Chapter 5

The next morning, the atmosphere in Vivian’s family residence felt far more suffocating than before. Even though the sunlight streamed brightly through the large windows, the house still felt like a dark, airless cave to me. I woke up beside Vivian, but my mind was still left on the third floor, inside that cold guest room with Davian.

I stared at Vivian’s sleeping face. She looked so peaceful, so pure. Guilt struck me right in the chest, yet ironically, my body still carried the memory of Davian’s touch. I felt like a monster wearing human skin.

When I went downstairs to find some coffee, I discovered Davian sitting alone at the dining table. He was reading a digital newspaper on his tablet, looking fresh as if last night he hadn’t just destroyed his brother-in-law’s morality.

“Good morning, Dewangga,” he said without looking up. “Did you sleep well?”

I didn’t answer. I simply poured coffee into a cup with slightly trembling hands. “Delete that recording, Davian. I did what you wanted last night. Now keep your promise.”

Davian set his tablet down. He looked at me with a gaze that was difficult to read—a mixture of mockery and obsession.

“The recording? Ah, you’re very naive. I only wanted to see how far you would go for the sake of a ‘secret.’ But relax, I’m not that low to destroy my sister’s marriage so quickly. I still want to enjoy this game.”

“You’re insane,” I hissed.

“Maybe. But aren’t insane people always more honest than those who pretend to be pure like you?”

Our conversation stopped when Vivian came downstairs with cheerful steps. She immediately hugged me from behind, making me almost spill the hot coffee onto my own hand.

“Good morning, everyone! Dewangga, today we have a lunch appointment with Dad and his colleagues from Singapore, remember?”

I forced a smile. “Of course, Darling. I remember.”

The Seed of Suspicion

The lunch took place at an exclusive restaurant. Vivian’s father, Mr. Surya, was a very dominant type of man. He kept talking about how he wanted Davian and me to work together to lead a new property subsidiary.

“You two are the future of this family,” Mr. Surya said while cutting his steak. “Davian has sharp business instincts, and Dewangga, you have good emotional stability. You’ll make a great team.”

I glanced at Davian. He only nodded politely, but under the table, I felt his foot once again searching for mine. I quickly pulled my leg away, causing my chair to scrape loudly enough for Vivian to turn her head.

“What’s wrong, Dewangga? You’ve seemed very restless since last night,” Vivian asked worriedly. “Are you sick?”

“Just lack of sleep. Maybe I’m still adjusting to the new house,” I answered quickly.

However, Vivian was not as simple as I thought. After lunch, when we were in the car heading home, she began asking questions that made cold sweat form on my skin.

“Dewangga, last night I woke up at two in the morning and you weren’t beside me. I looked for you in the bathroom, but you weren’t there. Where did you go?”

My heart seemed to stop beating. I hadn’t expected her to wake up.

“I… I couldn’t sleep. I went downstairs to get some water and take a little walk in the garden.”

“In the garden?” Vivian looked at me closely. “But I saw the light on the third floor. And I heard a door closing from the guest room hallway.”

I gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Maybe that was Davian. You know he often stays up late.”

Vivian fell silent. She stared out the window, but I could see doubt in her eyes.

“Maybe. But your perfume… last night when you came back to the room, you didn’t smell like jasmine from our bath soap. You smelled like tobacco and a very strong men’s perfume. Exactly like the perfume Davian wears.”

The atmosphere inside the car suddenly froze. I didn’t know how to respond. Every word that came out of my mouth now could become the grave I dug for myself.

The Labyrinth of Lies

When we arrived home, I tried to avoid Vivian by saying I had some work to finish in the study. However, Davian was already waiting there. He was standing on the study balcony, staring at the orange-tinted evening sky.

“Your wife is starting to suspect, isn’t she?” he asked without turning.

“This is all because of you! If you hadn’t forced me to go to the third floor, she wouldn’t be suspicious!”

Davian turned around and walked toward me, cornering me against the large desk.

“She’s suspicious because you’re not good at lying. You’re too tense. You carry your guilt like a billboard on your forehead.”

Then he took out his phone.

“Remember the recording you were so afraid of? There was never any recording in the car. But…” He grinned. “I just recorded our conversation at the dining table this morning through a hidden microphone. You admitted everything there, Dewangga.”

My world felt like it went dark.

“You… you’re truly a devil.”

“I just want you to admit that you need me. Vivian is a good woman, but she will never be able to give you what I give you. She loves the imagination she has about you, while I… I love the monster inside you.”

Davian grabbed my tie, forcing me to look at him.

At the same time, we heard footsteps in the hallway leading to the study. It was Vivian’s footsteps.

“Dewangga? Are you inside? I brought you some tea,” Vivian’s voice came from behind the door.

Davian didn’t let me go. Instead, he leaned closer. He wanted me to choose: get caught now, or continue playing his game.

“Davian, let me go! She’s going to come in!” I whispered in panic.

“Let her come in. Let her see who her husband really is,” Davian challenged.

My hand searched the desk for something to push Davian away. But as the door handle began to turn, a strange urge rose inside me. Part of me wanted all of this to end. Wanted the secret to explode so I wouldn’t have to live in this lie anymore.

The door slowly opened.

“Dewangga—”

Vivian froze in the doorway.

My position with Davian looked very intimate. Our faces were only a few centimeters apart. Calmly, Davian released my tie and turned toward Vivian with a perfectly natural smile.

“Ah, Vivian. I was just helping your husband fix his tie. He said it was too tight—seems like he’s nervous about tomorrow’s meeting,” Davian said casually, as if there had been no deadly tension between us just seconds ago.

Vivian looked at both of us in turn. Her eyes moved from Davian’s hand to my pale face. She didn’t smile. She placed the tray of tea on the table near the door.

“Is that so? Thank you, Davian. But I think I can take care of my husband myself now. Could you leave the two of us alone?”

Her voice sounded flat, yet there was an authority in it I had never heard before.

Davian shrugged, giving me a nearly invisible wink before walking out past Vivian. As he passed her, he deliberately touched her shoulder in a friendly manner, but his gaze remained fixed on me.

After Davian left and the door closed, Vivian stood there in silence. The long quiet felt like it was crushing my lungs.

“Dewangga,” she said softly, still with her back to me. “Don’t ever think I’m stupid. I know something is happening between you and my brother.”

My heart dropped to my stomach.

“Vivian, I can explain—”

She turned around, and for the first time, I saw cold anger in her eyes.

“Don’t explain anything right now. I don’t want to hear any more lies. Tonight, you will sleep in the guest room. And tomorrow, we will talk seriously with Papa.”