Seto Kaiba stared out the window of his limo, looking at the woman he pushed away. Her short brown hair blew in the wind as she sat next to his rival in the park. After he broke her heart, she moved out of his mansion and started to date Yugi Moto, the current king of duels. She looked happy and that was what pained Seto most. She was supposed to be happy with him, but he was too proud an individual to admit that.

…

Yugi dropped Téa off at her apartment after their date in the park. She poured herself a cup of coffee and took her medicine. She looked at the bottle and frowned, they were antidepressants. They were prescribed to her, after Seto rescued her from her past.

Téa looked at her watch and decided to start to cook dinner. As she was gathering ingredients, she heard a knock on the door. She smiled knowing exactly who it was, by his special knock. "I'm coming Mokuba," she yelled. She walked to the door and beamed when she saw a black mop of hair standing before her. "Hey Mokie, what brings you here?" she asked knowingly.

"It is Taco Tuesday. Big brother may not celebrate it…but, I know you do," Mokuba said cheekily.

Téa pulled out another plate and fake pouted, "Aw shucks, and I thought you wanted to visit me...I'm hurt."

Mokuba put a more serious face on and said, "Actually, I was hoping you might consider coming back home. I miss you and Seto has gotten even colder towards everyone since you left. He may not be able to verbalize it Téa, but I know he wants you to come home too."

Téa was listening by the stove as she browned some ground meat and said, "I can't Mokuba. Yes, we three have been through hard times together, but it is over now. Seto and I have decided to part ways…" She swallowed hard as she lied, "It was mutual."

"Mutual my foot. Look Téa I know that whatever my brother said or did, he didn't mean it. He loves you Téa." Mokuba replied.

Téa's legs started to wobble and she leaned on the stove for support. She was looking away from Mokuba, so he couldn't see the tears rolling down her face. As calmly as she could muster she said, "No Mokuba, he doesn't…at least not in the way I do."

She wiped away her tears and turned to Mokuba. "Mokuba, Seto and I do care about each other. But he just feels differently about me than I feel about him. When this happens, sometimes it pushes the other person away. Do you understand?"

Mokuba shook his head no, and asked, "How was it different?"

Téa took a deep breath an explained, "Seto cares for me like one cares for a friend. I…I just…wanted something more." She put a fake smile on and said, "But it is okay. I am with Yugi now and Seto has that lady from the office Starlet.

Mokuba rolled his eyes and responded, "Starlet isn't interested in anything more than my brother's money. Even he knows it."

Téa straightened up and firmly said, "That's enough Mokuba. Seto made his choice, and I made mine. Now let's eat, the food is getting cold."

…

When Mokuba arrived home his brother was sitting on the couch next to Starlet. "What is she doing here?" He asked irritably.

Seto was shocked by Mokuba's rude reaction, "I invited her here. What's with the attitude?"

"I don't want that bimbo anywhere near this house. She is the reason Téa left, isn't she?!" Mokuba screamed.

"Could you give us a moment?" he asked starlet. She nodded and walked into the kitchen.

"Mokuba, Starlet and I are dating now and that has nothing to do with why Téa left," Seto calmly explained to his younger brother.

"Then why did she leave? What did you tell her to make her leave?" Mokuba asked desperately.

Seto didn't even flinch when he answered, "I told her I didn't love her."

Mokuba looked up in shock, "What do you mean, you told her you don't love her? You're crazy about her. Why did you let her go so easily? You protected her from Gozaburo when he was alive. You taught her enough to catch up with her own age group's study after his death. She has been a part of our family for almost as long as I can remember. How can you not love her?"

Seto's chest ached as he got up and said, "We'll talk about this later. I have company over." Mokuba started to cry and ran upstairs to his room.

…

Starlet looked up as she saw the oldest Kaiba brother enter the kitchen. She approached him and kissed him eagerly on the lips. She was surprised to find that the kiss wasn't reciprocated. When he sat down in front of the kitchen table. She walked over and stood behind him. She started to massage his shoulders and whispered, "I think I know a game that might cheer you up…" Kaiba closed his eyes for a moment enjoying the sensation of having his back rubbed. He then looked up at her and mumbled hmmmm, as if telling her to continue. She smiled and pulled a card out of her hair bun, "How about a game of strip poker?"

Kaiba was surprised by her card trick and asked, "You're not by any chance related to Duke Devilin." She giggled at his joke and started to unbutton his shirt. He caught her hand and said, "Not tonight. My brother is upset as is. We don't need to traumatize him." She frowned and tried again, but this time he caught both hands and said, "Leave." She grabbed her purse and stormed out the house.

Kaiba let out a sigh and made his way up the stairs.

…

When he made it to his bedroom, he grabbed a bottle of vodka and poured him a cup before sitting in his bed. The truth was he was in love with her, but he knew he couldn't have her. Recently, his security team showed him surveillance video of someone trying to break into his office. When he looked back at the footage he saw the burglar being handed a case of money shortly before the break in. The man holding the briefcase he recognized as stepfather. He was older now, but there was no mistaking that wicked glint in his eye. Seto knew it was wrong to push Téa away the way he did, but with Gozaburo was out there, and he was terrified that Gozaburo would go after her.

He took a sip from his glass and thought back to that first fateful day they met.

