Chapter 5

• Not long after, Andrea came out of the bathroom.
• “Are you for real?”
• Andrea blinked. The person who spoke was the same young woman who came to speak with her earlier.
• “Did you really forget?” She asked with tears about to fall from her eyes. “Maggie Hernandez. We’ve been best friends since grade school. Anna, please tell me you didn’t forget about me or our memories.”
• Andrea lowered her head, “Sorry.”
• Maggie began to sob. It was too loud not to notice her at all.
• Not knowing what to do, Andrea moved to her side and began to tap her back. “Uh, you can help me?”
• “On what?” Maggie asked with a loud sniff. “I wasn’t even there when that, that happened...”
• Andrea sighed. “It’s okay. We can forget about that. More importantly, I have a request.”
• “What is it?”
• “Can you bring me my phone? I think I forgot where I placed it before I, uh, drowned.”
• “...”
• Maggie stared at Andrea as if she was listening to a madman.
• Andrea stepped back and looked away. “It’s fine if you can’t, of course. I’ll just ask Mother and Father to bring it later.”
• “That’s not it...” Maggie said. “Anna, you don’t have a phone. You don’t own one.”
• It took a great effort for Andrea not to frown and be overly surprised. “Oh, I don’t?”
• Maggie looked at Andrea with a sympathetic, understanding expression. “You don’t have a phone because your parents don’t allow you to have one. You’ve always been respectful and understanding. When I tried to convince you to buy one, you said your parents wouldn’t allow it. You said it’s okay because won’t need it anyway. We talked via the internet with your laptop, but phone – you don’t have a phone.”
• What kind of person living in this generation of technology who didn’t have a phone? Apparently, it was the cavewoman named Anna Johnson. No, erase that. She wasn’t a cavewoman, she was simply under the extreme restrictions and control of her very own parents. Was it understandable? Yes. Was it acceptable? No.
• Because of that, the moment Andrea went home with her parents, just before they stepped into the massive house, Andrea stopped them. “Mom, Dad, I want a phone.”
• At first, Mrs. Johnson looked at her with wide, surprised eyes. But before she could say no, Mr. Johnson spoke, “Choose one and give the name and shop to me before heading to school tomorrow.”
• With that, he turned and left Mrs. Johnson who had her mouth wide open, and Andrea with a small smile on her face.
• It seemed Mr. Johnson wasn’t as strict as she expected him to be.
• Soon, she was already walking inside alone. There were some matters Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had to attend so they couldn’t continue to guide her to the house so they just left the responsibility to Mrs. Grant, the 60-year-old head maid of the Johnson family.
• Having worked in the Johnson household for more than thirty years, she knew everything inside the Johnson family. This included the fact that the third child, Anna Johnson, was actually as the rumor says – an adopted child and not a real heir.
• “This is your bedroom,” Mrs. Grant said, opening the second door of the second house.
• Andrea silently went inside.
• “If you need something, just head to the kitchen downstairs and call for Marie,” the head maid said before turning around, not waiting for Andrea to speak as she headed out.
• Inside, Andrea started to look around. Mrs. Grant looked suspicious enough. She guided Andrea almost too quickly. She didn’t even let Andrea ask questions about the spaces they passed by.
• “Understandable,” Andrea mumbled to herself while nodding and checking the doors and windows of her bedroom. The bedroom wasn’t too large or too small. The walls were a mixture of cream white and a slight touch of pink. The bed was also slightly smaller than she had expected from the wealthy family. Even the clothes inside the closet looked to be new and untouched.
• It was as if she was a new person being adopted for the first time.
• “Maybe they know it’s not their adopted child anymore?” Andrea joked to herself. She grabbed the last bug she found hidden under the lamp near her bed and tossed them on her bed.
• Andrea looked at the collection she did. There were about six to seven cameras and recorders she found. “Anna, just what did you do, I wonder?”
• Why were her parents monitoring her all the time? Was it out of worry or perhaps, something more?
• Andrea reached the notebook inside a hidden drawer another small drawer covered by books. She tapped the notebook a few times and dusted it off. Slowly, the name ‘Anna’ was revealed on its cover. Andrea nodded to herself, “I guess we’ll start with this.”
• She was about to flip the notebook open when suddenly, she heard two knocks on the door.
• Andrea stood up and walked to her door, opening it.
• A handsome man who looked to be around the age of mid-20s and wearing eyeglasses stood in front of her door. His face serious and his tone grave, he said, “Did you do it?”