The first year passed quietly, and Mai survived 1st grade unscathed.

But she knew the worst was approaching.

In 1997, on Mai's birthday, July 5th, she received her first allowance, something she had been eagerly anticipating for a long time.

"Here's 30 kr. that you'll get every week. You can choose whether to spend them or save them," said Prentice, handing Mai a big golden 20 kr. coin and a small golden 10 kr. coin into her right hand.

Mai smiled and hugged him tightly because now she could start planning her future properly. Sorry Zapdos. Sorry Charizard.

Nen Nord wouldn't become an active company until the year 2000, so she had to wait. Besides, her father wouldn't invest in it yet, so asking him was out of the question. She didn't dare keep her money in her piggy bank, so she asked Prentice to hold onto them.

"You mustn't spend them. They're my money as you promised. It's not my piggy bank," she said in a loud and clear voice.

Prentice smiled and said, "Don't worry. We'll keep them safe. Asta will write down how much you have each time."

Mai knew they kept track of all their gasoline bills in a notebook and saved receipts from every purchase, even a flower for 2 kr., but she still didn't trust Asta, so she started writing down every week with the date and year in case they needed proof later on.

Last Christmas, Mai discreetly asked her grandfather about J.R.R. Tolkien's books, which had disappeared when her family moved to the house in Reddville. She had been lucky, after bribing Grandpa with strong licorice and big cigars, she managed to get all the books that her parents knew nothing about.

The next two years also passed quietly for Mai, but she knew it was the calm before the storm. She decided not to join as a Blue Scout and instead offered homework help to her classmates, skipping big parties. But children's birthdays were never skipped because who wouldn't want to miss out on a well-baked cake man with some lovely brown sticky stuff on top with licorice laces as hair with frosting and candy pieces that completed the rest of the appearance.

>> <<<

During the summer, they went abroad for camping trips, hikes, and whatever else people did in the 90s. In the winter, they always went skiing with friends who also had children around the same age as Mai and Anya. There were also bike rides with Francois and Jytte, which always took place on different islands in Denmark where they stayed in summer houses. It was fun but tiring to bike.

>>> <<<

There was no time for breaks because all through Christmas, they drove around to grandparents from both Asta and Prentice's side and friends. Mai hated riding in the car, and she always got motion sick, and the pills didn't work, as she always told Prentice and Asta, but they hoped the pills would fix it.

During Easter, they always made Easter decorations with yellow stockings that were cut into pieces and placed on Styrofoam eggs, onto which plastic eyes and cardboard beaks were glued. Feathers were added to the top and sides, and some even added legs. They also blew out raw eggs, which Mai hated because she was afraid of getting salmonella poisoning, so it became Asta's and Anya's job.

Mai stared at her crooked chicken that she had just made and furrowed her brows.

"Every year we make the same chickens. Where do you put them, Mom?" she asked.

"They get thrown out when we have too many," replied Asta, who was emptying an egg into a bowl she had just blown out.

"Aren't you going to make a 'gækkebrev' for your friends?" she asked.

(teasing letters with a snowdrop pressed inside)

"I don't have any. Only Matt, and he always guesses them," grunted Mai.

She began writing her usual 'gækkebrev,' as she did every year.

"My name is written in dots. Beware it doesn't sting," she wrote while pronouncing the words aloud so Asta could hear them.

She wrote her first, middle, and last name in dots.

Mai had sent them to most of the class, but no one had given her an Easter egg yet. She didn't know how many eggs they owed her.

Prentice and Asta always filled a large colorful cardboard Easter egg with all sorts of candy, which they hid somewhere in the allotment house where Mai and Anya had to find it themselves. They never found them without help.

There was 'Fastelavn' in January where Asta made fancy animal costumes, and at the 'Fastelavns' parties in the apartment complex, Mai and Anya won every time. She also loved hitting the cat out of the barrel because that's where she could let out all her accumulated frustrations, and the barrel got what it deserved – and she was crowned King every time. The icing on the cake was that her costume was a tiger. But the funniest part was shaking 'fastelavnsris'(Mardi Gras rice) in the morning at Prentice and Asta, who got hit with the whole range of sweets, branches, and plastic on their toes and heads.

Fredwick Freeschool also had its 'fastelavns' traditions, and Mai wore the same tiger costume for the first two years, and there, too, the barrel got what it deserved. But it was harder to win because the boys in the school were too strong. It was always the ones from 6th or 7th grade who won. It was unfair.

The funniest part was the race to eat liquorice laces with their mouths without using their hands, where Mai always won, and the cream puff contest that Fred always won.

Their annual 'fastelavns' school performance for each class was fun, but the revue for the graduating 7th grade was the most fun because they were allowed to poke fun at all the teachers in every way possible.

