Chương 3: Role Without A Self: Chapter 2

After some time, Nina walked out of the shower, gently dabbing her hair dry with a towel. When— ding, ding, ding —a notification appeared on her phone placed on the reading table. Nina looked in that direction, water still clinging to the ends of her hair. She walked toward her phone, lowering the towel as she moved. As she was about to enter her passcode, another notification appeared. Ding. The name on the notification was"Birth Father."

Nina's eyes widened slightly, her thumb hovering over the phone as if the device itself had grown heavier.

"Why now?" Nina felt uncertain.

"Why would he be messaging me right now?" It had been a month since she last tried to contact them. A month since Emma convinced her to stop initiating everything herself. Emma had not forced her to do anything, not exactly. It had been careful pressure, repeated explanations, and patience over time that eventually made Nina give in. The idea had been simple: if Nina stopped reaching out first, then her parents would have to respond on their own. And if they responded, if they panicked, if they reached out…

it would mean something. Emma had said it might even lead to apologies, to an acknowledgment and maybe to something resembling a family. At the time, Nina had insisted she did not care about that. But deep inside, she knew that was not entirely true. There had always been a part of her that waited for it. A part that imagined hearing a simple apology and feeling everything settle into place, as if it could fix the emptiness she had carried for so long that she had stopped naming it.

If she heard those words from her parents, if they said they wanted to be a true family, she would jump for joy, and even if she died right then and there, she would die happy. But days passed, and those days turned into weeks, until a month had gone by, and Nina had slowly but surely grown colder by the minute. So now that she received a message from her birth father, she did not know what to feel. Her hand hovered over the message, thoughts shifting slightly.

She let out a sigh, closed her eyes, gathered her courage, and clicked on his profile, opening the messages he had sent. {Messages} [Birth Father] Hey, I need you to dress up as your brother and head to XXX location. [Birth Father] Hey, why are you not replying? {New Messages} [Birth Father] Listen, if you do this thing for us this time, we'll fully recognize you as our daughter. Isn't that what you always wanted? [Birth Father] Did you change your number? I am coming to get you.

Nina stared deeply at the latest message, she slowly started her reply. I will go, no need to come—Just as she was about to send the message, her gaze fell on the novel's book tile and one word stood out to her; Revenge. With a deep breath Nina blocked his number, they can come to her if they want but she won't go to them. Feeling a little uneasy about her decision, Nina did the most reasonable thing she could think of at that moment. She called Emma. Ring. Ring. Ring.

Just as Nina started hesitating, thinking Emma might be busy, the call connected.

"Hello…? Uh, hello? Who is it?" Emma's sleepy, hoarse voice came through the speaker.

"Emma, did I wake you up? I'm sorry. I can call later. It's nothing urgent."

"Wait, no, no, no, no, no!" Emma immediately sounded more awake.

"Girl, you know I'm never too busy for you. What happened? Why are you calling at this time? Something wrong?" Nina then went on to explain everything that had just happened.

"Oh, sweet baby," Emma sighed.

"You're just too precious, you know that? But good job. Seriously, good job." Then her tone shifted sharply.

"Wait. Do your parents still have the key to your house?"

"uhhmm…"

"Nina?"

"...."

"Nina, answer the question."

"... Sorry."

"That's fine. That's fine." Emma let out a breath.

"Baby steps. You're doing well. Just don't unblock them, okay? I'm gonna come over there and—" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"AASSIH—""Emma?" Nina straightened in alarm.

"Emma, are you okay?" In the middle of a loud crashing sound, Emma had apparently dropped her phone. Somehow, the fall accidentally activated video call mode, unwillingly revealing the chaotic scene before Nina. A half-naked man covered in scratches and kiss marks hurried across the room to catch Emma before she could fully fall off her chair. The camera shook violently. Nina could hear fragmented bits of conversation through the speaker.

From what she could piece together, the man seemed genuinely upset that Emma was not taking proper care of herself. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Nina coughed lightly. Cough. Cough. The moment she did, Emma shoved the man away in embarrassment before scrambling to grab her phone.

"Go away for a second," Emma hissed toward him.

"Don't you need to do something today?" Nina blinked.

"Does that mean he finally got his memories back?" Emma paused.

"Oh. Right. Yeah." She scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"I guess I never really told you. He kind of got his memories back… a long time ago."

"And, um… yeah. We sort of made things official."

"Are you lying to me?" Nina narrowed her eyes slightly.

"No. I'm stating facts."

"If you guys weren't official before, then how was he—""Nina. Stop. Stop that right now."

