CHAPTER 2- THE HEIRESS' DILEMMA
"Hinata, darling, you never disappoint! That was a beautiful piece." A lady applauded ,who Hinata barely remembers the name, as she stood up from the piano stool towards the crowd. "Thank you, Keiko- Sama." Hinata shyly answers and bows at her. 'Was that actually her name?' She laughed to herself and walked slowly away from them.
"It's just so fascinating how an heiress of the Hyuga Corp. is out here earning money by playing the piano in events when she could just ask for money from her father." One lady commented when they thought she was distant enough not to hear. "Well I heard the Hyuga Corp. isn't doing very well. It's been almost a year and Hyuga Hiashi is still in the hospital. Poor thing." Another one joins in.
Hinata walks faster away from them as she tries to stop herself from crying.
It is true. Hinata earns money by being invited to play the piano in events, usually for charities and auctions, but that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy what she's doing. She loves to play the piano. She started playing when she was 4 years old, her mother was her first ever teacher. It became their favorite activity in their free time, and her father, Hiashi, would always have a smile on his face whenever he heard them play together. When Hinata's little sister was born, she noticed that her mother was becoming weak. She would ask her mother about it, but she would always disregard her and tell her not to worry. 2 years later, and her mother sadly passed away due to cancer. Ever since the day of her mother's death, Hinata never once saw his father smile ever again. He kept himself busy by focusing on their family business. Whenever Hinata tries to play the piano, her father would always tell her to stop and finally told the maids to keep the piano away. It broke Hinata's heart as she didn't want to stop the only thing that kept her mother alive in her heart, and so when she was sent away for boarding school in Yuki no Kuni, she did not tell her father that she took up piano lessons and had also applied as a piano teacher to earn money. Even when she is away, she never forgets to call her little sister from time to time. She was glad that her father doesn't treat Hanabi the same way he treats her.
Hinata was away from Konoha for 5 years that she didn't know what it looked like anymore. Not until she received a call from Hanabi that made her go back and quit her job as a piano teacher in Yuki no Kuni.
"Father had a heart attack" Hanabi's trembling voice still rings in her ears. Hinata loved Hanabi dearly, she grew up without a mother, and she can't bear to see her lose their father too.
–
As Hinata walks through the backdoor ready to leave, her phone suddenly rings and sees Kho on the caller ID. She gently swipes her phone and puts it to her ear.
"Hinata-sama…" Hinata gulped, she knows this isn't good news. "It's your father." Before Kho could continue, Hinata rushed out from the venue and hailed a taxi to the hospital.
When she arrived, Kho was patiently waiting for her outside the hospital and she was taken to where her father is.
"Your father had another heart attack so we had to bring him to the ICU so we could closely monitor him from time to time." The doctor explained her father's condition while Hinata watches his father through the window. "We will just contact you if we need anything, for now, you can rest back at his room." The doctor continued and left right after Hinata thanked him.
"Where is Hanabi?" Hinata softly asks.
"I believe she's at home right now, Hinata-sama." Kho answered politely.
"Does she know?" Hinata looks at Kho with tears threatening to fall from her eyes, Kho shakes his head No as he worriedly looks at Hinata.
"Hinata-sama, I know this is not the right time to say this, but there is something you need to know." Hinata looks at Kho, waiting for him to continue.
"The Hyuga Corp. is on the brink of bankruptcy, and some of the companies that we have partnered with are starting to withdraw from our partnership… and your father's hospital bills…"
Hinata couldn't hold back her tears, she honestly doesn't know what to do. She lied to his father about taking business school for college when she clearly only took one semester and started teaching piano lessons in Yuki no Kuni. What does she know about Business? She is the worst daughter ever. And Hanabi? Hanabi is still in middle school. "Kho-san…" she mumbles looking down and fiddling her fingers together. "I-I-I really don't have any idea about business." She admitted. "Is there any other way I could help my father's business without taking over?"
"Hinata-sama…"
"I know! I could just continue playing for events, and the money I'll earn goes directly to my father's hospital bills." She chimed in.
"But Hinata-sama…"
"Oh, I know! I can bake and sell cookies!"
"Hinata-"
"Kho-san! Anything! I can do anything! I can do anything but take over my father's position… I can't do that. Please…" Hinata sobs.
