Falling For Sakura: A Secret Proposal (Part 1)

 

Falling for Sakura: A Secret Proposal Part 1
 

(Falling For Sakura Trilogy: Book 2)
 

Alexia Praks
 

Copyright © 2015 by Alexia Praks
 

All Rights Reserved
 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without agreement and written permission of the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
 

The author can be reached at:
www.alexiapraks.com
 

Falling for Sakura: Book 2

A S
ecret
Proposal
 

Part 1

Alexia Praks
 

Table of Contents
 

Falling for Sakura: A Secret Proposal Part 1
 

Next in the Trilogy
 

More Books by Alexia
 

About Alexia
 

Falling for Sakura: Book 2

Part 1

One young woman.
 

Seven brothers.
 

When she falls in love with two,
 

which brother will she choose?
 

FALLING FOR SAKURA is the story of Caucasian-Japanese Sakura, her journey to finding herself, and her torn love for two very different brothers, Sebastian and Darcy Princeton.
 

When Sakura once again meets her gorgeous adoptive brothers, Sebastian and Darcy Princeton, forbidden feelings are awakened and an old flame ignites.
 

When orphan Sakura Tanaka sneaks into a famous Japanese designer’s fashion show in order to meet her biological mother, she doesn’t anticipate a complication that will turn her world upside down.

Through mistaken identity, she ends up modelling for the designer, which in turn leads to an unexpected encounter with her seven drop-dead gorgeous adoptive brothers, two of which have intentions for her heart. One of them is Sebastian Princeton, the handsome multi-billionaire real estate investor, who isn’t afraid to show his feelings for her and openly pursues her. The other is Darcy Princeton, the multi-billionaire game designer and entrepreneur, whose love Sakura has always secretly possessed.

To whom will Sakura ultimately give her heart?
 

Please read Falling for Sakura: A Secret Kiss first before reading A Secret Proposal. It is free to download.
 

Get Falling for Sakura: A Secret Kiss.
 

 

Japanese honorifics
 

-San:
Derived from
sama
, is the most commonplace honorific, and is a title of respect typically used between equals of any age. E.g. Sebastian-san
 

-Sama:
I
s a markedly more respectful version of
 
san
 
and can be used for any gender. It is used mainly to refer to people much higher in rank than oneself. E.g. Oka-sama (mother).
 

-Kun:
Is used by people of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or male teenagers, or among male friends. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time. E.g. Nicolas-kun.
 

-Chan:
It expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. In general,
 
chan
 
is used for babies, young children, grandparents and teenagers. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, close friends, any youthful woman, or between friends. E.g. Sakura-chan.
 

-Sensei:
Is used to refer to or address teachers, doctors, politicians, lawyers, and other authority figures. It is used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, and is also applied to novelists, poets, painters, and other artists. E.g. Tachibana-sensei
.
 

Family Member Words

Oka:
Mother. E.g. Oka-san or Oka-sama.
 

Oba:
Aunt or middle-aged lad
y. E.g. Oba-chan or Oba-san.
 

Onii:
Older brother. E.g. Onii-chan or Onii-san.
 

Imouto:
Younger sister. E.g. Imouto-chan.
 

A Mother’s Regret

Sayonara, my beautiful daughter. Mono no aware. You are like the sakura flower that blooms vibrantly in spring, just like this spring, so lovely and full of life and color. You are here in my life for only a short time, enchanting me with your innocent beauty and kind soul, and a brief moment later, you are gone again, out of my life. Thus, I shall name you Sakura. I am sad, my darling daughter, to leave you behind. I am sad to never see you grow up, feel your love, or hear you call me “Okasama.” But I am not a worthy mother. Thus, sayonara, my beautiful Sakura.
 

* * * * *

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.”