America: My Time

Chapter 1384 Rejection
Chapter 1374 Refusal

Looking at her relatives, seeing their greedy faces, and knowing that they weren't talking about family but about money, Nakamori Akina felt a chill in her heart. Her beloved father was asking her for money right away.

"I'll go see my mother first and find out what's going on. We'll talk about the rest later!" Nakamori Akina replied to her father's demands in a cold voice. The last trace of affection in her eyes had been extinguished. Her family members had no love at all; they were only greedy. In their eyes, she was just an ATM.

"Akina, how can you talk to Father like that!" At this moment, Akina's older brother couldn't help but jump out. He couldn't wait any longer. After all, he was under a lot of pressure. If he couldn't get money from Akina, he wouldn't be able to live. In his heart, Akina had to give them living expenses.

"Big brother, what do you expect me to say? Aren't you all too greedy? Have you forgotten everything that happened, forgotten the lesson we learned back then? I don't know what kind of face you have, actually going to Peach Sauce to ask her to pay for Mother's medical bills. Is there anything else in your eyes besides money? Have you considered my feelings? Do you know how humiliating and embarrassing this will make me?" At this moment, Nakamori Akina's anger was ignited. She no longer wanted to be entangled with these 'relatives'. She didn't owe them anything, and she had to bear the consequences of her mistakes!

"Akina, they don't want to do this either, but they have no choice. They've run out of money!" Akina's mother, Chieko, spoke up for her child once again. She knew the family's situation perfectly well, and she could only ask Akina to do it, because it was the best option.

"Mother, don't I send you living expenses every month? How can we not have money? We also have income from the internet cafe, how can we not have money?" Akina asked the most embarrassing question to her family. At this moment, she didn't know that the family's internet cafe was gone, sold by her father and older brother!

"The internet cafe is gone; it's been sold!" Although Akina's mother was reluctant to talk about it, she still had to tell Akina under these circumstances. She still held onto a sliver of hope that Akina could help them buy the internet cafe back so that they could have a source of income.

"Sold it? Why? Don't you know the consequences of doing this?" Akina's face darkened. Now she understood why her family had gone to Kikuchi Momoko. It wasn't about paying for her mother's medical expenses; they were after her and wanted her to spend money to buy them a new source of income.

"We used it to start a business, but we didn't expect it to fail. Can you help us buy the internet cafe back?" At this moment, Akina's older brother spoke up first, worried that his mother, Chieko, would say something unpleasant!
"Sure enough, my guys are still the same, still plotting against me, always trying to squeeze money out of me. So many years have passed, and they haven't improved at all, or rather, they've gotten used to this kind of life!" In an instant, Akina understood completely and was utterly disappointed in her family.

Akina shook her head and said, "It's impossible. Once you've sold it, you can't buy it back. I don't want to do this anymore. You should learn to live on your own instead of constantly asking me for things. From today onwards, I won't help you anymore. Apart from the monthly allowance I give to my mother, I won't give you a single penny."

Akina's voice was resolute, her eyes filled with endless disappointment. She simply didn't want to help her greedy family any longer. They were a bottomless pit, always thinking that because she was there to back them up, they could act with impunity. It was time to let go of all this. The affection she longed for had never been given to them; in their eyes, she was merely an object from which they could endlessly extract money.

"Akina, you're so unfilial! You're so rich now, why can't you help your family?" Upon hearing Akina Nakamori's words, her father immediately became agitated. If they lost Akina's 'help,' their quality of life would be in trouble, and they wouldn't be able to find a way to make a living.

"Unfilial? If you put it that way, then so be it!" Hearing her father utter these words and accuse her like this, Akina truly gave up and didn't want any more entanglement. Since her mother's problem wasn't serious, she didn't want to stay in the hospital; she was tired!

"Akina, is it really impossible to get our internet cafe back?" Chieko had no choice but to speak under the watchful eyes of her children. She knew that if Akina really gave up on them, their livelihoods would be in trouble. They had long since lost their ability to survive; they had become a bunch of parasites!

“No, I have no choice and I don’t want to deal with these things anymore. Since they don’t care about my feelings, I don’t need to care about theirs either. They can’t rely on me forever. Mother, I’m tired and don’t want to continue. I have my own life and my own children. I can’t go on like this forever. I’m leaving now!” Akina said, bowing to her mother Chieko before getting up and leaving.

Seeing Akina Nakamori's actions, the father was naturally unwilling and wanted to stop Akina from leaving. Unfortunately, Akina was surrounded by security personnel who stopped him. Although they could not interfere in Akina's family affairs, they still would not allow anyone to stop Akina from leaving. Moreover, these security personnel also loathed this family. They knew about what happened back then and how Akina's initial security personnel were forced to leave.

Even though they were unwilling, the family dared not take any drastic actions or say anything harsh in the face of the security personnel's obstruction. They could target Nakamori Akina, who was "family," but they dared not do anything rash or say anything offensive in front of these security personnel, lest they incur John's wrath. This time, John didn't even show up, and even Kikuchi Momoko only paid the medical bills and then disappeared without a trace, so the family naturally understood their predicament.