"But seriously, what is he doing?"

"Oh, right…" Emma looked off to the side.

"He said there was a rat in his family that took some money from them. Like… a substantial amount of money. So he has to go deal with it." Nina frowned.

"How much money are we talking about?"

"I honestly have no idea. He never told me." Emma groaned dramatically.

"You know what's hateful? I tried guessing the amount. I was like, 'Was it ten thousand dollars?' And he just looked at me and smiled because apparently I was being cute or something." Emma buried her face into her hands.

"Ugh."

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay, but that's beside the point." Emma pointed toward the screen.

"We're getting off topic." Her expression softened.

"Are you alright, Nina?"

"In what way?" Emma hesitated.

"This was the first time they contacted you first. And from what you told me…" She frowned slightly.

"Those messages weren't anywhere close to an apology." Nina looked off to the side, trying to find a way to change the topic.

"I…," she started before her eyes landed on the book nearby.

"Hey, Emma," she said, "you know the book you gave me? The Fake Saintess's Revenge? It's actually really interesting. I like it. It has a gripping storyline." Emma stared at her friend's face before sighing deeply to herself.

"You're so lucky you're adorable, you know that?" she muttered under her breath before speaking louder.

"Tell me more about the story. What did you like about it?" Nina immediately brightened, relieved that she had successfully managed to derail the conversation and before Emma could change her mind. Nina began talking at a rapid pace. She went on to express all the hatred, amazement, and anger she felt toward the author, especially regarding the ending and how sorry she felt for the young man as the story slowly approached the reincarnation plotline.

Multiple times throughout the conversation, Nina complained that the author should have just started at the reincarnation arc instead of forcing readers to go through his entire journey beforehand because it only made her become attached to the character. The more Nina spoke, the wider Emma smiled, she secretly felt proud and occasionally, Emma hummed or added tiny comments about the story itself, clearly enjoying how enthusiastically Nina talked about the novel.

At some point during the conversation, while Emma listened to her best friend ramble passionately, a shadow appeared behind her. The figure did not speak, but Emma could clearly feel the stare lingering over her shoulder. Eventually, Nina noticed him too, it was the same man from before. At some point, he had returned, now wearing a three-piece suit while holding a tie loosely in one hand. He stood behind Emma silently, looking at her with a solemn and oddly longing gaze.

For a brief moment, Nina almost thought he resembled a puppy waiting for its owner to notice it. Nina immediately shook that thought out of her head, it's quite absurd to compare the poor puppies with that man. He was the same man who had survived multiple injuries under Emma's meticulous care and glared fiercely every single time Nina got too close to her best friend. In Nina's heart he cannot compare to them because there was no way someone like him could look anywhere as pitiable as a puppy.

Eventually, Nina began running out of things to say, so the conversation slowly started winding down. As that happened, Emma finally realized Nina had become distracted by the figure standing behind her for quite some time now. She turned toward him with a questioning look. The man merely stared back before speaking in an almost endearing tone.

"Baby, can you help me with my tie?" He lifted his tie slightly.

"I still can't move my hand properly for intricate work like this." The disbelief on Emma's face was immediate.

"How is that even possible?" she shot back.

"You were using that hand perfectly fine last night." As Emma continued rambling about how he should not have acted so aggressively if he was injured, the man slowly turned his gaze toward Nina, who was still on the call. The killing intent in his eyes made Nina shiver through the screen. So she immediately spoke up.

"Anyways, bye, Emma!" Emma instantly turned back with a sweet smile.

"Bye, sweetie. I might not be able to come over today because it seems like I can't get out of bed due to somebody's work," she said while glaring at the man briefly.

"But we'll definitely have a party later, okay?" Then her tone softened further.

"And hopefully, your father probably won't come, but even if he does, call me immediately and I'll help you, alright sweetie?" Nina nodded before ending the call, her room returned to it's eerily silence. But instead of lingering on the quiet as she always did before, Nina lowered her phone and stared at the ceiling in disbelief. Did Emma even realize what she had gotten herself involved with? That man looked like the type to be tangled up with some kind of mafia group or underground organization.

Which was why Nina felt even more shocked remembering the almost pouty look he had earlier just to get Emma's attention. But then again… Nina had also derailed an entire conversation using the same method just to avoid answering a question she found difficult. So perhaps she understood his actions more than she wanted to admit. With that thought in mind, Nina grabbed the novel again and opened it back to where she had left off.

The page was already half-filled with notes and messy thoughts scribbled along the margins. After gathering the rest of her supplies, Nina returned to dissecting—c ough reading the book.