“Stop pretending. There’s no one else here.” Garry crossed his legs. His eyes were fixed sternly ahead, directly on the highway. Along with his secretary and his “youngest daughter,” he was now in the car on the way home.
Maya didn’t answer. The girl only stared at her tightly interlaced fingers, fearfully. At the hospital, the doctor and the two teenagers she didn’t know had failed to stop her from being taken home. Though, in truth, Maya didn’t know if this could be called “going home.”
She didn’t know the frightening man beside her or the other man sitting in the driver’s seat. But more importantly, Maya couldn’t find her mother. When she was forced to leave, Maya had already tried to see her mother and younger sibling. Instead, she received judgmental looks, as though Maya had done something wrong.
“Keep staying quiet like that and see what happens,” Garry continued when Maya gave him no response whatsoever. The threat immediately made Maya lower her head even further.
“I-I want to see Mom and my younger sibling...” Maya whispered with her head bowed.
“Stop acting. Your mother is dead, and your younger sibling never existed.”
Those two sharp sentences made Maya jerk her head up. Her trembling eyes met a pair of brown irises glaring at her.
“W-what do you mean, Uncle?” Maya asked in a trembling voice. She truly didn’t understand. Why did everyone keep saying her mother was dead? They even said her little brother had never existed.
Garry’s expression shifted slightly, but it quickly became blank again. “Enough, Raya. I’m tired of all the drama you keep creating.”
“I’m not pretending! Why do you always accuse me, Uncle?!” Maya shouted in frustration. Ever since she met Garry, the man had kept telling her to stop acting, stop pretending, and stop creating drama. Maya was tired of being accused of things she hadn’t done.
“Don’t raise your voice at me!” Garry roared.
Maya’s courage instantly withered. The girl, whose head was still bandaged, shifted until her body pressed against the car door. Her head bowed again, this time even lower. In her entire life, Maya had never been yelled at. Her mother and the people around her had almost never raised their voices at her.
“Sir, we’ve arrived.” The car stopped in the courtyard of a luxurious three-story house. The sun was almost gone, allowing darkness to begin peeking through certain gaps and corners.
“Get out!” Once again, the shout rang out. Maya swallowed with difficulty. Her head weakly shook from side to side. She didn’t want to. Who knew what would happen once she went inside?
“Stubborn girl!” A hand suddenly clamped tightly around her arm. Maya gasped in shock. The teenager didn’t have time to react before she was dragged out of the car. Besides, her body still felt weak from having only just regained consciousness.
“N-No, I don’t want to!” Maya struggled desperately to free her arm from the grip. In a panic, she turned toward the other man who had just gotten out of the car, seeking help. That was when her gaze accidentally fell on a strange figure in the reflection of the car window.
Maya blinked once, and the figure did the same. Impossible. Who... was she?
“Come on! You’re really wasting my precious time!” Before she could take a closer look, her body was pulled forcefully inside.
Maya didn’t resist this time. She was too shocked by the reflection of herself. Since when had her hair grown back? And that face... it clearly wasn’t hers.
The main doors stood wide open. Two sturdy guards on either side of the entrance bowed. As Garry entered with Maya, who had suddenly gone quiet, dozens of servants stood in rows and bowed. Maya was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she was now alone in a room.
Maya bit the inside of her cheek, panicking when she realized she was in an unfamiliar room. Her eyes darted around. As soon as she found what she was looking for, Maya hurriedly twisted the doorknob. But the door wouldn’t open.
She tried twisting the doorknob again. Instead, she heard an unfamiliar voice from someone else she didn’t know. “You can’t leave right now, Miss. Dinner will be brought to your room in an hour.”
“But why...?” Maya’s shoulders sagged when no answer came.
Maya stepped back, then swept her gaze around again. Her eyes found a mirror beside the bed. Should she... try it one more time?
With nervous steps, the girl walked toward the mirror. Her eyes lowered to the floor before she lifted her head to stare at the strange figure in the reflection. The emaciated thirteen-year-old girl was gone.
What had really happened?
Maya moved her fingers, touching the unfamiliar face. This clearly wasn’t her face. Then... whose was it?
‘Raya? Is this Raya’s body?’ Maya touched the surface of the mirror. Everyone had called her Raya earlier. But the question was, how had she become Raya? And what about her original body?
‘Am I dead?’
Maya’s hand fell limply to her side. Questions flooded her mind. Did Mom and her younger sibling know that her soul had gone into another body? Or had they already assumed she was dead? Maya truly couldn’t imagine the grief that would befall her mother and younger sibling.
A tear fell onto her cheek. Maya quickly wiped it away. She couldn’t be sad now. Maya had to find out what had really happened. And maybe, if she was lucky, she would meet her little family again.
“Good evening, Miss.”
Maya blinked, staring at a woman dressed as a servant who had opened the door. Her face looked stiff and cold. One hand expertly carried a tray with several dishes on it, while the other quickly closed the door. Maya didn’t have time to see what lay beyond it.
“Here is your dinner, Miss.” The servant nodded once at Maya, then placed the tray on the bedside table.
Before the servant could leave, Maya caught her hand. “Can I ask you a few things?”
She looked hesitant and seemed eager to leave, but stopped when she saw her young mistress’s pleading face. “Of course, Miss.”
“Um... what’s my full name?” Maya asked nervously.
The servant furrowed her brow slightly. She had heard the rumor about the youngest daughter losing her memory after an accident. It seemed the rumor was true.
“Your full name is Raya Adiwangsa, Miss,” she replied firmly.
Maya repeated the name silently, then asked again, “Then... how did I end up in the hospital?”
“What’s this? You really did lose your memory?” Suddenly, a voice came from the door, which had opened at some point without her noticing. The female servant beside Maya immediately bowed.
Maya’s eyebrows rose slightly as she noticed the stark difference between the servant’s attitude toward her and toward the teenage boy standing in the doorway.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?!” The black-haired teenage boy suddenly pointed at Maya angrily. Or should Maya say... Raya?