Novels by Kaeb

"I'm an orphan. I used to be so jealous seeing other people with their families. Ever since I was little, I wanted a family of my own..." She paused for a moment. "I never expected to actually have one. Even though my situation wasn't great, I was so happy when I found out about Bian. I promised myself I would take good care of him and raise him with all my heart," she said, nervously fidgeting with her fingers in her lap."Unfortunately... things didn't go as planned. As Bian's mother, I didn't want him to suffer. Bian deserved a better life than living in poverty with me. I had no choice but to bring him to the Bimantara house. You're a respected family, so I thought I wouldn't have to worry about him being cared for by all of you."Bia remembered seeing a news report on TV about the burned hotel site where she used to work part-time—the place where something life-changing had happened to her. The news mentioned that the Bimantara family bought the land to build a market. Right on t

Chapter 115The drive from Adam Bimantara's estate, located almost at the edge of the city, to the hospital took two hours. Bia, sitting in the passenger seat, could not keep still. She fidgeted anxiously as the car kept moving forward. Meanwhile, the handsome young man driving, though bothered by her restlessness, tried to hold back his annoyance. He understood that she was worried and desperate to see the chubby baby as soon as possible. He would surely feel the same way in her position. Without initiating a conversation—the atmosphere was hardly right for casual chat on the road—Adrian kept his eyes focused on the road ahead.After arriving at the hospital and parking the car, Adrian and Bia walked down the hallway. They walked quickly to reach Bian's hospital room as soon as possible. Earlier, the young Bimantara had taken a moment to call his father, letting him know that he had successfully brought Bia along.Once they arrived, Adrian stopped in his tracks. He looked at the girl

They arrived in the living room. Kinan glanced back to check on the girl before sliding the door open. When the door opened, the man inside immediately stood up. Dark eyes met frightened brown eyes. The head housekeeper bowed her head in respect to the young master. Standing behind her, Bia bowed her head too."Bia..."The girl flinched when she heard the handsome young man call her name.Seeing the girl hiding behind the head housekeeper reminded Adrian of the moment he kicked her out of his house. She had looked just as terrified then, trying her best to stay out of his sight. Was he really that terrifying?You are here to convince her, Adrian, not to scare her! the young Bimantara thought to himself.The young Bimantara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He did not want to act recklessly again. He had to be careful so Bia would listen to him. Adrian bowed deeply in front of the head housekeeper and the girl, shocking both women."I am sorry, Bia. I truly apologize to you," h

Adrian sat lost in thought beside the bed where a baby was fast asleep. Signs of exhaustion were clear on his face, and his clothes were no longer tidy—his suit jacket and tie lay on the sofa in the corner of the room, and the top two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned. He wanted to do something for his son, but Adrian had no idea what to do. Half an hour ago, Bian had woken up and cried again, but as the baby's father, he couldn't make his son stop crying.A few nurses who were assigned to check on Bian regularly had stepped in to help calm the baby down. It was useless. They couldn't quiet the chubby baby's heavy thrashing either, until the little boy finally fell asleep from exhaustion.Reality hit him hard.It had only been a few days, yet Adrian couldn't take good care of Bian at all. Instead, the baby ended up in the hospital. His assumption that the chubby baby would eventually get used to being without the nanny was dead wrong. In truth, he was the one who couldn't do anythi

Bia had been staying at Adam Bimantara's estate for several days now. During those days, she never quite knew what to do with herself. Normally, her routine started early in the morning, beginning with waking up the chubby baby, bathing him, feeding him, and bringing him to the rest of the Bimantara family before moving on to household chores. But since coming here, Bia had no chores or duties at all. The patriarch treated her well—very well, in fact. The only issue was that she was strictly forbidden from doing any housework.Once, she had tried to help Jelita and Rita prepare dinner, but Adam asked her to rest instead. The two housekeepers at the elder Bimantara's residence had been given explicit orders not to let her touch any household chores. Because of that, Bia spent most of her time staying quietly inside the room Adam had assigned to her.It was a spacious bedroom for just one person.It was not a room meant for house staff, but a bedroom meant for family or honored guests.

