Paradise Liquid

In the living room, the walls are adorned with minimalist yet captivating artworks. The centerpiece of the room is a generously sized sofa adorned with plush cushions.

The sofa's design is modern, with clean lines and subtle stitching details that showcase attention to craftsmanship. Seated upon the couch is a man. His mustache is trimmed neatly, and his hair has been polished. With a tense body, he sits on the couch and looks at three men; two are standing, and one is sitting across from him on another couch.

The two men stood together behind the sofa, each wearing identical black suits that were tailored to perfection. The fabric hugged their tall frames and broad shoulders like a second skin, the dull sheen reflecting off their figures.

However, the one sitting on the sofa was bald, displaying an intimidating aura that distinguished him from the other two. His gaze was piercing and unmoving as he focused on the center of the table in front of them, where ten beer bottles sat lined up in a neat row.

The bald man waved his hand, and then his pricing gaze looked at the man who sat nervously in front of him.

"Herman, if I find anything wrong with this, then you should be ready to die," Bald man said. His voice was deep, and a type of magical power in his voice made the man who was nervous sweat and stammer his words as he spoke,

"Lord Mu... how... h-how can there be anything wrong... there... There is nothing wrong with Paradise Liquid," Herman rubs his sweaty palms against each other as he says. Herman was the father of Ruby, and today, he received ten bottles of Paradise Liquid in a beer bottle for Lord Mu.

Lord Mu didn't speak, and one man who stood behind him moved and opened one bottle. His eyes glowed as he looked at the bottle, his face changed, and he spoke, "Lord Mu, in Paradise Liquid, there is orange juice mixed in, ruining the Paradise Liquid."

"What!! No, that can't be," Herman stood up, his face growing pale as he looked at Lord Mu, "Lord Mu, this..." Before he spoke more, he stopped breathing and fell onto the ground.

Lord Mu looked at the dead Herman without emotions. His glowing hazel eyes dimmed and returned to normal.

"Check all bottles and calculate how much money this is worth," Lord Mu said.

"Yes, Lord," The man who just checked the bottle said, and he opened all the bottles, scanned them, and realized that all of them had orange juice mixed in. After two seconds, the man said, "It's 100k Credits."

"Okay, place that money here, take these bottles, and let's go," Lord Mu said, and he got up and left.

The other man waved his hand, and two suitcases appeared. Then he waved his hands over the bottles, and those bottles disappeared.

---

"Mother said that she can't come home today," I said and put down the old telephone that was only used to call.

"Why didn't you let me talk to her?" Saki put her hand around her hips and asked.

"Because she said she has a lot of work and she cut the phone before I hand phone to you," I said.

"Did... she have to do a lot of work?" Saki asked, letting her hands loose, as she evidently seemed concerned.

"Yes, she can't come home today, but she will come back tomorrow evening," I said. And I felt bad to lie about this matter, but I could only lie about this for now. I can't tell the truth until I get money, pay it to the hospital, and make sure that my mother is alive.

Fuck, just because my carelessness caused such a disaster.

"How about we go and help... mother?"

"We can't, okay now be a good girl and let me cook food," I said and then started making vegetable soup and cooking some rice.

"Brother... mother really not going to come back?" Saki tugged my shirt and asked again. I looked at her and saw her moist eyes.

I sighed in my heart, and It's good that I only lied that she wouldn't be coming back today. If I had told her that she was in the hospital, then Saki might have run away from home to go to the hospital.

I pulled her into my embrace and hugged her, "Don't worry, mother will come back."

I pat her back, but I don't know how to tell her about the mother's state. Should I hide it from her? But how?

(Tell me a way to hide my adoptive mother's state from Saki.)

[Go to Michiko and tell her everything and stay at her house until your mother recovers, also pay the money in the morning, in the afternoon your mother will be okay to talk with others, let your mother speak to Saki that "I'm fine and but I'm going away in another city for some work, so you should live with Asuka's house for some time," on the phone]

Well, do I just have to do this or tell her the truth?

I sighed and returned to make dinner for Saki and Ruby.