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Perhaps not all the problems in Bryan's life were entirely due to bad luck, as he saw that because of these mistakes, he was now sitting in a roadside café adjacent to a flower shop. Bryan was startled and couldn't blink when he saw the woman who was arranging flowers there.
"Silvi," he mumbled, finally finding the woman who had first introduced him to the concept of perfection.
Hastily, Bryan followed Silvi's presence, completely unexpected that she would immediately evade when she realized Bryan was approaching.
Silvi quickly hid behind the partition door between the flower displays and the room she used to rest in. Based on the contents in the room, Silvi lived in the flower shop with two other employees.
"Welcome, what are you looking for?" one of Silvi's employees greeted him.
"Is it Ms. Silvi?" Bryan asked.
"Yes, is she here?"
"Yes, I'm her fiancé."
"Oh, her fiancé? Really?" The girl was incredulous about Bryan's statement. As far as they knew, Silvi had chosen to live in the flower shop since her marriage ended within hours with another man. And they distinctly remembered that this man was not Devin, as Silvi had been telling them all along.
"Believe it or not, I want to marry Silvi," Bryan said, not waiting for their approval as he rushed inside.
"Silvi, please listen to me!" Bryan insisted, even though Silvi was pushing him away.
"Please, I'm begging you, leave. Don't disturb my life. Besides, I don't want anything from you, so go away! I don't want to be bothered at all!" Silvi yelled from inside the room.
She was truly panicking now, seeing Bryan's presence. She couldn't believe that he had found her location, even though Silvi had done her best to cover everything from her extended family and had chosen to isolate herself on the outskirts of the city.
But no matter how hard she tried, everything was not going as she wanted. Bryan appeared at the wrong time, even though she had desperately asked her father's goons to erase all traces of her whereabouts so that Bryan wouldn't know where she was.
Although Silvi had been saying she wanted to avoid Devin, in truth, it was Bryan that she had been avoiding.
"Please, go away. I don't want to meet you, as we never had any relationship!" Silvi continued to shout, refusing to meet Bryan.
Nevertheless, she was genuinely afraid now because she truly didn't want his presence. Bryan could judge whatever he wanted, but she had no desire for it.
This had been predicted beforehand. Bryan would inevitably disturb her. Regardless, she had done that to him, so Silvi decided to leave. Everything she had feared was coming true.
"But I will never leave, even if you drive me away. Anyway, I will still take responsibility for what I did to you."
"No need. I'm pregnant now."
"Indeed, but I'm the one who destroyed your future."
"No, but I want it that way. It's better for you to leave because I don't need you."
"But, Sil, your future was ruined by me."
"It doesn't matter. In the eyes of others, I'm a widow." Silvi still refused to open the door.
However, it wasn't Bryan's intention to let her hide, especially when she was right in front of him. Bryan couldn't waste the opportunity that wouldn't come a second time. With all his strength, Bryan pushed, breaking the door and causing a loud noise.
"You're causing a disturbance here. We'll report you to the police. Before that happens, you'd better leave!"
"Whatever!" Bryan persisted in opening the door. He ignored the threats from Silvi's employees. "I'm here to hold Silvi accountable. You have no idea what she's done to me!" he said after successfully forcing the door open.
Silvi stepped back, scared because Bryan had managed to break the barrier between them.
"Listen, I won't hurt you. I came here just to talk to you, Sil."
Silvi shook her head, raising her hand to make Bryan stay in place. "Please, don't come closer, or I'll kill myself!" she threatened, grabbing a pair of scissors from the nightstand and pointing them at Bryan.
"Please, let's pretend we never knew each other before. Stay there!"
"No, I'll stay here. I beg you to listen to me."
"Please, Bryan. Understand my position just this once," Silvi began to cry so that Bryan would truly understand her fear.
"I'm also begging you to listen to me."
Silvi was firm, but Bryan's determination was even stronger.
Taking a deep breath, Silvi said, "Five minutes, okay?" She gave in and decided to give Bryan some time to say what he wanted to say.
Honestly, Silvi couldn't bring herself to meet Bryan after the incident in the apartment that night. She nodded to her two employees, signaling them to step back and get back to work.
So, in the room, it was just her and Bryan. They sat facing each other at a considerable distance.
Silvi was on the edge of the bed, and Bryan was on a makeup table chair.
"Hurry up, I have a lot of work to do," Silvi said without looking at Bryan because she truly didn't want him to stay long.
She also didn't want any further discussion about that day's events.
"Let's get married!" Bryan said firmly and confidently, proposing to Silvi, who had just failed to marry Devin. Instead of being swept away by Bryan's proposal, Silvi burst into laughter, shaking her head.
"What kind of woman do you think I am? Just like that, you ask me to marry you?"
She kept laughing as she spoke.
"You need to know one thing. I know who you are. I don't want to marry a scumbag like you. Do you think I don't know your actions as a husband? Not to mention marrying me again, but even with your two wives..."
"Alesya and I are already divorced. And Alesya has also married my younger brother. Just so you know, during my marriage to Alesya, I never touched her once. She's still pure, intact for my brother and Shabila. I couldn't continue the marriage because she easily sold her body for free to many men."
Silvi was stunned, speechless, hearing Bryan's explanation. Was it really true? Since leaving the apartment that day, she had never received any news about the outside world, let alone her father's business world.
To her knowledge, the man in front of her had two wives. Silvi knew that Bryan only loved his first wife, Shabila. Not Alesya, whom he had married only for business purposes, or so they said.
Whether it was true or just a mere fabrication, Silvi didn't know, but what was certain was that Bryan had two wives.
"But that doesn't mean you can suddenly propose to me like this, and honestly, I haven't even thought about marriage. So please leave; I can't accept your proposal. Besides, we did it only once, and I might not even be pregnant, so there's no need for any responsibility between us."
