CHAPTER 227: MONEY AND EXPLANATIONS

"Hey Maya" I decide to ask Maya a question, there’s something that didn’t make sense to me. I’ve been trying to find holes in the story that Maya told me, but for everything I asked, she had answers.

Showing that yes, a large part of it is actually true, but there’s one thing that’s obviously wrong, or would require an absurd explanation, and I’m going to try to press on that point to find out more.

"Do you need anything, Shizune?" She asks as I nod. She soon stops the wheelchair under a tree near a bench to answer my question.

"I have a single question that I need the answer to... I have no memories, I don’t know if I can really trust you... so I have this question that won’t leave my head," I say to her seriously.

"Okay, I’ll answer whatever you want, Shizune," She responds as if she had nothing to hide. In fact, her calmness is unsettling, a very high level of confidence that slightly shakes my conviction.

"You had said that you don’t have much access to technology, to the point where cell phones have locks and only allow specific calls... but you also said that I get a certain amount of money every month..." As I start this, she finally seems tense and slightly uncomfortable, but not in the way I expected.

"Why would my parents give me money that I don’t have real access to?..." Either she lied and we have access to technology, or she lied in any case and is just hiding the money.

I highly doubt my "parents" wouldn’t leave a way for me to access the money, so there’s an error there somewhere.

"..."

"Haa... I think... I need to tell you the truth, you were going to ask that at some point anyway," She lets out a sigh and pulls a hidden cell phone from her clothes, I hear the sound of a password and she soon hands me the phone, the sound is unpleasant and the sight of the screen’s brightness bothers me.

But what I see really answers my question, and worse, it really gives me an unpleasant feeling of disgust for my parents.

"Transfer received... 3 million dollars... automatic transfer sent... 3 million dollars... transfers blocked without cancellation..." I let out a mocking smile. The bank account under my name receives 3 million dollars every month, and the money is immediately transferred to another account.

And it’s not even possible to cancel the automatic transfer, it says the account is under the control of my guardians’ names even though it’s mine, in other words, only my parents have access and authorization to deactivate it.

"... I... don’t really have anything, do I?" My account currently has literally $10 that is my own money.

"... I didn’t want you to see this..." She speaks as I think about everything she said and how it also explains some things.

"My medications... it’s you who pays for them, isn’t it? That’s why you’re the one who chooses the things in them, the flavor, and the colors..." I say as she doesn’t confirm, just averts her gaze, making the answer even more obvious.

"... That’s... kind of cruel, don’t you think?" Giving money and taking it away right after just to lie by saying they take care of their sick daughter... it’s really a disgusting level of cruelty.

"... I’m sorry..." She speaks as I change the bank account to the second account in the app, which is hers, looking at the transfers to see what she does.

"12 thousand per month... minus 5 thousand for medicine... 3 thousand for specific groceries for me... 3 thousand for general expenses... and 1 thousand for some of my personal needs..." She spends almost the entire payment on me and the mansion.

"You... aren’t making anything from this... is it because of the contract?" I thought she was using the supposed money I had, but she uses her own money to keep me alive.

"In the beginning it was because of the contract... but after a while it was more by choice... your parents even paid for some things in the beginning, but then they just stopped with the excuse that it didn’t help to pay for something that wouldn’t cure you," She speaks as with each thing I discover, the worse I feel for doubting her.

The fact that I don’t have money, and that she pays for everything, explains the small gap I had found.

"So Maya, we do have access to the outside, but... without many real conditions to go out there, right?" I ask as she ends up agreeing with a lament.

"That’s right... I know how to drive, but we don’t even have a car to take you there, the city is 12 kilometers away, a trip that takes at least 3 hours on foot... taking you there is... very difficult," She speaks as I think about it.

’12 kilometers... enough that if I need an ambulance, it won’t arrive in time...’

"Maya... my parents want me to die, don’t they?" I ask without any filter, seeing all this, the only answer I come to is that my parents in this world have done everything to get rid of me while maintaining the image of good parents.