Adnan stared at the untouched glass of water on the table, served earlier by a young woman with her long hair pulled up into a high bun. His mind was miles away. So much had happened, and he still could not process it all. Hearing that his infant nephew was suffering from severe stress made him feel even worse.A tiny baby having to go through unnecessary stress was heartbreaking. Adnan could not imagine the constant discomfort driving the little boy to cry endlessly. A baby who understood nothing about the world, yet knew he had lost something vital. A baby who could not put his pain into words. Meanwhile, the adults around him had only made things worse—including Adnan himself, who had ignored the chubby boy.He really was a selfish uncle.The feeling of guilt deepened the more he thought about it. Bian was the victim in all of this. If Bian were older, he would not just be crying; he would probably be screaming at the Bimantara family."What's on your mind, Adnan?"Adnan snapped ou

“Saya seorang yatim-piatu. Saya iri lihat kebersamaan orang lain dengan keluarga mereka. Sejak kecil saya punya citacita pengin punya keluarga sendiri ...,” jeda sebentar, “dan nggak disangka saya akhirnya beneran punya. Meskipun keadaan saya nggak begitu baik, saya seneng banget waktu tahu tentang kehadiran Bian. Saya janji sama diri sendiri bakal rawat dia dengan baik dan bakal besarin dia sepenuh hati.” Katanya sembari memainkan jemarinya yang saling bertaut di pangkuan.“Sayangnya ... kenyataan nggak seperti yang diharapkan. Sebagai ibu kandungnya Bian, saya nggak mau dia menderita. Bian berhak dapat kehidupan yang lebih baik daripada hidup sengsara sama saya. Saya nggak punya pilihan selain antar Bian ke rumah keluarga Bimantara. Apalagi kalian salah satu keluarga terpandang. Saya pikir, saya nggak perlu khawatir kalau Bian dirawat sama keluarga Bimantara.”Bia ingat sewaktu dirinya melihat berita tentang tanah bekas hotel terbakar–hotel di mana dia sempat bekerja part time dan m

Perjalanan dari kediaman Adam Bimantara yang berada hampir di ujung kota menuju rumah sakit memakan waktu dua jam. Bia yang duduk di sebelah kursi kemudi tidak bisa tenang. Dia terus bergerak-gerak gelisah seraya mobil terus melaju. Sedangkan si lelaki tampan yang sebenarnya terusik berusaha menahan dirinya. Memaklumi si gadis yang khawatir dan ingin segera bertemu dengan si gembul. Pun ia pasti merasakan hal yang sama jika di posisi Bia. Tanpa mengajak perempuan di sebelahnya bicara–mereka tidak dalam situasi yang menyenangkan untuk mengobrol dalam perjalanan–Adrian memusatkan penglihatannya ke jalan.Setelah tiba di rumah sakit dan memarkirkan mobil, Adrian dan Bia berjalan di koridor. Mereka melangkah dengan cepat agar segera sampai di ruang rawat inap Bian. Ah, sebelumnya si pemuda Bimantara menyempatkan diri menghubungi ayahnya; mengabari kalau ia berhasil mengajak Bia.Begitu sampai, Adrian menghentikan langkah. Dia menatap si gadis sebentar lalu meraih knop pintu dan membukanya

Mereka tiba di ruang keluarga. Kinan melirik ke belakang untuk memastikan kondisi si gadis sebelum menggeser pintu. Sewaktu pintu terbuka, pria yang sudah berada di dalam ruangan segera berdiri. Sorot hitam bertemu dengan retina coklat yang menatap takut. Sang kepala pelayan menundukkan kepala sebagai salam hormat pada sang tuan muda. Bia yang berada di belakang ikut menundukkan kepala.“Bia ....”Si gadis berjengit mendengar namanya disebut oleh si pemuda tampan.Mendapati si gadis yang berdiri di belakang sang kepala pelayan yang berusaha menyembunyikan dirinya membuat Adrian mengingat kejadian saat dia mengusir gadis itu dari rumahnya. Gadis tersebut juga ketakutan dan berusaha agar tidak terlihat olehnya. Apa dia sangat menakutkan?“Kamu di sini untuk bujuk dia, Adrian. Bukan untuk nakutin dia!” si pemuda Bimantara bermonolog di dalam hati.Bimantara muda ini menarik napas dan menghembuskannya pelan. Dia tak mau bertindak gegabah lagi. Dia akan berhati-hati agar Bia mau mendengark

