Five hours passed in silence in the room, Adelia woke up with a heavy head, feeling confused and uncomfortable. She opened her eyes slowly, and when she glanced at the clock beside her bed, astonishment seized her. The hands of the clock were already showing five o'clock in the afternoon.
Adelia muttered to herself in confusion, "what's going on? Why is it already evening?"
She fumbled through the memories in her mind, trying to figure out what might have made her sleep for so long. At first, everything seemed vague, and then, like lightning, her memories came back into shape.
"Melinda and Afgan, where are they?" Adelia seemed to be asking the walls of the room.
With heavy steps, Adelia stood up and stepped onto the balcony to monitor the situation. Not far away, the shadow of Melinda could be seen joking with Afgan, while Achmed and Kanya were continuing their work in the garden.
Adelia's gaze was blank at that moment, she couldn't cry anymore eve
Melinda looked at Kanya sincerely, “Madam Besar, don't let Adelia's past stop Afgan's future happiness. We can help him find his happiness elsewhere. Afgan needs a full and happy family.”Kanya took a deep breath, hearing Melinda call her Mrs. Besar, flattered her a little. “Hmm, I'll talk to Afgan, but I can't guarantee what will happen. Adelia is part of our family too.”Melinda smiled with satisfaction, “Thank you, dear. I'm sure we can all achieve happiness together.”Kanya pulled Achmed out of the room, leaving Melinda with her winning smile. She knew she had succeeded in convincing Kanya, and now it was time to direct Afgan's feelings.Night fell and the atmosphere in the house grew tense. Afgan decided to sleep in another room with Melinda.Hearing this, Adelia tries to hide her feelings behind a fake smile. Afgan seemed to be getting more involved with Melinda, unintentionally ignoring Adelia's presence.
After bracing herself and repeatedly thinking, Adelia decided to contact Afgan to ask about the pendant that had been given to Melinda.However, it was very frustrating for Adelia because Afgan did not answer her calls at all, no matter how many times she tried to contact him via cellphone.Not a single message was replied to by Afgan. Adelia let out a long sigh and threw herself onto the bed in annoyance. Unintentionally, her cell phone fell to the floor.Crack!Frantically, Adelia grabbed the phone that had been knocked quite hard.“Aihh, it's cracked!” squealed Adelia when she saw the cracked phone screen. Her mood was even worse because of that.The woman exhaled harshly. “Not even payday yet!”With a heavy heart, Adelia put her cell phone down on the nightstand. “The days are not going well,” she muttered with a heavy heart.Adelia laid her tired body back down on the bed and stared blan
Afgan worked late into the night and decided to sleep in the room Adelia had previously occupied.He lay on Adelia's bed with his eyes staring at the ceiling. His gaze was blank.Occasionally he hugged the pillow and clutched Adelia's blanket and breathed deeply, trying to smell his slutty wife's scent.Afgan felt a strange tingle because he couldn't deny that he missed her terribly.Elsewhere, Adelia was also unable to give her eyes a good rest. Her mind felt dull and scattered.Adelia lamented her destiny that had changed so quickly. She wavered between hope for future happiness and the harsh reality that Afgan had already found his.Occasionally, Adelia would come out of her room to get some fresh air, sitting alone on the sofa, looking at her photo with Afgan on the wall. It was the only photo she had because her father had insisted on taking it and displaying it proudly in the house.Adelia looked at the photo with a sad face and
After saying this, Adelia quickly walked away from them.Unexpectedly, Afgan pulled his hand.“Where are you going?” he glared at her.“To take my stuff and move it to the front office. Hasn't it been my job all week to move around until your heart is content?”Adelia spoke up and swatted Afgan's hand away. With furious steps and a heavy heart, Adelia walked away while holding back the tears that had accumulated in her eyes.Adelia vaguely heard Melinda's spoiled voice, “Afgan, your son is hungry, what should we eat today?”***Day after day passed, Adelia continued to work as a front office at the hotel. Although she tried to contain her emotions at work, the pain in her heart deepened. Every time she saw the sparkling ring on Melinda's finger, her heart felt like it was being squeezed by the ever-growing loss. Melinda always intentionally made them cross paths. Meanwhile, Afgan chose to work in an
