52 Breaking Into Reality

"Dad, you said you won't be late again." Estelle supported her father by her shoulder and led him inside the house. She smelled that stinky odor and, with her father's shaky movements, it was clearly alcohol.

"I know, but when I saw your favorite croissants had not sold out. I had to get in line," Elliot carefully said, but despite his efforts to hold the paper bag and his voice, he sounded odd.

"Can we really afford these?" Estelle helped his father sit down on the sofa.

The room was very near. It had all the necessary objects that a modern family needed to show off. Estelle lifted a glass of water from the see-through table and handed it over to her dad. Even the glass had swirly patterns etched on it.

"Afford?" Eliot chugged the glass of water with a questioning face. "I can buy anything I want. We are not down in the ground, we are going up-pppp."

"You don't have to lie to me, dad. I read an article about our company. We are already on the ground, aren't we?"

"What do you mean, we?" Eliot waved his hand and pushed Arnacia away. "It is my company, my alone." He got up and walked out of the room.

"Dad, you don't have to do this alone." Estelle walked after her dad. "I already know, I know everything, mom called me." She stopped, and so did Eliot. "Garry told her everything. Dad, please. Sell my car, I don't need it, sell this apartment and all the stocks you have in my name. I am not leaving country!"

"SHUT UP!" Eliot raised his voice. Even after giving it a thought, it would've been very difficult to remember the last time he shouted at his daughter. "This is my job and you stay away from it."

***

Dad.

The word held great meaning to Arnacia. Her father bought her anything she wanted in her previous life. It was pretty funny because the carefree life slowly declined with the company stocks. Her father missed too many dinners, started drinking and it would've been a lot awful if she didn't step up to help.

And now she didn't even know if her efforts paid off.

If her dad in this life was going to ask a question, then naturally, there would be an answer. Arnacia looked at her clothes again. She was already underneath the ground wearing a man's clothes. But one last time, she looked at Archie before confessing.

"I went to meet Lylia, dressed as Archie." Arnacia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Kissing a girl, sleeping with a girl and now dressing up as a boy. Way under the ground. Luckily, her parents didn't know about the first two.

"What if anything would've happened? I told you many times to not go to the village." Slade said. He was a middle-aged man nearing his 50s, but by no means he looked so. Just by sitting at the dinner table, he let off an aura saying I am taller than you.

Arnacia couldn't help but smile at this man. She found it pretty funny because her father's face was simple and his attire very poor. It didn't match with his body that looked like a Knight or something. She suspected he could cross swords with Golden Knight Oak. But it was highly unlikely.

The mood was pretty off, so Arnacia decided to sit without saying anything. The round dinner table had five different dishes on it. While Arnacia looked at the food, Leah, Slade and Archie looked at her.

"Sister, are you not going to change?"

"We have waited for so long, dear, we can wait more. Go change while I heat the dishes." Leah said.

"I will change after dinner. Let me help you." Arnacia got up but was immediately interrupted.

"Arnacia sit down." Slade said. His voice wasn't dominating, but a bit concerned. "It's about the money you gave to your mother." He signaled Leah to go away.

"I told you she got it from her mentor," Leah urged. She knew her husband's personality, which she thought could be better just by a change of perspective.

"This is important, Leah. You know it would invite nothing but trouble if that money didn't belong to us." Slade said while looking at Arnacia. "Where did you get it Arnacia?" His expression was serious and anxious. It was very rare to see such a tall and muscular man worried, but even the devil would be worried about his daughter.

"Father, my mentor Miss Rosalia gave it to me." Arnacia said nervously. This was the absolute truth, but difficult to believe. On top of that, she didn't even know the true value of the coins. Was it very much?

"Then it's fine." Slade sighed in relief. "I am blessed with such good kids. It is very meaningful for our family to be together this Veon." He said with great emotion. If not for the dim light, you could've seen the tears in his eyes.

Arnacia was very relieved on hearing this. But it felt like a thorn stuck in her neck. In the end, she wasn't really his daughter. She was just a stranger who had occupied Arnacia's body. It was very difficult for her to put this thought at the back of her head.

The dinner was re-served while Archie, and Slade talked about random things. Arnacia, on the other hand, looked out of the window. It was pretty dark and she could see nothing but darkness. It was like those times when people search for something to look at and stare at it despite the boringness of the view.

Outside the window, the little light from inside the house fell on a green-head that was hiding just out of view. This person was sly and sleek, but couldn't predict the growling of her stomach. The smell of the heated food was mouth watering since she ate nothing since the morning.

At the same time, Arnacia's stomach also growled. She looked at the food. Her body was hungry, but her chest felt heavy. Other times she would have blamed it on her attire that tried to flatten her out, but currently she was well aware of the reason. She looked at the happy family.

'Do I deserve it?' All this time, she had accepted being transmigrated into the body of a character from her favorite light novel. For the most part, it felt like a dream she didn't wish to wake up from. But all these people weren't just characters from a book. They all had emotions, they were humans! Her eyes heated as she thought about taking someone else's family, someone else's life, someone else's freedom.

"I-" she choked on the first word. By no means she was loud but her father, mother and brother looked towards her. "I am not your daughter, I am not Arnacia." Tears formed in her eyes.