Adrian duduk termenung di sebelah ranjang yang ditempati seorang bayi yang tengah tertidur lelap. Gurat-gurat lelah terlihat jelas di wajah dengan pakaian yang tak lagi rapi–jas dan dasi miliknya tergeletak di atas sofa di sudut ruangan dan dua kancing kemeja bagian atas terbuka. Dia ingin melakukan sesuatu untuk putranya, tapi Adrian tidak tahu tindakan apa yang mesti dia lakukan. Setengah jam lalu Bian bangun dan kembali menangis, namun sebagai ayah si bayi, dia tak mampu membuat putranya berhenti menangis.Beberapa perawat yang memang ditugaskan untuk mengecek keadaan Bian secara berkala ikut membantu menenangkan si bayi. Hasilnya nihil. Mereka juga tak mampu meredakan rontaan kencang si gembul hingga bayi itu kelelahan dan tertidur.Ia benar-benar ditampar kenyataan.Baru beberapa hari, tetapi Adrian sama sekali tak bisa menjaga Bian dengan baik. Malah berakhir di rumah sakit. Perkiraannya kalau si gembul nantinya akan terbiasa tanpa si pengasuh salah besar. Justru dirinya yang ta

Sudah beberapa hari Bia berada di kediaman Adam Bimantara. Selama hari-hari itu dia tak tahu mesti melakukan apa. Biasanya dia punya kegiatan sedaru pagi, di mulai dari membangunkan si gembul, memandikan, memberi makan dan mengantarkan si bayi pada keluarga Bimantara. Setelah itu melakukan pekerjaan rumah. Tetapi, sejak berara di sini, Bia tidak punya aktivitas apa-apa. Sang tuan paling besar memperlakukannya dengan baik, sangat baik malah. Hanya saja ... dia tidak diperkenankan melakukan pekerjaan rumah.Pernah si gadis ingin membantu Jelita dan Rita yang sedang mempersiapkan makan malam, tetapi Adam memintanya untuk lebih banyak beristirahat. Dua perempuan yang merupakan asisten rumah tangga di kediaman Tetua Bimantara diberi perintah agar tak membiarkan si gadis melakukan pekerjaan rumah. Oleh sebab itu, Bia lebih banyak diam di ruangan yang diberikan Adam padanya.Sebuah kamar yang luas–untuk ditempati seorang diri.Ya, bukan kamar yang mestinya ditempati oleh asisten rumah tangga

Adnan mengamati gelas kaca berisi air mineral di atas meja yang tak disentuh sejak disediakan oleh seorang gadis bersurai panjang yang digulung tinggi. Pikirannya melayang jauh. Banyak hal yang terjadi yang belum mampu dia cerna. Ditambah mendnegar pernyataan kalau keponakannya mengalami stres membuat sulung Bimantara ini makin merasa tak karuan.Bayi kecil begitu mesti mengalami stres yang tidak seharusnya. Adnan tak dapat membayangkan bagaimana perasaan tak nyaman menggerogoti si bayi hingga membuatnya tak berhenti menangis. Bayi yang belum mengerti apa-apa, tetapi tahu kalau ia telah kehilangan sesuatu yang penting. Bayi yang belum bisa mengatakan protesnya terhadap keadaan. Namun, orang-orang dewasa di sekitarnya malah tidak membantu dan malah memperburuk keadaan. Termasuk dirinya yang sempat mengabaikan si gembul.Hah ... ia adalah seorang paman yang egois, kan?Rasanya semakin buruk setelah ia mencoba lebih memikirkan keadaan si bayi. Bian harus menjadi korban dari kejadian ini.