn to chuckle. “I stole the idea, so you shouldn’t thank me. After all, it was the decorators who did all the work. I just gave them my thoughts.” He didn’t tell her it had been Sakura’s bedroom back at Princeton Mansion on St. Joseph Island that had inspired him.

“But still,” Haruka argued. “It was very kind of you to think of us Japanese. Oh dear, I am being a very bad hostess indeed. Please, I invite you to have tea with me. It’s Japanese tea, if you don’t mind.”

Sebastian stood. “I don’t mind at all.”

Haruka nodded. They both left the exotically designed private courtyard filled with cherry trees in full bloom on the ground floor of the building and entered the enormous lobby nearer to the front. They took the lift to the third level. A few moments later, they entered Haruka’s enormous, luxurious apartment that was classically designed and decorated.

“Baka!” They heard a feminine voice echo through the hallway. “Baka! Why does it have to be her who gets to wear Oba-chan’s precious necklace?”

Haruka glanced at her guest, hoping Sebastian didn’t mind the obvious loud argument happening in the house.

“It’s my niece Akira,” she explained. “I think she is still upset about the casting for the upcoming fashion show.”

Sebastian took off his shoes and nodded in understanding. “There’s another model Mr. Tachibana has enlisted to wear his finale?”

“Yes,” Haruka said. “Sakura.”

Sebastian felt his heart skip a beat and glanced at Haruka.

“Her name is Sakura Taito,” Haruka said, leading Sebastian into the living room. “She’s very beautiful and very famous, so I’ve heard. She will be wearing one of my precious pieces.”

“I see,” Sebastian murmured.

“Don’t look at me like that, Onii-chan.” They heard Akira snap. “I’m not jealous. So not jealous of her. I’m just pissed that she gets to wear Oba-chan’s necklace.”

“If she doesn’t wear that necklace, then who will?” the deep, manly voice of Sosuke Suzuki asked. “You?”

“Onii-chan!” Akira shouted.

“Dear me,” Haruka said the moment they were in the living room. “We have a guest.”

Akira Suzuki stopped her muttering immediately and smiled pleasantly at their guest. “Sebastian-san, how nice of you to visit us. When was the last time?” Akira cocked her head to one side. “Ah, two months ago. How shameful, Sebastian-san, considering the fact that you only live one floor above us and keep that beautiful view all to yourself. Not to mention the very private garden you have up there. Don’t tell me you don’t have one because I’ve seen the Sakura trees from the streets.”

Sebastian laughed. “You are welcome to use the private garden at the penthouse if you so wish. There’s no one to stop you.”

Akira pulled her face and flicked her short black hair. “How could I do that, Sebastian-san? Onii-chan would kill me.” She glanced at her older brother Sosuke, who was staring at her intensely. She secretly smiled as she watched him nudge his glasses up the bridge of his fine nose. She knew he was concerned about her wayward ways now that they were living here in New York. Sosuke needed to loosen up his uptight manner, even just a bit, she thought.

She continued. “Considering the fact that you have, what? Six other brothers living with you, and all still single.” She cocked her head to one side. “Hum, maybe I should really go up there and introduce myself.”

“Akira!” Sosuke said warningly.

Sebastian chuckled. He thought Sosuke was very much like Nicolas. It hadn’t surprised him at all that the two had gotten along so well since they first met and had become very good friends. 

Akira laughed. “Don’t worry, Onii-chan. I was only teasing. Besides, I’ve haven’t met any of them yet, except for Conrad-san. Ah, he seems awfully depressed all the time. Poor man.”

Sebastian thought Akira could say that again. Conrad hadn’t been himself since one year ago when Sakura had left them. In fact, none of them had ever been themselves again. Darcy had been the worst. Of course, Sebastian knew Darcy was deeply in love with Sakura, and he hadn’t taken the news very well.

“Now, now,” Haruka said. “Let us have tea.”

Sosuke came to sit on the slightly raised floor with his aunty, their guest Sebastian, and his sister Akira. He watched as Haruka expertly prepared the green tea. He noted the sad expression on her beautiful face even though she tried to hide it well. He knew her heart was aching to find her daughter Sakura.

Though this Sakura wasn’t in any way blood related to him, he had to help Haruka find her, because that was what the head of the family should do. Sosuke had been the head of the Suzuki family since three years ago when his uncle, Haruka’s husband, had died in a car accident. Sosuke had known it hadn’t been an accident because the Suzukis were by far one of the wealthiest families in Japan, and they’d been targeted too many times to consider that particular accident an accident.

Sosuke turned to look out the window at the clear blue sky. Cherry blossom petals swirled about as they rained down from the Princetons’ private garden above. He knew the garden was particularly beautiful because he’d seen it by accident one day while he’d been exploring. Why the Princeton brothers had gone to such lengths to build such an exotic garden on top of the four-story building was beyond him. At the same time, however, it mesmerized him. Then he wondered if Sakura, Haruka’s daughter, would be as beautiful as the Sakura flower that was so loved by everyone. Now he simply couldn’t wait to find her and meet her in person. Sooner or later, they’d find her, and Sosuke smiled at the thought.

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