Adelia did not answer and remained sobbing on Edward's lap who held her tightly. Edward kissed Adelia's hair from behind and had no intention of letting go of the woman he loved. He himself was also very confused in the face of a marriage that would take place soon. A marriage that he did not want for the soul mate chosen by his mother. Edward's heart was fighting against the love that he could not give totally to the woman he was holding in his arms.Likewise with Adelia. Although Adelia found it difficult to accept Edward's love, the man's existence provided a small hope in the midst of the darkness.She knew that the healing process took time, and Edward was willing to be with her every step of the way. However, things were not as easy as she thought.Time went on, each day Adelia worked as usual and Edward remained by her side, faithfully supporting her through each of her emotional journeys. Although Adelia still had reservations about opening her heart com
“Mom, I'm calling off the wedding,” Edward said on the long-distance call with Maya Ofel, his mother who was in Dubai.“Are you crazy? Who are you saying that to?” Maya was annoyed by her son's words.“I don't want to be set up like that, Mom. We won't be happy,” Edward said trying to defend himself.“So is wanting Al-Futtaim's wife the right thing to do? Would you be happy if you took someone else's property? Edward! What is going through your mind?”Maya Ofel ranted for a long time until she finally took a deep breath and continued her rant.“Don't let Dad act! You and the Futtaim family's wife will be screwed!” she threatened without further ado.“No, Mom, it's precisely this son of yours who contacted you because he wanted you to help. Who else can your son complain to?”“Come on, Mom...”“You want Mom to help you?” Maya rolled h
Afgan began to realize that he loved Adelia, rather than waiting for the girl in the photo that he couldn't even find.“You know what? You're right. Give me one more shot, then I'll be on my way home to get my wife!”The bartender nodded then chuckled, “It turns out she's your wife, why are you fussing over a blurry past photo.”The bartender spoke as he mixed his drink and then offered it to Afgan.“The photo needs to be fixed, so it can be seen clearly, isn't there a photo editor who can show a good photo even though it's old?”Afgan was again surprised because all this time, he had never thought about it.“Alright, I'll go to a photo editor tomorrow,” he replied and gulped down the proffered shot.Unexpectedly, the bartender laughed out loud, “I can edit photos. Being a bartender is just an extra job to pay for college.”Afgan hesitantly handed the photo into the ha
Adelia stepped into the hotel lobby with her eyes still half closed, trying to overcome the sleepiness and fatigue that enveloped her. Apparently, this usually quiet hotel was now filled with the hustle and bustle of preparations for the engagement ceremony. Hotel workers bustled about, arranging decorations, setting up tables and making sure everything ran smoothly.Mona, Adelia's coworker who took the overnight shift, was busy with her work at the reception desk, turning her head when Adelia approached her.“Mon, the hotel is really busy today, isn't it? What's going on?” asked Adelia in a low voice as she placed her backpack on the desk.Mona glanced at Adelia with an unhappy face without smiling and then answered. “There's an engagement ceremony for the Gonzales family to be held here. They booked some rooms for the invited guests.”“What took you so long? I'm tired from earlier. This is supposed to be your job!” Mo
The next day, Melinda came home with a sluggish face and a tired body. Bayu had attacked her so hard that she felt a sting between her thighs.Carrying Shintya, the woman shouted at her servant."Take care of the child first and call Aunt Kusuk!" she ordered and strode irritably to the room.All the clothes were placed unceremoniously on the floor. The woman quickly made her way to the bathroom.Not long after, Aunt Kusuk came in and Melinda quickly got out of the bathtub wearing only a bathrobe."I'm so tired, put all your energy into giving me a massage!" ordered Melinda as she lay face down on the bed.The therapist, who was giving Melinda a massage, occasionally furrowed her brow as she watched Melinda's body covered in tiny blues and hickeys.After finishing Melinda's massage, the therapist quickly left the room. Her mistress was already fast asleep.The therapist immediately reported everything she had seen to Afgan.
