Garry walked over to the dining table. His brow immediately furrowed when he found that not a single dish had been served yet.
With purposeful strides, he headed toward the kitchen. Inside, several servants were scrambling to prepare breakfast.
"Where are the others? Why isn't breakfast ready yet?" Garry demanded without preamble. His sharp gaze swept over every servant in the room.
"W-We apologize, Sir. Breakfast will be served at the dining table in ten minutes," one servant said on behalf of the others.
Garry's gaze grew even sharper. "You haven't answered my other question. Where are the others?"
The servants exchanged glances before one of them answered in a small voice, "S-Second Young Master fired them last night."
That answer made Garry let out a long sigh. Clicking his tongue, the man waved his hand, ordering the servants to continue preparing breakfast.
Meanwhile, Garry returned to the dining table. Axel was already sitting there with Maya and Lexa, wearing an utterly innocent expression.
"Why did you fire so many servants in a single night, Axel? Because of your reckless behavior, breakfast has been delayed." Garry pulled out a chair and sat down. The authority radiating from the head of the Adiwangsa family was no joke.
Maya instinctively lowered her head and nervously fidgeted with her fingers. Her gaze had accidentally collided with Garry's earlier, and she couldn't hold back her fear.
Axel rolled his eyes dramatically. "They insulted our family. Was I supposed to stay quiet and let those lowly servants get away with it?"
Garry exhaled another long breath. "At the very least, you should have discussed it with me first."
"Tch! Forget it, Dad. Don't make such a big deal out of it. They aren't that important." Axel clicked his tongue in irritation. The teenager then chose to focus on teasing Maya instead. Lexa merely played with her phone while occasionally patting Maya on the head.
Garry watched the interaction between his three children intently. Could it really be that the girl with the twin ponytails wasn't Raya?
Their appearances and personalities did seem different. However, Garry still wasn't convinced. His mind rejected things that made no sense and were far removed from reality.
The three of them were now in the car, on their way to school. A driver and a bodyguard occupied the front seats. Both had been hired to drive and protect the children of the Adiwangsa family.
"Where did you live before?" Lexa asked Maya, who was sitting beside her. Axel was on Maya's other side, playing on his phone while secretly listening. The young man was too proud to join the conversation, even though he was extremely curious about Maya's former life.
"In another city," Maya answered hesitantly. She didn't know why, but she felt uncomfortable revealing everything to Lexa.
"Where?" Lexa asked again. This time, her voice was firmer and more demanding, leaving Maya unsure of how to answer.
"You don't want to answer? Why?" Lexa suddenly took Maya's chin between her fingers, forcing the girl to look at her.
Lexa's cold eyes felt like they were piercing Maya's own. "Are you afraid we'll hurt your family? Do you think we're that cruel, Maya? Aren't we family too?"
Maya tried to swallow. She wanted to scream that she wasn't part of this terrifying family. Unfortunately, she didn't have even an ounce of courage.
"Th-That's not it. I just can't tell you yet," Maya stammered. To her left, she could feel Axel's gaze, no less sharp than Lexa's.
Maya felt trapped. At first, she had thought it was impossible for Axel and Lexa to be twins. They didn't look alike at all, even though they shared the same iris color. Their personalities were complete opposites too.
But it seemed Lexa and Axel did have one thing in common—they were both talented at intimidating the weak. And here, Maya was the weak one.
"Fine. If you're so determined to keep your old life a secret, we'll find out ourselves. Of course, we'll do it our way." Lexa released Maya's chin.
At the same moment, the car stopped right in front of a magnificent gate surrounding two buildings at different levels. Lexa got out first, followed by Maya, then Axel.
"Why are you so curious?" Maya asked without daring to look at either twin.
Because we want to make sure we keep you away from your old life. Unfortunately, Lexa and Axel could only say those words in their heads. They didn't want to scare Maya too much.
The girl was... far too fragile and precious.
During break, Maya took out Raya's phone and scrolled through it boredly. She had checked Raya's phone the previous night, but there truly wasn't any clue as to why she was in the girl's body.
There were only a few contacts, belonging to Sky, Radit, and several classmates. What surprised Maya was that Raya hadn't even saved any of her family's numbers.
"Ray, Raya!" Sky shook Maya's shoulder when the girl failed to respond to her calls.
Maya turned around in surprise. She gave Sky an apologetic smile. Spending more than a week in Raya's body hadn't made Maya instantly get used to it.
Sometimes, she didn't respond when someone called her Raya. But with Axel and Lexa, Maya didn't have to worry about that—they always called her by her real name.
Somehow, that side of them warmed Maya's heart a little. At least there were a few people who 'really' knew her.
"You've started spacing out a lot lately," Sky grumbled as she blew on her brightly dyed bangs. Maya sometimes wondered why the teachers at this school allowed students to dye their hair.
"I'm sorry," Maya said sincerely.
Sky flinched slightly. She stared deeply at Maya, then let out a small laugh. No, it wasn't the kind of laugh that made other people want to laugh too. It was a mocking laugh that made the hairs on the back of Maya's neck stand up.
"Raya, I can't hold it in anymore. What if we jump out the window right now?" Sky's cheerful, feather-light invitation made Maya's eyes widen.
"S-Sky... what do you mean?" Maya hoped she'd misheard. Her face had gone half-pale, making Sky giggle uncontrollably.
"I was just kidding, Ray!" Sky laughed. This time, her laughter didn't sound scary. Even so, jokes about death weren't funny to Maya.
"Oh, right. Do you want to stay over at my house tonight? It feels so empty since you stopped coming over," Sky said with renewed enthusiasm, as though what she'd said a few seconds earlier had simply blown away in the wind.
"I-I used to stay over there a lot?" Maya asked casually. Honestly, she was starting to be afraid of Sky. There was no way Maya could spend the night at that girl's house.
Sky nodded several times. "You stayed at my house more often than you did at the Adiwangsa family home."
"So? Will you stay over at my house, Ray?"