“Are you okay, mister? You look sad all of a sudden,” Jessica asked with a concerned look on her face.
“Yes, I am okay… actually, I am not. I need to go to the washroom. Can you show me the way?”
“Okay, but… we don’t have water. Do you want to do number one or number two?”
“Number one.”
“Okay!” Jessica jumped from the couch and said, “Follow me!”
Of course, Rudy already knew where the washroom was. He just wanted to get Jessica’s attention away from him.
Jessica took Rudy to the washroom and said, “Here.”
“Thank you.”
Rudy opened the door and went inside, but Jessica entered with him.
“…” Rudy raised his brow and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I want to see!”
Rudy immediately kicked her out and closed the door behind him. Once he was done, he came out and found Jessica at the door.
“Don’t you have anything else to do? What about homework?” he asked.
“I already did my homework at school because I can’t do it at home!”
“Why not?” he asked with a confused look on his face.
“We… don’t have electricity here, so it gets hard to do homework or study at night…”
“Was it always like this?”
“No, no. Ever since my father stopped coming. After a month, some people came and cut the electricity line.”
‘It’s most likely because they didn’t pay the bill. This is somewhat similar to my childhood, but I had it easy. Mom did everything for me so I could have a better life.’
Jessica pushed Rudy to the side and said, “Move! I want to pee.”
Rudy went to the kitchen and checked the spot where Rebecca used to hide the money. When he looked there, he found a few coins and bills that were due to pay.
Rudy looked out his wallet and the money from his pocket that he had withdrawn from the bank to give to Reina, which she had refused to take. He placed fifty thousand dollars on the side, hoping Rebecca would find them and use them wisely to live a decent life.
Then, he used his vision abilities together and scanned the entire house to see the water pipelines and electricity lines.
‘I will have to take care of this later. I don’t know why I am here, but I can’t miss this opportunity to help them out somehow.’
Rudy checked the refrigerator, but of course, it was empty and stank as it wasn’t in use.
‘Why did I even expect to find something here..’
He checked the shelves in the kitchen but couldn’t find anything that could be eaten except a few spices, oil, and two tomatoes.
“…”
He turned on the stove to check if the gas line was working, but it wasn’t.
‘How do they even make food without a stove? I doubt mom would bring outside food…’
Rudy checked all that before Jessica could finish her work, and then he rushed to the living room.
“So… what should I do now?” he asked himself. “I lied to Jessica that I know mom, and it’s almost time for mom to return. If she comes home and sees me, she will clearly freak out to find a stranger in her house with her little sister.
And Jessica would also find out that I lied to her. Obviously, I am not living with them alone, but I can’t stay with them. Wait… why can’t I stay with them? If I just manage to convince mom that I am not a stranger, there should be no problems.
But how…?”
? Rudy pondered for a few seconds and thought, ‘What if I just pretended to be a friend of Albert? But I already told Jessica that I am Rebeca’s friend.’
SIGH!
‘I should have told Jesicca the same thing, but at that time, I wasn’t sure if Albert was truly their father. Should I use my ability to hypnotize Jessica? I really don’t want to do that, especially to a seven-year-old kid. But do I have any other choice?’
“Oh well, there is still some time before she comes back. I can think of a—”
The front door opened wide as the voice followed, “Jess, your sister is home~!”
“…!”
It was, of course, Rebecca.
When Rebecca saw Rudy in the house, she stepped back a little with a scared look on her face and glanced around the house with her eyes without moving her head in any direction.
“Who… are you?” she asked in a trembling voice.
Rebecca was wearing her school uniform, and she was carrying a grocery bag in her hands that had bread and a few vegetables in it. On the other hand, she was holding two eggs.
“I am Albert’s friend,” Rudy calmly introduced himself.
“What is your name?!”
“Robert.”
“Father has never mentioned someone by that name!”
“Yes, I know.” He smiled gently and said, “I have come here to check up on you two because Albert can’t make it for some reason. He asked me to drop by here and see if you girls are doing well.”
“Do you have any proof?”
“You can ask me anything.”
“What is my name?”
“Rebecca.”
“Anyone can know that!”
“Well, you are the one who asked me that question. You can ask something else to confirm.”
“….”
“Go ahead.”
“I don’t know what to ask! What am I supposed to ask?!” Rebecca panicked.
“I am telling you, I mean no harm. I am just here to help you.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“That’s up to you.”
“What’s with all the… noise…” Jessica entered the scene and saw Rebecca.
“Sis!” Her face brightened as she rushed to her and hugged her. “You are home!”
“Ye…s.” Rebecca hid Jessica behind her and said, “Don’t worry, Jess. I will protect you.”
“Protect me…? From what?” Jessica asked with a puzzled look on her face.
“This man!”
“Ehhh… but he said he is your…” Jessica stopped on her words and squinted her eyes at Rudy.
‘Oh great, I can fool many, but I couldn’t fool two kids!’
