30 DOESN'T OFFSET THE PAIN

After dinner, Belle accompanied her brother to watch his favorite show - National Geographic Channel. It was boring as hell but she stayed to spend time with him even though she wasn't able to answer some of his questions. He was a curious child and it pained her to see those innocent eyes that looked at her as if she was someone so knowledgeable in life.

Few minutes later, Eli came down with his laptop and handed it to Belle. He sat comfortably next to Neon and even shared the fruits with him. With the way he moved and interacted with the child, you would surely think that they were blood-related. You would never doubt that they were strangers few months ago.

Eli glanced at the woman sitting on Neon's left and said, "If you have something to do, you can just leave Neon to me. I'll be sure to send him to sleep at 9:00 PM." He wasn't being considerate, alright. He just wanted to make her leave because she was distracting him. He was being so conscious of her presence tonight since she gave him the fruits before dinner.

Belle nodded and bid them goodnight. She kissed Neon's cheek before leaving the two of them in the living room.

[Now, let's get to work.] Ceres commented as they made their way back to their bedroom. She was already taking over Belle's body and the moment she opened their bedroom, the atmosphere around her shifted. Even Eli who was sitting in the living room snapped his head back to her direction. He didn't figure out what was wrong, though.

Ceres logged on to the website that she frequently checked ever since she found out that this person existed in this world as well. It didn't take long for her to get past the verification and soon, she received several notifications in her email.

(We finally found her.) Belle mentioned while reading the messages along with Ceres. (Are we still going to handle this personally as planned?)

[Yes. We don't have money to hire people as of the moment since you forbid me to touch the bank accounts. ]

(You don't have to bring that up.)

Ceres smirked but didn't say a retort. She read the information once again but only memorized that of importance to her plan. The rest, well, they were just forgotten like nothing.

[The place is quite far. We can do this during your rest days.]

(And how are we going to leave the house without him being suspicious?)

[You're smart, right? You have to figure that out.]

(Huh?! Haaaaaa!!!)

Belle was left to shoulder the rest of the plan again. She was living under the same roof as Eli and she even works for him. Her days off will be the same as his. If she leaves his house to do something, she was expected to come home since she has no place to stay except his house. If she won't come back - Belle shook his head to dismiss whatever negative idea has popped in her mind. She couldn't imagine what Eli would do if he finds out the truth of her evilness.

[You are overthinking.] Ceres expressed and sighed. [Just tell him that you want some space to think things through. I am pretty sure he would understand. You can tell him that you are planning to visit a hot spring to relax your body and mind.]

(Oh! That's perfect!)

Apparently, that was what they thought.

Their days off finally arrived three days later but Belle and Ceres where nowhere near happy at the moment. Standing in the living room was Neon and Eli, waiting for her with their own luggage. They decided to tag along to her "onsen" trip. She wasn't even going to that place. She lied!

"Uh...are you sure you don't have any patients coming today?" She asked Eli once again, trying to stop him from coming without being so obvious about it. "I'd be troubled if some patients come and wouldn't find you."

Eli only smiled as he picked up his bag and walked toward her to carry hers as well. Neon's bag was very light so the little boy preferred to carry it on his own.

"Did you have a place in mind to visit already?" Eli inquired instead of answering her question. "If you have, we'll tag along with you."

"So, you booked a place with Neon already?"

"Yes. I'll cancel it if you already have a spot to visit."

"No, don't cancel it. Uhh...are we heading south or north?"

"South."

"Perfect. Let's go together."

[What's perfect about that?! Eli and Neon is coming along with us! He will know!]

(Chill. I've got this. I remember the place where that woman stays and she's somewhere near the hotspring district. I wasn't really planning to visit a hotspring but we can use it as cover.)

[And what if he noticed something?! How are we going to explain it to him?]

(Stop worrying! Why are you being a coward this time? I told you it's going to be fine. Am I the assassin or you?)

[We're not assassinating your godmother, though.]

Belle didn't comment on it nor make any sound beside Eli. She was staring outside the window as if something interesting has caught her attention, yet she wasn't really looking at anything in particular at this moment.

"Belle, have you heard anything from the police? Were they able to find her?" Belle finally looked at him but she shook her head as a response. "I'm not really rich with connections but I have few people I trust to help you in this matter. Would you like me to contact them to make it easier for you?"

"It's fine, doc. I mean Eli," she said and even corrected herself from calling him doc. "I can do this on my own but, if ever I won't find anything in one week, I'll certainly ask for your help."

"Alright. I'll always be open if you need me."

"Thank you."

[You don't seem happy.] Ceres commented from the depths of Belle's mind. Although the woman was acting tough and happy in front of Eli, her thoughts were a mess. [Eli seemed dumb when it comes to some other things. He probably didn't mean to hurt you in the past.]

(Yeah! Says the woman whose head over heels for him.)

[Why do you have to mock me?!]

(I'm pretending to have lost my memories because of you. If you didn't start it, I wouldn't be in this predicament. At the same time, just because I'm playing the amnesia part doesn't mean I really have to forget things. What Dr. Rivera did in the past is something I will never forget. If it wasn't because of - never mind.)

[You are living in his house, though.]

(I'll repay him one day.)

[That doesn't offset his kindness.]

(It doesn't offset the pain either.)