One summer, when they were in Italy, Prentice and Asta planned a hike on Mount Etna. Mai discreetly advised against it because they hadn't gotten far the last time they took the same trip. They didn't listen to her and said she didn't know what she was talking about, so Mai just shrugged.

It was hot, and it smelled like rotten eggs, and there weren't many people out hiking towards Etna. It was early afternoon, and Mai remembered that last time they had only made it back because Asta's shoes suffered. She looked at Asta's orange hiking shoes and then at the volcano halfway ahead.

"Mom, your shoes are melting. Let's turn back," she said and stopped.

Asta stopped, looked at her, and said, "What are you talking about? My shoes are..." She stopped and suddenly touched her sole, and they saw the bottom start to slowly slide off.

"You really have eyes like a hawk, Mai. Asta, you would've had burnt feet if Mai hadn't said anything," said Prentice, and they immediately turned back.

>>> <<<

In 1999, all the girls started collecting scented stationery, glossy pictures, cards, stickers, napkins, and whatever else they could find, besides collecting Barbie dolls, which Mai didn't care for.

The boys always went to Papa's Cigar, a role-playing shop that sold Magic Cards, Jojo's Bouncin' Boneheads, basketball cards, and whatever else they could collect.

But Mai wasn't part of anything as she saved her money.

Pokemon the TV show also came to Denmark along with the cards that all the boys collected. Every time she saw them unfold the thin paper mats with drawn marks for the cards, she tasted something sour.

Fred took out a card with a golden bird with sharp edges that glittered beautifully in the light.

"Did you get a Zapdos? How lucky you are," said Mai.

"I also got this one," said Fred and immediately took out another glittering card with a big orange lizard standing on two wide legs and spewing fire at something.

Mai's heart raced, and she felt nostalgic when she saw the number 1 on the card.

"Wow, it's the 1st generation's Charizard," she said and felt like stealing it.

"What are you talking about? They're all 1st generation. It's 1st generation cards that are out now," said Fred, who began to build a deck.

Mai had forgotten that not many knew the value now and scratched her head. Is it possible to trick them?

"If you have too many with the ones with the number 1, you can give them to me, or I can take care of them for you. You know I take good care of my things. Ask Matt," she said, smiling sweetly at him.

"Matthias has a lot, and David has a lot too. Ask them," said Fred.

Mai didn't know what David's father did, and she hadn't known back then either. Only that he owned a big island that all the boys visited every time he had a birthday. David got all the newest things that came from abroad before Denmark, even the mobile phone. It reminds me that the Nokia 3210 is just around the corner. But that's also where everything went wrong.

The next few days were peaceful, and Mai flipped her coin occasionally and didn't bother to check her stats because she took them as they came now. It was like playing the lottery.

When everyone got the Nokia 3210, they played Snake, which was a black snake made of small squares forming into a snake. It had to eat some dots, and it couldn't bite its own tail, or else you'd lose. The more it ate, the longer it got.

Anya was a master at it and played on Asta's phone because Mai and Anya weren't allowed to have one yet. Back then, Mai had begged to get one because everyone texted each other in class, but now she didn't want it.

One evening they had steak with onions, and Asta looked at Mai and said, "Dad and I have talked about giving you an early Christmas present. A mobile phone. We think it's smart so we can reach you."

Mai dropped her fork on her plate, which clanged loudly as Asta and Prentice misunderstood it as her being happy to hear the words.

"We've already added all your classmates' numbers, and Kirsty has already given your number to the whole class," added Asta, smiling sweetly.

Too late. Mai took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Relax.

She forced a smile and said, "Thank you for the early gift. But I didn't need it. But thank you. I'm really happy about it."

One day at school, Matthias came to Mai with a large black folder and asked her if she wanted his Pokémon cards because he would rather collect basketball cards, which she accepted with a big smile.

The happiness lasted only for a while.

The next day, Sophie confronted Mai face to face and said, "I heard you're whoring around with Alex."

Mai furrowed her brows and said, "I don't know what you're talking about. Where do you know that word from?"

"We have evidence," said Sophie, and Christie C took out her phone and read from it.

"Alex says she asked if they should be boyfriend and girlfriend on the first day of school, and then she asked if they could kiss. He said no, but she kept insisting. It's sent by Loke."

Alex didn't talk to Loke, and he loved inventing things himself.

"How childish. I could write the same about you, and everyone would believe it? Grow up," said Mai, holding her head and about to leave, but she suddenly heard Sophie say, "The teachers know."

The next years in school weren't as bad as Mai had expected, and with some flips of her coin, she managed to avoid most problems.

Kirsty held girls' meetings once a month to get to the bottom of unpleasant text messages that had attacked Mai and Alex, but since the girls didn't have enough evidence, Kirsty had to hold girls' meetings every time. Just so the parents could see that she was doing something about it. And what was the answer every time? Another meeting.

