“Don’t be too hard on Raya,” Lexa said as she closed her book. Her blank gaze was fixed on her twin younger brother, who was lazily dribbling a basketball.
Axel’s expression immediately sharpened. He carelessly tossed the ball in his hand aside, then walked over to Lexa. “You’re the one who should stop being so soft on that bastard girl!”
“She’s not Raya,” Lexa replied coldly.
That answer left Axel frozen. He stared at Lexa, his brow furrowed. “What do you mean, she’s not Raya?”
Unfortunately, Lexa merely stood and walked away, leaving Axel rubbing his face roughly.
“What the hell is wrong with her?” Axel clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Maya stared listlessly at the window, which now had a padlock on it. Her fingers restlessly tapped against the glass. Countless worries churned in her mind. Her little family. What her life would be like from now on. Everything.
How was she supposed to find her mother and younger sibling if she couldn’t even leave the room?
‘Raya, where are you really?’ Maya asked silently.
If her soul had taken over Raya’s original body, then where was the body’s real owner? Maya could think of several possibilities. Raya ... might already be gone.
The second possibility was that Raya’s soul was in her body. However, Maya herself was skeptical of that idea.
Her body had already been damaged beyond repair. It seemed impossible that it could hold on much longer.
Click!
The door opened from outside. Garry stood there, his face cold and his gaze sharp as a knife.
Maya swallowed hard without realizing it. To her, the most frightening person in this family was Garry—the one and only father of Raya Adiwangsa.
“Where’s your phone?” Garry asked without preamble.
“I don’t know,” Maya answered hesitantly. Her hands, which had been resting against the window, were now clasped together nervously.
“Don’t lie. Where’s your phone?!” Garry demanded furiously.
Maya’s courage shrank even further. “I-I really don’t know. Maybe I left it at the hospital.”
Maya had only thrown out the first thing that came to mind. But wasn’t it possible that Raya’s phone had been left at the hospital?
If Garry told her to retrieve it, Maya would have a chance to escape. Or at the very least, she could meet Raya’s two friends, who seemed more human than the others, and ask them for help.
Because Maya truly had no idea where she was now. Was she still in the same city where she used to live? Maya doubted it. On the way from the hospital to this house, she hadn’t recognized a single road or building.
Everything was completely unfamiliar. The people were unfamiliar. The surroundings were unfamiliar. Even the atmosphere felt unfamiliar. Maya felt blind and lost.
“Left it at the hospital? Do you think I’m stupid?” Garry walked closer. He opened every drawer and searched the desk and wardrobe.
Just like Maya, Garry also found the locked drawer. The man turned around and fixed Maya with a sharp stare. He assumed that Raya had hidden her phone in there.
“Give me the key,” Garry ordered sharply.
“I-I don’t have the key.” Maya bit the inside of her cheek.
“Keep lying and see whether you get dinner tonight!” Garry threw the books on the desk to the floor, making Maya swallow hard again.
“But I really don’t have the key. I think ... I-I forgot where I put it,” Maya stammered. She wasn’t even Raya. How was she supposed to know where the key was?
“And now you’re acting like someone else.” Garry gave Maya an accusing look before walking out. Of course, the door was locked from the outside again.
Maya finally let out a sigh of relief. She sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at Raya’s books scattered across the floor.
By chance, her eyes landed on one book that was open to its first page. It was the book with the different cover she had found a few days ago.
At the top left corner of the first page was a short list containing a name, class, subject, and address. It was typical of a middle school student’s notebook.
Maya crouched down, picked up the book, and skimmed through it. Her eyes widened when she saw that the name written there wasn’t Raya Adiwangsa, but Arkana Mahesa.
Name: Arkana Mahesa Class: IX A Subject: Physics Address: Jalan Dermawan, Kabupaten XXX
A smile finally appeared on Maya’s face after she read the brief information. Was he one of Raya’s friends? Maybe the one who had been at the hospital that day?
Maya then flipped through the pages one by one, this time more slowly than before.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t find any important information other than the fact that Arkana was a fairly smart student. Perfect scores were scattered throughout his notebook.
Maya sighed. At least she now knew where she was. According to the address written in Arkana’s book, the distance between this place and her mother’s home wasn’t that far—they were still in the same province, even if they were in different cities.
Arkana was Raya’s friend. His home had to be somewhere around here, right? Which meant they were still in the same city. So Maya could figure out where she was now from that note.
The problem was, how was she supposed to get out of this golden cage?
Just as Garry had said, Maya truly didn’t receive dinner that night. Usually, a servant delivered her food, but this time, no one came.
Maya clutched her growling stomach. She drank a lot of water to ease her hunger. But water alone wasn’t enough.
“Mom ... Maya’s hungry.” Maya whispered to the empty air. She pulled the blanket higher until it covered her entire body. Reluctantly, Maya had to sleep on an empty stomach.
For the first time in her life, Maya learned that someone could be as cruel as Raya’s father. Wasn’t Raya his biological daughter? But that wasn’t what it looked like.
The next morning, Maya woke up very early. Her stomach growled again as soon as she opened her eyes. Maya sighed and rubbed her eyes, which still felt heavy.
That was when her gaze fell on the tray atop the nightstand. There was food on it, already cold. A scrap of paper was also visible beneath the bowl of soup.
Maya lifted the bowl, then picked up the paper underneath it. There was a single sentence written there, one that made her instinctively furrow her brow.
‘Don’t make Dad angry again.’
Unfortunately, there was no name from the sender of the food. Garry? That seemed impossible.
Maybe ... Lexa? Of course. It had to be her. Lexa was the only person in this house who had shown her any support.
Maya’s smile grew wide as she ate the food. Her disappointment in Garry seemed to disappear just like that. She was truly too naive.
Meanwhile, in another room, a man was reading a book beside the window. His gaze was fixed on another window that was closed.
There was a shadow behind it. That meant the person in that room was awake. Without realizing it, he let out a sigh of relief.
Why did he even have to care about the daughter of the woman who had taken his mother’s life? He didn’t know. But ever since the accident that had nearly killed Raya, he had felt guilty.
That girl ... shouldn’t have to bear her mother’s sins.