Silvi got up from her seat. "You can leave; I think everything is done here. Actually, I'm the one who should demand responsibility because my future is ruined. But I realize it all started because of my own actions, so there's no point in discussing this matter too much. As a victim, I don't want any accountability."
"I beg you to understand..." Bryan swallowed his words, canceling his denial of everything Silvi had said.
He wanted to challenge everything Silvi had said, but he realized that forcing her would only make her run farther away from him.
So he gave in to Silvi's wishes. However, before leaving, he said, "I'll go, but with one condition."
"There are no conditions between us because I don't need you. How many times do I have to say it? I'm tired!" Silvi retorted.
Gibran continued, "As for our divorce, I've already agreed to it. We'll proceed with the legal process, and you'll be free to start a new chapter in your life. I hope you find the happiness you deserve."The conversation between Viska and Gibran marked the beginning of the end of their tumultuous marriage. While their emotions were still raw, they had come to a mutual understanding that it was time to move on and seek happiness elsewhere.Gibran's frustration and pent-up emotions poured out as he defended his actions. He felt betrayed by Viska, who had consistently pushed him away and made unfavorable comparisons with Nicholas. Their relationship had become a battleground of insecurities, and Gibran had sought solace with Shabila.Viska's accusations stung, but Gibran was determined to make her understand the context of his actions. He continued, "Viska, I don't want to justify what I did, but it was a result of our broken marriage. We both contributed to its downfall. I needed someth
190"Also," Bryan paused, kissing Silvi's lips briefly."Don't forget that the night we were together, I can assure you, it's my child."Silvi shook her head. "It's not Devin's child. Do you think after that night, I didn't do anything with other men? Did you really think that night was the only time someone touched me? No, there have been many other nights with so many men because I felt like I wasn't pure anymore. So I was free to do it with anyone since my life was already a mess.""S-so... instead of slightly more ruining myself, and the last time it was done to me was by Devin. That's why he's willing to take responsibility. He's also convinced that this is his child."Bryan let out a bitter laugh, releasing Silvi from his embrace. "Is that so?" He loosened his tie, which had felt suffocating after hearing Silvi's explanation. "Let's prove that what you said is true." He took off the suit jacket that clung to his body.“W-what are you doing?” Silvi stepped back. Hugging her own b
189"No way! I won't leave until I meet Gibran. He has to take responsibility for this child," Shabila insisted, refusing to budge. She held onto Viska and stood her ground."Leave, I said! Go!"Viska couldn't bear Shabila's stubbornness and forcefully pulled her arm, nearly causing Shabila to stumble."What's wrong with you!" Shabila pushed away Viska's hand and fixed her disheveled hair. "Are you afraid your husband's actions will be known to your parents? Or is it that you refuse to accept the truth?" Shabila began to rant."I don't understand what you're saying. Now leave!" Viska demanded."Wait, Viska! Mom wants to ask this woman something." Viska's mother restrained her daughter and turned to Shabila. "Why did you let my granddaughter get pregnant? Don't you know he's already married? What do you want from us? Money?"Shabila seethed with anger. Her dignity felt insulted when the middle-aged woman mentioned money."Do you think I'm a lowly woman who just surrenders her body to a
188Shabila spent the whole day in frustration, angry that she couldn't meet Gibran at his cafe. She paced back and forth in her room, thinking of ways to meet him."Do you think you can avoid me forever? You won't be able to, Gibran. I have to make you take responsibility for the child I'm carrying. You won't be able to escape. Just wait and see."Shabila clenched her fists, planning a thousand ways to meet Gibran. "If I can't find you at the cafe, I'll come to your house. Let's see if you can still avoid me," she muttered to herself.Gibran decided to visit the club where he had met Shabila some time ago. He had a bad feeling about Shabila's visit to his cafe and wanted to find out what had really happened between them that night. Honestly, Gibran didn't remember much because he had been heavily intoxicated that night.Upon arriving at the club, Gibran called one of the waitresses and conveyed his request to meet with the club's owner."I'd like to discuss something important with y
187"What brand would you like, Miss?" The employee asked while displaying several different brands of pregnancy tests.Shabila looked puzzled, which only fueled the employee's suspicions. "Is this your first time buying a pregnancy test?" she guessed with a condescending glance."Y-yes," Shabila replied hesitantly. Seeing the employee looking down on her, Shabila's heart began to boil. "I am already married, just so you know. Here's my ID," she said abruptly, opening her wallet and showing her ID card, which still stated her marital status as MARRIED. Her divorce from Arya was only religious; it wasn't legally recognized yet.Seeing the ID placed on the counter, the pharmacy employee became flustered. She was torn between embarrassment and guilt. "I'm s-sorry, Miss, I didn't mean to—""It's fine, I understand!" Shabila retorted sharply, then pointed towards the pregnancy tests. "So, which one is the best?" she asked.She deliberately didn't want to prolong the issue since she wanted
186Several days had passed, and today was the ceremonial bath event for Silvi. Everything was well-prepared, and the guests were moved by the event, which was expertly guided by the paid organizers, arranged by Silvi's parents. Silvi's large family wore matching light green kebaya, while Devin's family, who were present, wore light blue kebaya. The event was conducted with great solemnity, and Silvi looked beautiful despite wearing makeup that wasn't too flashy.This ceremony included many symbols and motifs that served as lessons or guidelines for the couple, influencing their married life. These symbols or motifs mainly conveyed advice and useful insights for the newlyweds' life together. That's why Mama Silvi insisted on holding the ceremonial bath event, even though Silvi and Devin had been married before.In addition to the food ordered for the guests and relatives, the organizers had prepared specific dishes usually served during this ceremonial bath event. These included tumpe