"... I wouldn’t say that..."

"Don’t lie, I’m not stupid just because I’m sick... sending money just to take it away later, leaving a sick daughter far from any hospital, not letting a single ready doctor, and hiring someone without qualifications to take care of me... this is pure intentional negligence aimed at getting rid of me," I’ve already been rich, I understand these things.

Unfortunately, there are many "benefits" in this approach, in high society they can pass themselves off as loving and ethically incredible parents, while taking me away from anything that doesn’t please them.

In the end, even this mansion wasn’t given as a gift, but as a weapon to kill me, but it ended up not working so well.

"I... I’m sorry it’s like this..." She speaks as I take one last look at her phone, checking the authenticity, and everything seems perfectly genuine, even closing the app and taking a quick look, there’s nothing out of the ordinary.

"Maya, how about we sell this mansion and go live in the city?" I say, surprising her.

"Shizune, I... I don’t understand what you’re thinking..."

"This contract that binds you isn’t so foolproof, rich people don’t care about small contracts, especially if the person they want to get rid of disappears and has no value."

"You just need to create another account under another identity if you’re afraid of getting caught, sell this mansion and transfer all the money to that account, and then we’ll go live in the city, even in another country if you’re afraid of legal risks," I say as she ponders.

"Are you suggesting... we run away together?"

"Yes, there’s nothing here for me, and my parents already want to see me disappear, if they manage to do that they must be satisfied, we just need to have money to start over somewhere else."

"I... I don’t know, this seems... too risky, you could die, we won’t have your medications anymore, and without any support, even if it’s minimal, they still send money from my paycheck," She hesitates.

"I’m sorry, but no, I can’t accept this, it’s too much risk for your life, it’s better to have this little stability we have than you possibly ending up dead," She speaks as I let out a sigh.

"As you wish, Maya..." It’s her who decides, without her my situation would get bad, so I’m at the mercy of what she wants, a shame since leaving seemed like a good plan.

"Maya, are you being honest only because you think I’ll forget about this?" I ask as she doesn’t respond anything, I decide to accept this as a yes, she probably only lets me know the truth because she thinks I’ll forget.

"... Let’s go inside, I don’t want to stay out here anymore, the smell bothers me, the colors are already starting to hurt my eyes, and frankly... I don’t want to hear the tree starting to talk to me," I say as she gives a small smile.

Soon she starts moving the wheelchair along the walkway, coming out from under the shade.

"What will we have for dinner?" I ask as she ponders.

"Maybe something more special to cheer you up? How about a stew?" She asks as I just nod.

"Maya, do you cook, clean, manage medications, and fix the house all by yourself?" I question and she gives a warm smile.

"Yes, in the beginning it was difficult, but then I learned to do these things, and I learned what you can and can’t eat and see, did you know this mansion was yellow at first? I painted it with a matte white that helped you," She speaks as if it were a good memory.

"What happened to me before?" I ask, interested in my "past" in this world.

"Well, after about two hours of seeing the color, you would ’fall’ to the ground and thrash around holding your head... it wasn’t funny, you would spin on the ground like a top, it apparently hurts your head a lot, so I had to change the color."

"I changed it about 3 times until I found one that you took well," She speaks as I imagine the scene, it doesn’t really seem very good.

"Thank you for your effort, it’s nice to know you’ve done all this for me, even if in the beginning it was more because you were forced by the contract to take care of me," I thank honestly.

"It was nothing, really," She speaks very humbly.

"No, this was important, the contract never told you to keep me alive, you could have just neglected me and done nothing beyond the basics," She never had to do everything she did.

"It honors me to know you think this of me, even if you don’t remember the past, thank you for believing in me and everything I said," She speaks as I agree.

Trusting her story 100% is difficult, but it does have its own truth and that I cannot deny in any way.

"Now let’s put that aside, Maya, let’s go inside the mansion, I’d love to read a book... if there are any, of course."

"Of course! I’ll guide you through the mansion, showing you everything you’ve forgotten."