"You can just prepare for the next meeting, Kirsty," said Mai, walking out of the music hall, shrugging.

Their meetings ended with all the girls except Mai sitting and crying because apparently, everyone had managed to backstab each other behind their backs except Mai. You can't pin anything on a clean person but a lot on a spotted one.

One day, Matt came up to Mai during recess outside and said, "Let's go do some sports together. Fred goes to karate."

"Kristjan said Fred was only a white belt. Isn't that beginner level?" asked Mai, shrugging.

"What about tennis?" asked Matt.

Mai shook her head and replied, "Mie took me to tennis once, and it sucked."

Matt suggested badminton, as he had done back then. So they started playing badminton together.

Mai wondered if they would still talk when they grew up because in her other life, she didn't talk to anyone from elementary school anymore. She was sure she had Alex this time.

Mai did so well in the Fredwick Badminton Club that she made it onto the elite team, but the time quickly became tough when Erico Pablos became their coach. He was ranked 28th in the world, and he had to live up to the club's demands, so everyone was pushed around whether they wanted it or not.

"We're like slaves," said Anya one day, who was sick but had managed to make it onto the second team, but Erico also trained them.

"My team is even worse," mumbled Mai, not looking forward to her training.

In the curved hall echoing when people shot a shuttlecock, Mai stood, flipping her coin in her pocket. But before she could see the text, she suddenly saw a girl with large rabbit teeth sitting on the other side of the wooden benches.

"What’s Sophie doing here?" No one knew Sophie here.

Mai looked around and spotted Frederik, who was Kristjan's little brother's friend. Frederik was Sophie's neighbor and was on the junior team. But what the hell is he doing here?

"Okay, start warming up, ten laps where you run by yourselves," Erico suddenly shouted and clapped his hands.

Everyone started running, but suddenly Mai felt very tired, and her eyelids felt heavy.

"I'm tired, Erico," she said.

Erico furrowed his brow and said, "What are you talking about? You haven't even started yet. Get running!"

He pointed to the green court, and Mai dragged herself along with her feet but had no energy. She just wanted to sleep.

"I'm so tired, I can't," she said.

"Stop babbling and run for heaven's sake. Last time you were late, your hairdryer broke," Erico shouted and pushed her hard on the back.

>>> <<<

In 2000, Nen Nord broke out with a medical slimming remedy that made you lose weight without side effects. They ‘officially’ went public, which meant everyone could buy shares in them. Mai knew that in a few years, Prentice would invest in them with her child savings on top. Unfortunately, she was too young for them to listen to her now.

It was also the year her family moved to Reddville, the most expensive city in Reddville, located by the Lake House, a huge lake. In the future, those houses would increase significantly in value.

They moved into a huge house that was immediately renovated with an expanded kitchen, dark kitchen floor with heating, and tiles in the bathrooms all the way from Italy, with a matte turquoise glass basin. On top of that, Prentice bought a large shiny light gray BMW, but the Morris was stored in the basement.

Mai had flipped her coin before on her last day of school, and she was lucky not to end up at the all-girls' boarding school as she had in her other life. Subsequently, she had also flipped before the new school year and avoided taking the 10th grade – the waste year.

When Mai turned 18, she took out her accounting book, which stated 30 kr. every week for all the years she had received pocket money. The final figure was beautiful.

"28,080 kr.," she read and smiled.

As if they would give me that.

She knew Prentice and Asta too well.

For her birthday, Mai received a large blue folder, and Prentice said, "This is your child savings. They're in shares in Nen Nord."

She was reminded of her grandfather, who had passed away five years ago. Her uncle Carsten (Mai's godfather) had inherited a lot of 'meaningless' investments that everyone knew Grandfather put a little money into when he was bored. Prentice and Asta hadn't questioned it. It made everything easier for me. Anya plans to move out soon. It's time to contact Uncle Carsten.

Mai handed Prentice her accounting book and said, "Help me invest half of it in Nen Nord."

"That's a lot. Are you sure?" Prentice asked.

"You've used my entire savings on Nen Nord, and you're asking me if I'm sure. Are you sure?" Mai asked.

"It's a pharmaceutical company. They're very reliable. I'm sure they'll come up with a miracle cure very soon, so it's best that I jump on the bandwagon early," she said, smiling.

Two years later, Nen Nord invented L-1, which extended one's life by 5 years while also providing a younger and more beautiful skin. It was created through research on lobsters, and after several experiments, they managed to extract a life gene, as they called it. L-1 derived from Lobster-1, the first lobster from which they had extracted the substance. It was sold in combination with their 0-1, their slimming remedy that allowed people to lose weight without side effects.

