Stranger in my Arms

Inspired by Lisa Kleypas' novel by the same name. Kaichou wa Maid-sama belongs to Hiro Fujiwara. This is in an alternative universe.

"Ayuzawa-san, your husband is dead."

That was three hours ago when Misaki Ayuzawa was told of her husband's untimely death. According to the lawyer, he died in a cruise ship massacre. Her husband attended a party for a friend that became the new CEO of a Swedish energy company. There were employees who did not support the president and they collaborated to assassinate the successor. The group succeeded in murdering the CEO, however some radical members open fired on the guests and managed to bomb the ship. The Cruise Ship Massacre became famous for an economic assault and unusual tactic for terrorism. Reports stated none of the guest or the attackers survived.

While his family, friends, business associates and employees of his company mourn for their loss, Misaki accepted her husband's death with ease. She had no feelings for her spouse during their one year of marriage. There wasn't even a celebration on their anniversary. He treated her with coldness, and she remained stoic in his presence, while silently cursing him for putting her in a jeopardize position.

Before she was married, Misaki Ayuzawa was an average young woman. Her father abandoned the family when she was in middle school. She knew he had a gambling debt, but she had no idea how serious it was. Apparently her father started to take excessive loans from Walker International, a powerful financial corporation. Her father feared the consequences, hence he fled from the country and went to hiding. The family, on the other hand, paid the price. The debt drained most of their savings and it only paid an eighth of the total debt. Her mother, Minako, started to work double shifts and Misaki took a part time job when she was in high school. They were able to support themselves, sadly they did not earned enough money to completely pay off the debt. After Misaki graduated, she was offered a proposal that would eliminate her family's financial burden. When she heard about it, it sounded to good to be true, but what was the catch?

She inquired about this business proposition, the company gave her an ultimatum: marry the Walker International heir or continue to suffer with the debt. She didn't like either choices, but she didn't want her or her family to be punished for their father's mistake. She decided to marry the heir, Gerard Walker.

Gerard Walker was a tall, brooding man with dark hair and emerald eyes. He was Japanese-British and bilingual in English and Japanese. Misaki was three years his junior. They had a quiet ceremony, only her mother and younger sister, Suzuna attended. Gerard wanted to keep this marriage a secret; Misaki can only guess he didn't want his peers to belittle him marrying a commoner. To her, it didn't feel it was a joyous occasion and when the newly wed couple signed the certificate, Misaki kept her last name. It was the only dignity and pride she had left. On their wedding night, Gerard told her straight out that her role is to bear him an heir. He made it clear that he had no feelings for her and he demonstrated it by the roughness he treated her. She braced herself for the pregnancy that was to come after their intimacy, however no child was conceived. He was frustrated when he heard the news and tried again to impregnate her. The couple was unsuccessful; Gerard started to ignore her and focus on his job, while Misaki was relieved that she didn't carry his child. She started to studied for entrance exams for a nearby university near her home she shared with Gerard.

The day when she had to take the entrance exam, Gerard informed her in a message that he left to attend a cruise ship celebration in Europe. He told Misaki he will be gone for at least three months. Misaki didn't replied in returned, she was secretly relieved he will be gone for a while.

Few days later, Misaki was pleased to know she passed the test and was automatically enrolled to the university. After she received good news, tragic news followed. That following week was mourning and it became nothing, but a distant memory to Misaki. She paid her respect to the dead, but she never grieved for him. One year of unhappy marriage with a spouse who treated her like a stranger, how could she? Misaki couldn't even answered that.

After the mourning, Misaki found herself occupied in school, work and living in an apartment, far away from the grandiose place she was staying in with Gerard. The inheritance was given to Gerard's cousin, Tora Igarashi. Igarashi did not have any respect for Misaki and intended to drive her out of the estate. Misaki surprised him by finding an apartment and demonstrated she was capable of taking care of herself. The Walker relatives were shocked that Misaki supported herself without relying on the Walker money. They knew Misaki didn't relinquished her marital status, she opted to not be involved within the Walker affairs. Rumors and suspicions raised from Misaki's actions, but none were confronted. She didn't care what the latest gossips about her; she anticipated that the Walkers would oust her from the family, so she decided to become independent before the Walkers could do anything from her.

Three years have passed since she was free from Gerard's control and Misaki was at peace. That realization brought tears to her eyes. The tranquility she dreamt finally came. Now, she was living on her own, financial stable, and lacked grief from a heartless spouse.

She was reading a book when a knocked on her door interrupted from her leisure activity. Misaki made her way to the door and saw it was sister. Suzuna was now a college first year. She applied to a college far away from home, however she's only an hour away from Misaki's apartment. Misaki was worried for her sister's safety, but Suzuna reassured Misaki that Hinata Shintani was at the school Suzuna applied for. Shintani, an old friend of the sisters, promised to look after Suzuna.

"Suzuna! Welcome! What brings you here?" Misaki greeted her sister. "Is it bad for me to visit onee-chan on my day off?" Suzuna replied calmly with a hint of sarcasm. She had a small smirk, while Misaki rolled her eyes and let her in. The sisters chatted jovially over a cup of green tea. Then Suzuna asked her how she was feeling today. Misaki almost didn't understood her, but she realized today was the anniversary of Gerard's death. Her face fell and quietly replied, "I'm feeling fine. Nothing out of the ordinary." Suzuna chose not to argued with Misaki. They had a heated argument on the matter before and it was not worth it to go in a shouting match again. She knew Misaki was stubborn to not change her feelings, but Suzuna felt her sister could show some emotion. She didn't want her sister to be an emotionless person for rest of her life.

Suzuna didn't stay for long and Misaki decided to go out for dinner. Her culinary skills greatly improved, however she has a long way to go to be a great cook like her mom and sister. Before she reached the front door, the home phone rang. Misaki decided to let the message to be recorded, but she stayed around to hear the message. She expected to be some trivial message from her mother, sister or friends, but a deep man's voice caught her by surprise.

"Good evening Ayuzawa-san. This is Cedric. Your husband is alive..."

The following message became a muddle to Misaki. Her eyes widen in shocked and was speechless. How was it possible for a husband who was dead for three years could be alive?

Reviews would be greatly appreciated! Stay tune for next Saturday!