"This is the result you wanted. Now you're satisfied, and I'm tired too. You can all leave!" Seeing all this, how could Chieko not understand that the bond between her and Akina had cracked? Although it hadn't reached the point of a complete break, it was clear that Akina no longer trusted her.

Did she regret it? It would be a lie to say she didn't, because she was a smart woman. She knew that her actions had hurt Akina the most. Being hurt by someone she had always trusted—how could she not know the extent of Akina's pain? But she was powerless; even if she wanted fairness, it was impossible, after all, Akina was just one person! "What does this have to do with us? Akina is selfish and self-centered. She's so rich, yet she's unwilling to share with her family. It's all her fault!" At this moment, Akina's father still insisted, believing he was not wrong, that others were!

"Family? Do you people even deserve to share her? All these years, you've only taken, never shown any gratitude, and achieved nothing. What right do you have to say such things? She has her own children too. Why should she keep helping you? You'll have to figure things out yourselves from now on. Akina won't help you anymore. I have no other choice. You'd better watch yourselves!" Chieko sighed. Although they weren't completely severed, it was only a tiny bit more. Continuing to make a scene would only provoke Akina to cut ties more decisively. At this point, Chieko dared not do anything. If she destroyed even that last vestige of connection, they would truly become strangers!

"No, I don't agree. I demand an explanation from her!"

"If you want to die, then keep causing trouble. Do you really think that person has no temper at all, or do you think that what happened back then won't happen again?" At this moment, Chieko's face also turned gloomy. She did not expect her guys to be so ignorant of their place. If they really dared to cause trouble and make such a 'provocation,' they would face annihilation.

Actually, Chieko was overthinking it. John wouldn't stoop to their level at all. Even if something happened, John would readily intervene. After all, they were Akina's people. Even if they truly broke ties, John wouldn't lay a hand on them. But it's not certain about those guys from Japan. The Japanese people deeply hated this greedy family; their existence was a threat.

Silence fell over the family. They recalled the events of that year. Their actions towards Akina posed no real danger, but crossing those people's bottom line would have been dangerous. And without Akina's protection, they would have been dealt with long ago.

"I went to see your mother. How did she go?" John asked as he saw Akina return. Although he could tell from Akina's expression that she was very upset, John still spoke up; some things were better said openly.

"It's nothing serious, I was just upset!" Although she was very dissatisfied with her family, Akina didn't say much at this moment, and she also believed that as long as John was willing, it was no secret at all!
"It's good that everything's alright. If needed, you can stay here and take care of things for a while. I'll leave in a few days once things are settled here." John quickly changed the subject, no longer mentioning Akina's family!

Everything that happened at the hospital quickly reached the ears of the Japanese. This farce had given them a headache. They had already arrested the culprits, but the changes on Akina's side were making them uneasy. Despite their strong dislike for Akina's greedy family, their existence had been beneficial to them, but now the family had clearly messed things up.

"Everyone, what do we do now? Akina has clearly stopped caring about them, and we're losing a useful pawn." These Japanese guys really did treat Akina's family as pawns. A greedy family meant nothing to them; greed can be manipulated in many situations. However, now that family's usefulness is fading. If Akina cuts ties with them, it means she can no longer use them to orchestrate her schemes!

"It's time to let go. There's no need to hold on so tightly. Don't treat John like a fool. He couldn't possibly be unaware of our schemes; he just didn't stop us. Perhaps this is the result he wanted. That greedy family has gone too far and blocked their own path. We were too careless. If we had been prepared in advance and paid more attention, things might not have turned out this way!"

"Actually, we made a mistake the moment Nakamori Akina left Japan. We shouldn't have ignored her, and we shouldn't have given up on that family. If we had made more arrangements back then, things wouldn't be like this now. Now, no matter how much we pay, it's useless. This family is no longer of any use. Letting go is the best choice to avoid affecting us or being dragged down by them!"

“That’s right. Letting go now is the best choice. We can also deal with those ants at the same time and bring this matter to a perfect end. It can be considered a conclusion, and we won’t have to focus our energy on them anymore. Everything is over. Even if they have any more ‘accidents’ in the future, it will have nothing to do with us.”

At this point, the man sighed, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes, and continued, "Actually, we are far behind Morita-san. We are all too arrogant and self-righteous, which is why we are in this situation. Look at how Akio Morita planned things and how Naoko maintained her relationships. We are far behind in this respect. We are all too eager for quick success, which has led to the current situation."

"You're absolutely right. We were too hasty and didn't make any deeper plans. We just wanted to take shortcuts and maximize their value in the shortest amount of time, forgetting about long-term considerations. That's why these pieces were abandoned one by one, leading to the current situation."

"Yes, we were all too arrogant. We underestimated John's abilities and thought he couldn't possibly be a match for those old guys. But now it seems we were all wrong. He's the most terrifying one, and his methods are the most powerful. He now holds an absolute advantage!"

(End of this chapter)