Chapter 54: Unable to liquidate.

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Translator: Soafp

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I couldn’t sit still, though it wasn’t as urgent as all that.

Why was I hurrying home?

A slight sense of impatience, frustration.

And something I’d been thinking about.

Before I could unleash it on Maya, I opened the front door.

“Welcome back…”

When I returned home and Maya immediately greeted me like that.

But from my expression, she quickly sensed something was wrong and furrowed her brow ever so slightly.

“…Is something wrong? Did something happen?”

Was I panicking at the thought of being accused?

Maya, looking unsettled, flustered for the first time in a while.

Seeing that, almost reflexively, I blurted out something outrageous.

“…I need money.”

Hold up. Why am I acting like a scam artist? That wasn’t it; I meant to ask about what Naoki contributed.

But if it slipped out unconsciously, I must have wanted to test Maya.

What I wanted to test, I couldn’t explain well.

“…How much?”

And Maya, instead of asking why I needed the money, asked straight away for the amount.

Vaguely, I realized what this meant.

“…For now, a million would suffice.”

As I dodged the growing impatience, Maya eyed me like she was sizing me up.

But she didn’t say anything and retreated into the living room.

I followed after taking off my shoes and entered the house. Maya was rummaging through a drawer in the corner of the living room.

“…This is for you.”

From there, Maya softly handed me a passbook.

A passbook from a regional bank that I’d never seen before. The name on it was “Maya Hashimoto.”

Without thinking, I opened the passbook to confirm its contents.

There it was, exactly one million yen, remaining in balance.

“Will this be enough…?”

In a sad voice, Maya checked with me.

There’s no need to ask why she sounds so sad. Yes, she’s given up on me.

That’s right. Just like with Naoki, you’re going to give me money.

Yet, why does my chest feel tight?

“…I can’t accept this. There’s no reason for me to accept it.”

I immediately regretted testing Maya and couldn’t bear it, but Maya shook her head, refusing to take the passbook back.

“It’s okay… This was intended as repayment to you.”

“…Repayment?”

I didn’t understand immediately what she meant.

But after a while, I understood what this money was for.

This is… the betrothal money I gave.

Checking the date in the passbook, the day the money was deposited was three days after the affair was discovered.

Even though I didn’t intend to say anything stingy like returning the betrothal money after cheating, Maya would have handed over this passbook much earlier if she intended to apologize.

Why did she bring this out now, and what does it mean?

I became more and more confused, unable to organize my thoughts at all.

However, I could think of only one use for this money right away.

…I don’t know how much was borrowed, but let’s use this to repay the debt that Maya dodged from Mizuki.