Over the Line (5)

"We have breaking and entering, trespassing, breaking the right of possession, damaging personal belongings, theft, and verbal violence," Alex listed.

"I'm planning to add assault," he looked at Luke for his approval.

"Also add inflicting permanent damages to mental health," Luke caressed my hair.

"Please overlook this incident. Adam is very young, we will make sure this will never occur again," my aunt began to beg.

"Unfortunately, we cannot let this incident go. You can expect the lawsuits to come by tomorrow," Luke was cold.

I winced when Alex sent everything they prepared to their lawyers, setting his screen on semi-invisible mode. This allowed only the people he wanted to see his screen. My eyes widened from reading the response coming from their lawyers a few seconds later. Both of them were going over the line, the results coming out as one hundred years in jail. In addition to quadrillions of dollars in monetary compensation.

However, if I defended my aunt's family, I would likely become a goner. My heart painfully panged as I decided to remain ignorant. It wasn't like I didn't understand Luke. He was the one who took care of my hair for more than seven years. His mass dedication was what made him overreact. If someone ruined my precious limited-edition figurine I carefully maintained for many years, I would get mad as well.

"Just let them go, hair will always grow back," grandma stood up for my aunt.

"This is assault, do you not see your granddaughter?" Alex pointed out.

I stayed silent as I wanted nothing to do with this. Best case scenario, I could convince them to take back the lawsuits once they calmed down. The most I could currently do to help my aunt's family was to leave the living room. I tugged on Luke's shirt, "I don't want to stay here anymore."

"Can you take Rika to our room? There are some things I need to take care of," Luke turned to Alex.

I reluctantly left the living room, taking Alex with me. It would be easier on my aunt's family if Luke didn't have someone to support him. Once the door closed, I nearly covered my ears from the loud yelling. It couldn't be a coincidence Luke waited until I was inside our room. I stiffened when Alex immediately placed a sound barrier around us, blocking the noise. I didn't want to hear what was going on anyways.

I was technically a victim no matter what angle I faced the situation. If it was anyone else, maybe even April or Ally, they would have joined Luke in the yelling. I was a person who already gave up on my appearance. I took this chance to get some extra sleep, exhausted from the schedule yesterday. Only waking up to find myself inside the car, wondering why we were leaving grandma's house.

"Where are we going?" I studied the scenery.

"We're going to your parent's house," Luke seemed calm.

"I thought we couldn't stay there because of the bad air quality," I recalled.

"We're bringing a filter with us," Luke revealed.

Why the heck did we go to grandma's place in the first place? We could have used the filter for our prior visits as well. Did that mean I suffered for nothing in the past? It didn't make sense. What about those bracelets that have the same features? I threw another questioning look at Luke, managing to get an unexpected answer.

"We managed to procure a portable filter created by fairy technology. The ones inside the villas and mansions can't be taken out as they are complexly installed into the building," he explained.

"You synthesized it together?" I was impressed.

"We bought it from one of Micah's connections."

"How much did it cost?"

"Around a billion Memors."

"Where did you get the money from?"

A billion Memors translated into a trillion Aris, meaning it was a huge amount of money. Since I took most of Luke's allowance, there was nearly no possibility he used his own money. Unless he managed to increase his allowance, remembering his idea in negotiating with his parents. However, Luke oddly stayed silent, leading me to think he used my money. He did control both of our bank accounts.

"You didn't take some of the budget out of my waterpark, right?" I desperately hoped.

"There's still tens of trillions leftover. We'll help you in procuring the things you want," Alex shattered my hopes.

"What? You actually used my money?" I was in disbelief.

"We're close to recovering most of the money by getting the blueprint for the filter. Once we put it out in the market, we can make large profits since it's evolutionary," Alex tried to make it up to me.

"How could you? This money is for the project. You can't just use it that way," I couldn't forgive them.

"Our parents approved our proposal," Luke guiltily looked at me.

"Why didn't you tell me about it? Fairies are easy to scam. We could have gotten it for free. Who is the fairy you made the deal with? I'm going to try to get our money back," I was disappointed in them.

Why were they not saying anything? My head began to throb as I summoned Micah for the answers. I had to finish this before we arrived at my parent's place. Thankfully, Micah immediately appeared, soon sitting down on a car seat.