Mai completed high school, the same one the queen had attended, and went on to university without taking a gap year, but she stopped after receiving her bachelor's degree. A master's degree took too long, and the salary wasn't always great, and the companies were picky about hiring people. She applied to Reddville Library and met Flint in a much younger version who had trained her in her other life.

>>> <<<

Mai moved out to her own apartment at the age of 23 and finally became independent. She hadn't dated guys yet because they could wait. Her future was more important. She worked hard at the library and did so well that she got a raise, but that wasn't why she worked so much. She loved the job. It was peaceful, and no one bossed her around. A non-stressful job was the hardest thing to find in the world.

Years passed, and when Mai turned 33, on the exact same day in March, she looked at herself in the mirror and asked, "What have I achieved? Everything I didn’t in my other life. But Prentice and Asta are still not satisfied. I have an education, but they still demand more from me."

Asta talked all the time about grandchildren, and it made it worse that her youngest cousin had had a child.

"If fate can drop a man worth me, I'll gladly take him. But my dream man doesn't exist," Mai muttered.

Months went by, and in early June, Nen Nord held a grand reception for all those who had shares in Nen Nord, and even Mai had become an involuntary regular against her will.

On a Wednesday evening, she put on an ankle-length short-sleeved black dress with a matching pair of black pointed stilettos. Her long licorice-colored hair with a brownish hue was tied up in a bun, with a little loosely curled hair hanging to the sides. She had bangs that gave it a cute look. The matte pink lipstick and the small pearl earrings completed the look, giving it a simple and elegant touch. She put on her gold watch and her long black trench coat and swung her small black handbag over her shoulder and set off—by bus.

Nen Nord was located in the center of Fredwick Street, where everything was lit up 24/7, and it was noisy all the time. This was where city life happened and where dreams came true.

Inside Nen Nord's building, there were many people present, and Mai knew no one. She also didn't feel like talking to anyone because all people talked about was how much they had invested and how much they earned daily. She felt uncomfortable and stood at her own table while sipping on a good white wine. Occasionally, people glanced at her, especially the men, but no one had come up to talk to her yet.

"Is it because I look like a widow or a lonely person? So what if I do? I live alone," she muttered, and she downed her wine glass, filling it up again.

On a large round stage, an older man talked about Nen Nord's ups and downs in recent years, and big company names like sponsors were also mentioned. It was boring, and Mai didn't hear a thing, but pretended she did by nodding when she saw some good numbers on the scale. Because that's what her father had taught her.

When the presentation was over, music started playing and people began talking across each other.

When Mai saw a group of young men in fine suits with drinks in hand heading towards her, she knew it was time to leave.

"So it's homeward bound, Cinderella."

In movies, Mai had seen people take drinks with them on their way out, and she noticed at the entrance that there was a small high table where they could be placed.

So, she naturally took her wine glass with her.

"It's a shame to let good wine go to waste," she muttered.

As she approached the entrance, someone suddenly came walking quickly towards her from the right, which was her blind spot, and her drink spilled onto the person, causing her to stop abruptly. She saw a white shirt and a black tie and knew it was a man.

Without looking at him, she bowed deeply and said, "I'm sorry, I was so clumsy. I know it won't come off by wiping it."

She bit her lip and breathed slowly.

Suddenly, a man standing behind the man who she spilled the drink on said, "She spilled it on the CEO's Heir."

"She's quite daring. Who is it?" asked a woman.

Mai only heard CEO and slowly looked up.

There stood a young man with medium-length obsidian-colored hair and tourmaline-colored eyes that had a sharp gleam in the dim light. Despite his attire, his toned figure was evident beneath the shirt. His shoulders were broad, and he was tall and slim.

Mai had never seen him before.

Is he the CEO of Nen Nord?

Isn't he an old man?

He's very handsome.

Her cheeks grew warm, and her heart raced.

The man furrowed his brows and said, "Buy me dinner, and we're even."

"O-okay. Give me your number, and I'll call," said Mai, relieved that he didn't demand more from her.

She wrote down his number on her phone and said, "I'll call."

She handed him her wine glass, waved to him, and quickly headed home without looking back.

"Lin, it's not like you to show up here," suddenly said a man in a purple suit walking over to Lin.

"I was bored, but now I'm not," Lin replied, smiling.

Suddenly, another man approached them, wearing a black suit.

He furrowed his brows and said, "When a woman says she'll call, she never does."

Lin gripped the wine glass tightly, which shattered loudly despite the loud music. Suddenly, he noticed a small rectangular white object lying on the red velvet carpet, which he picked up. It was a picture of Mai with her name and all her information.

"Hm, so her name is Mai. I haven't run into anyone with that name since then," he muttered to himself.