Bayu sits in the corner of the cafe with a serious expression. Melinda enters the room, and their gazes meet. They sit in a quiet corner, under dim lights. Tension hung in the air."How did you find me after so long?" asked Bayu with a questioning, longing look on his face.Melinda took a deep breath before answering, "Afgan and I, we've been drifting apart. Something is wrong, and I feel like I'm losing him. I miss him, Bayu."Bayu looked into Melinda's eyes, trying to read what was really going on. “So, what do you want from me, Melinda?”Melinda was shaken. "I don't know, Bayu. Maybe I'm looking for answers. Maybe I'm looking for support. I feel alienated in my own home."Bayu nodded, feeling sympathetic. They engaged in an open conversation, expressing their respective anxieties. They talked about their overly complicated lives, about the haunting past, and about the sense of loss they felt.Occasi
Melinda approached him, gritting her teeth. "Time? It's been a year!""Shintya needs her father, now! You're going to ruin her first birthday with her father's absence?"Afgan growled, "You don't understand!""You don't understand, Afgan! You make Shintya and me feel insignificant!" Melinda shouted, eyes glazed over.Afgan felt stabbed by those words, but he persisted. "I'll be gone for a while, Mel. This is important to me.""And what is important to you, Afgan? What did you choose to miss this moment for?" Melinda tried to get his attention by grabbing the sleeve of Afgan's shirt."Let go!" she exclaimed.Afgan shook his head. "You can't just force me to leave Adelia.""She's dead, Afgan! Please come to your senses!"The argument escalated, and a tense atmosphere pervaded their home. Melinda felt disappointment and frustration growing inside her. Afgan, fixated on his inability to let go of the past, decided to leave w
Melinda felt a change in her relationship with Afgan. Although their home was again full of laughter and jokes, there was an ice that had slipped between them. Every day, Melinda felt like she was facing a cold wall that she couldn't break through. The once beautiful landscape became increasingly bleak.Melinda tried to find answers within herself. She brooded in the middle of the night, sitting on her bed with her mind in turmoil. The silence of the house was only interrupted by the wind tapping on the windows. "Why has everything changed?" she muttered to herself."Why is there no love from Afgan at all even though I got rid of that pesky woman?"Melinda always slept alone without Afgan. The cold nights were shared only with her little daughter who often woke up at night to ask for milk.A message arrived on Melinda's cell phone in the middle of the night, as she was giving milk to the little one.[Already asleep?]Melinda simply read the
That morning, the sun shone down on their house. Afgan sat on the terrace, gazing at the garden that was slowly recovering from its sadness. Today he wasn't working because it was the first day of 2024.All employees were closed and Afgan had no reason to work. The gaze of the man looked pseudo and passionless.Even though the house was quiet with most of the servants on leave, there was still the occasional sound of little Shintya crying.However, the man did not respond to the cries at all.Melinda came out of the house, realizing that their conversation last night still left a wound in Afgan's heart.“I'm sorry, Afgan,” Melinda said regretfully. Her hands made a tray of tea and glasses. Melinda stepped closer to Afgan and tried to soften the heart of the man who became her husband.“I know it's complicated, and I want to make you ha
“What do you mean?”Afgan begins to tell Achmed about Bayu and Melinda having an affair. However, Achmed didn't fully believe him until Afgan showed him the evidence from the recording.“Let's do a DNA test!”“Okay! Do as you wish, Dad!” Afgan refocused on his work and didn't respond to his father's words anymore.The DNA test was conducted, but Melinda cunningly managed to trick the test employee by taking a sample of Afgan's own hair left in her comb.A few days passed, and the DNA test results finally came out. Achmed held the results tremblingly, seeking reassurance over the doubts that crept into his mind. Afgan, who had kept his distance from the situation from the start, finally agreed to speak.“Dad, what's the result?” Afgan asked, his face determined.Achmed stared at the DNA test results, then nodded with disappointment. “This... this is impossible. The results show that
“You want to visit his grave? Yes! Go to the Sanjaya Cemetery in South Jakarta. Look for Adelia's name in block 7!” exclaimed angrily through the speaker on the cell phone. The man did not allow the security guard to open the door at all.Hearing the answer from Edward, Afgan's heart was like being struck by lightning and then slashed by several sharp daggers.“Go back to your country. I really hate you for letting Adelia's body go up in flames like that!”Edward switched off the call from the security cell phone. With languid steps, Afgan stepped back into his car.The fact that Adelia was dead made his life feel shattered. With his left hand, he called his father to check the whereabouts of Adelia's grave.The driver drove the car back to the airport. Afgan did not wait any longer, but went straight to the private plane that his father had prepared.“Go home, Afgan,” Achmed said wearily.“Adelia's grave is indeed there and the death
“What's going on, is she awake?” asked Afgan with his breath caught in his throat as he ran from the hospital parking lot to his mother-in-law's room.“No, she's not conscious yet, but we heard her delirious.”“Edward and Adelia?”Kanya nodded her head confidently, as did Achmed.“It seems that Adelia's loss has something to do with Edward.”Afgan snorted harshly then said, “that man has been gone since before the fire. He's already engaged to Emily and they've returned to Dubai.”“How could he be involved?” Afgan asked himself.“It's good you're investigating, Afgan. All the possibilities are there, after all you've been looking all this time.”“By the way, what about Melinda, have you forgiven your wife?” Achmed asked his son.Afgan looked at his father meaningfully. He couldn't bear to tell him the secret abou
“I'm sorry for everything I did that was unfair to her, Father.”Afgan's voice was hoarse and his chest felt tight.Achmed looked at his son with compassion. “We cannot control fate, Afgan. Life sometimes gives us difficult trials, but we must fight through them together. We will find a way out, and we will be stronger than ever.”Afgan nodded, the man wiping away tears with the back of his hand as he absorbed his father's words. Although there were still many questions and uncertainties ahead, he felt that his family would find a way to get through all the obstacles and rebuild their lives.The two sat together in the hospital waiting room, embracing each other in an emo-laden silence. They realize that in order to achieve happiness in the future, they must unite and support each other, even though the road ahead may still be difficult and full of challenges.“I'm going to go calm down, D