"Who's the fairy they made the stupid deal with?" I started.

"It was one of the fairies who wanted to become your contractor," Micah revealed.

"She was impressed by the negotiation skills they possessed," he was proud of Luke and Alex.

"Was she the one I pushed inside the hole?" I wondered.

"She was one of the first few who ran away," Micah recalled.

"Can you call her? I have something else to offer her in exchange for the filter and its blueprints," I needed my money back.

While Micah tried to contact the fairy, I hurriedly began to plagiarize the manga I read from the bookstore into a report. Fortunately, I managed to finish before she arrived, her face instantly scrunching from seeing me. I directly went to the point, "I want a refund. I can offer you something better for my money to be returned in its place."

"What do you have to offer?" She mocked me.

"You can read a sample on the first page," I handed the report to her.

The power of the otaku industry was massive. Her eyes went large, eventually beginning to glitter, her hands tempted to flip to the next page. I coughed for her to return the report before swiping it away from her hands. I could tell she desperately wanted my report, shrinking when facing me again. Her arrogance was erased, pitiful eyes pulled out, and her hands fidgeting. This was a chance to take advantage of her.

"What are you willing to offer me in exchange?" I had the upper hand.

"I can give you a refund. I will give you back your money and you can keep your filter and blueprint," she blurted.

"I changed my mind, I don't need a refund," I gestured to leave.

"I realized I can sell this to others for a better price," I bluffed.

"I can give you more filters in exchange. I know you need them," she remembered.

"How many?" I clasped my hands together.

"I can give you one hundred," she initially offered.

"I want one hundred thousand or no deal," I tried to push her.

"Should I transfer them to you now?" She surprisingly agreed.

"Please place them inside my bracelet, as soon as I receive the payment, I can give you this report," I instructed.

Once my bracelet became loaded with filters and more Memors, I passed the report to her. Meanwhile, Micah offered me a dragon in exchange for his own copy. Thankfully, I managed to handle everything before the car went into the parking lot. With the extra time, I yelled at Luke, "you're never touching my money again. I don't care what you do with your family's assets, but you nearly wasted an incredible amount of money for nothing."

"We did it for you. You're the one who suffers from the bad air quality the most," Alex tried to cover for Luke.

"So it's okay to throw away a trillion Aris?" I targeted him next.

"That's not what we- ."

"That's exactly what you guys almost did," I raised my voice.

"How are you guys even thinking of trying to help me with this project? It's evident your skills are incredibly lacking. You should know how to approach fairies by now. Do I have to teach you every single thing for you to understand?" I was disappointed.

"I won't touch the funds for the project again," Luke was shaken.

"How about you? Will you make the same mistake again?" I turned to Alex.

"I won't," Alex mumbled.

I pitied both Joanna and Juliana, seeing they had to teach their children nearly everything. It was no wonder their schedule was much worse than mine. They needed the tutors more than I did. After transferring the filters to them, I stepped out of the car, facing the suburban neighborhood. Nothing had changed, rows of nearly identical houses spanning for miles. My parents were hours away from us, Luke checking up on them a couple minutes before I started my lecture.

"There's a playground a few blocks away from here," I discovered.

"Let's go inside," Luke dragged me.

Surprisingly, Luke took out the key from his inventory, and quickly opened the door. As I expected, this place was much better than grandma's house. Everything was relatively clean, not sparkling but not dirty. The furniture was more modern, simple in nature, the usual couch and TV occupying the living room. A small table for the dining room connected to a kitchen. Not much dust swirling around, less things for the filter to work on. Alex froze near the entrance, initially expecting a similar environment as the shack.

"You should start installing the filter," I urged them.

I watched them attach the filter under the window, making it invisible by pressing a button. As soon as the device activated, I took a breath of fresh air, better than the countryside I left. I smiled while thinking of my luxurious supply I managed to extort from the fairy. Taking advantage of them looking busy, I turned on the TV, muting the sound. Instantly turning the channel to watch some anime. Before they could take away the remote control, I had the perfect excuse, "this is for research purposes. We need this information to scam more fairies."

"One hour," Luke gave in.

"Until my parents come," I began to negotiate.

"I worked hard to recover our money," I added.

"I can't do more than an hour Rika. We have to resume our schedules," he explained.