I am not a liar

After getting the approval of the shareholders and having a lengthy meeting with them, he asked his secretary to clear a private flight to Mumbai at the earliest possible and also ready a team of lawyers from Mumbai from the best business law firm. He himself would be accompanied by a team of lawyers.

The secretary didn't question him and followed his instructions to the T.

---

"Dad, we might have to go to Mumbai tomorrow," Aric said while having his dinner. This made both his father and mother stunned as they were not expecting such words from Aric at all. To add to their astonishment, Aric continued.

"I would like Uncle Kurien to follow us."

"Wait... wait... Calm down... What are you talking about?" Aric's father couldn't help but stop his son from spewing more nonsense.

"How to explain this... Hmm... You've noticed that I've been in my room working hard and not getting distracted for the past few months, right?" Aric asked while gulping his portion.

"Yes, and I've been telling you not to do this. You need to get out and play a bit," Avni said.

"Mom, I'm doing this for our future, and we finally have some results," Aric replied.

"What do you mean?" Aric's father asked.

Aric then went on a grand lie about how he had been working on building software and how recently he had been contacted by Google. He explained how they wanted to make a deal with him about the software he had created. At first, both of his parents refused to believe him, but when Aric showed the international number that had called half an hour ago and also mentioned the subsequent meeting, his father became a bit more serious.

He had never seen his son lie in such a grand manner before; in fact, he had hardly ever seen his son lie. But even then, it was hard to believe that his son had managed to attract the attention of Google. He might not be tech-savvy, but he was definitely knowledgeable about what was happening around the world.

Avni was a different case altogether. She cross-checked and cross-examined Aric's claims as she felt her son was making bold statements out of nowhere. She had never seen her son being busy with computers, and though he would go to a café once in a while, it wasn't frequent enough for her to believe. But she couldn't find anything false in her son's claims.

"C'mon, Mom, I'm not that bad. I even aced my grades last year," Aric said in a pleading tone to make her believe. There was complete silence for some time. One could hear the chirping of the crickets. It was finally broken by his father when he said,

"You will need your Uncle Kurien for legal purposes?" Aric's father asked.

"Yes. We just need to bring him as a testimony to the deal we're going to make," Aric said. Aric's father thought for a bit before he said,

"Can you look after the farm for two or three days?" Aric's father asked. Avni could only nod. Though she was skeptical of Aric's words, she didn't refuse his request. Plus, she would get some time of solace and peace for the next two days. This was already a win.

"We'll go to Mumbai to make a deal? How much do you expect them to pay for your software?" Aric's father asked.

"I don't know. We'll see." Aric didn't outright state a price, because if he did, he was sure his parents would call him a liar. It was better for his father to see with his own eyes and then believe.

"They will arrive tomorrow evening, so we have time," Aric said.

"Arrive? Aren't they in Mumbai?" Aric's father was confused.

"Dad, they're coming from the USA to make the deal," Aric said. This made Aric's father realize that the deal might not be as minor as Aric had explained.

"Avni, we'll take a bus tomorrow to the city in the afternoon. Please prepare lunch for the way," Aric's father said.

---

"That was a long lie," Mira said after Aric returned to his room.

"I did what was necessary. This deal will change their lives," Aric said. Mira didn't dispute the claim. From her estimates, their middle-class family was going to become an ultra-rich family soon. Aric needed to get to Echorysia as he was waiting for another delivery, but he didn't leave for that place as he felt his father might visit him to talk personally before they left tomorrow. And Aric wasn't wrong.

His father did knock on his door half an hour after dinner, and they had a good father-son talk about the deal, with Aric assuring him that this wasn't some scam and that they were genuine.

Aric's father accepted and believed his son and then promptly left.

Echorysia.

By this time, Aric was a millionaire by the standards of the galaxy. It might mean a huge amount by Earth standards, but one mustn't forget that this was the universe we were talking about. Millionaires could only be considered upper middle class in society, and the only reason Aric had saved up a lot of credits was because he didn't have any expenses on the planet.

He neither had a house to pay bills nor rent. Even food was not bought here. Whatever he purchased, he would regain in the form of gold. In addition to that, he had music and songs that had been slowly rising in the charts.

So a few days ago, he had bought himself special equipment that was going to change his life forever. No, scratch that—equipment that would change his brain forever.

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