FLASHBACK

After beating Gozaburo in the infamous chess battle, he kept his word and adopted Seto and Mokuba from the orphanage. 'From this moment on I will be known as Seto Kaiba,' he thought to himself… Gozaburo is rich, so he thought they would find happiness. He thought he could eventually grow to be close with Gozaburo, and at least have something that resembled a family. Little did he know; he was making the biggest mistake of my life.

Gozaburo drove them to his mansion. Seto and Mokuka were awestruck. They had never seen such a magnificent house in their lives. They exited the car and were greeted by what appeared to be a maid and a girl about Setos age. The young girl was a pale skinned brunette with ocean blue eyes. She had a beautiful face, but she was dressed in rags. The girl was covered in dirt and dust.

"Hi," Seto said as he extended his hand to the little girl, "I'm Seto and this is my little brother Mokuba." She looked afraid at first but then replied, "I-I am Tea. I w-work here with my mom." She then reached up to hold the maid's hand which was covered in tattoos. The maid pulled her hand away from Tea and said, "Let me go you leech, you ruined my life."

Marina, Téa's mother, blamed Téa for her husband leaving and treated her like a slave since she was born. The treatment only got worse after her mother became Gozaburo's mistress.

Téa looked down at her shoes with tears in her eyes and whispered, "Yes mother." She then walked over to the door towards a mop bucket and continued to scrub the floor.

Gozaboro walked in the door at that moment and accidentally knocked down the mop bucket. Suddenly Tea started to freak out, "I am sorry sir! She ran to grab a towel to wipe up the mess when Gozaboro grabbed her arm. "No, No! Please!" She squealed. He turned to face Mokuba and Seto and said, "I am going to show you what happens when you disturb or disobey me in this house. Suddenly he started to beat this poor girl. At first, Seto stood there in shock. But, once he saw blood he ran and jumped on Gozaboro to make him stop. The whole-time Téa was begging him to stop. When Seto jumped in to help, Gozaburo turned his energy towards him, rather than the girl. And that was his first day of living hell.

FLASH BACK END

Seto looked up at the time, it was almost 5:00, which meant that Téa would be heading to work at the diner. He grabbed his coat and like he did every day since the day she left, he walked to sit in a nearby café to make sure she got to work safely.

So, he waited under a shaded tree of the nearby café and ordered a cup of coffee. He observed the nearby area and was happy that she chose to take this job. The job was in a safe area and paid extremely well (mainly because he bought out the restaurant immediately after she was hired and ordered that it be kept secret.) He wanted to make sure that she didn't struggle financially when she left. She turned the corner at that moment, wearing her light blue uniform. A smile formed on his lips as he saw her greet one of her regular customers.

A voice interrupted his reverie and said, "It's been a long time, Son."

Seto's eyes narrowed as soon as he heard that voice, "You're supposed to be dead. What are you doing here?"

Gozaburo smirked at Seto's reaction and replied, "I merely wanted to check in on my dear little boy. I see he still has his heart set on a pretty little slave girl."

"I feel nothing for Téa," he said firmly, "She means nothing to me."

"We'll see about that," Gozaburo said before he left, "We will see…"

All of a sudden, shots rang out across the street. "Téa!" he yelled before running to the diner. He looked through the window and saw a man wearing a mask holding up the place. Téa was standing at the register with her hands in the air.

Seto crawled in an open bathroom window in the back. He slowly and cautiously made his way to the front. He heard Téa say, "Please don't hurt me." The man with the gun grabbed her by her waist with one arm and placed the pistol to her temple, "Just be a good little girl and nobody will get hurt. Now, fill one of those plastic garbage bags you have there with all the money you have in the register." She did as she was told and he said, "Now, why don't you tell me the code to your safe, and fill the bag the rest of the way."

"I don't know the code," she said truthfully.

"Such a shame, I really didn't want to have to kill you," He said as he prepared to pull the trigger.

"Wait," a voice called out, Téa turned her head and was horrified to see Seto standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen. "My name is Seto Kaiba. I own this establishment, and I will give you the code and everything in that safe, if you let her go."

The man in the masked looked at mask smiled at her and threw her on the floor. Fine, he said as he placed the gun to Kaiba's back. Kaiba led the man to the safe, unlocked it, and said, "Take what you want and leave."

The man smiled and said, "Thank you Mr. Kaiba, I sure hope that pretty girl of yours was worth it" before he ran out the door with the money.

Kaiba let out a relieved breath and went to check on everyone in the restaurant. When he walked in the front of the business he announced, "The burglar is gone. I am terribly sorry about the trouble; your dinners are all free."

He approached Téa who was being helped by one of the other workers. Her head hit the counter when the burglar threw her down and was now bleeding. Seto knelt down to her and said, "Come with me, this might need stitches." He helped her to her feet and whipped out his phone to call Roland.

As the limo pulled up he helped her into the car and handed her a handkerchief to apply pressure to the wound. She looked up at him in the car and asked, "Why did you come?"

"The alarm system at the diner went off. I wanted to see what happened. I didn't realize that you worked there until I saw the burglar holding a gun to your head."

Téa scoffed at him and said, "You're still a terrible liar."

Seto smiled softly at her and replied, "Only with you."

"So, are you going to tell me what happened today, or am I going to have to find out on my own?" Téa asked with a look of irritation.

Seto finally confessed, "Gozaburo's back."